My name is Cooper Webb-Knudson and I worked on GBCA’s Trail Crew in the North Fork district for the 2025 summer season. It was an incredible few months filled with hard work, amazing views, and fun people. On an average day, our crew wakes up around 5:30am pacific time, packs up food and water for the day then sets off to work.

From battling invasive weeds to keeping trails clear and accessible, our staff, field crews and volunteers put in a tremendous amount of work across the Great Burn this year. Here’s a look back at the 2025 field season through some of our favorite photos.

In August, GBCA’s Integrated Trail Crew packed up for a hitch deep in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest to perform maintenance work on Weitas Creek Trail #20 in the Bighorn Weitas Inventoried Roadless Area. Stretching 29 miles, this trail is a true multi-use route—welcoming hikers, horseback riders, mountain bikers, and motorized uses like ATVs and UTVs.

The restoration crew’s sixth and final hitch for the season got off to an unusual start. We met at Granite Peak RV park (granite pit, if you prefer the groovy slang), where Malcolm and Logan had been staying between hitches. Malcolm had noticed several Cyphocleonus achates (“Cyphos”), an important knapweed biocontrol species that acts as a root weevil crawling on their tent, so we were there to collect them.

Hello! My name is Micah Freeman and I am part of the weed restoration crew. As a wildlife biology student at the University of Montana, it has been a pleasure to spend time in this gorgeous area, a far cry from my hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. This week is my turn to share some recent news in the Great Burn area.

Hi, my name is Cameron Akers, and this is a recap of our recent Hitch #4 with the Great Burn Conservation Alliance. It might just be the best hitch in Great Burn history! We worked across several drainages throughout the Great Burn, spraying invasive weeds like St. John’s Wort, Oxeye Daisy, and Knapweed. Lakes featured in the video include Crystal, Copper, Bonanza, St. Regis, Cliff, and Diamond. We had some incredible wildlife sightings, some a little too close for comfort! This hitch, Logan and I also had the chance to meet with some of the GBCA board members and connect with them at our newly adopted trailhead site at Diamond Lake.

I woke up that morning a while earlier than everyone else at camp. It was chilly and quiet in the Spruce Tree Campground, so I decided to take a stroll. I just didn’t know that stroll would lead to me meeting the people I met.

Coming from the east I find myself missing the classic herps—repitles and amphibians—I’ve grown up with, particularly the red eft. The red eft is the terrestrial stage of the Eastern Newt and each spring they begin their journey, awkwardly stumbling over every inch of the Northern Appalachians, crowding out trails by the thousands.  

By now, you’ve probably seen the headlines: the Trump administration has announced plans to roll back the 2001 Roadless Rule. But what does that actually mean? And more importantly, what does it mean for the Great Burn ecosystem and the wild public lands we work to protect?