Northwest Montana Lookout Association

04/03/2026

With summer just around the corner, we've got lookouts on the mind (like always). The Flathead Beacon published a new article last week highlighting the important work of lookouts and lookout preservation. Take a moment to read the article, and you might notice a few familiar names and faces.

Mid-morning light made soft by wildfire smoke filters through the pine boughs in the Whitefish Range. Leif Haugen, Northwest Montana’s longest serving fire lookout, ventures out for drinking water ahead of the hottest part of the August day. He walks about a mile and a half down to a mossy stream ...

01/07/2026

Join us on February 1st to hear Kira Powell’s presentation on local forest fire lookouts, what it takes to maintain them, and the role lookouts continue to play in firefighting efforts.

Reserve your seat and learn more here: https://www.nwmthistory.org/programs/john-white-speaker-series/

01/05/2026

Support A Fellow Restoration Organization!

The Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates (GNPVA) is hosting their 2026 Winter Speaker Series at the Northwest Montana History Museum starting January 26th. The GNPVA is a working partner in restoring and preserving historic structures in Glacier. Their series should be great with speakers coming in from Missoula and outside the Park. We hope you can join them for this series!

Jan 26 at 7pm at NWMT History Museum

The Beaver-modified Landscape

Learn about the impacts of beavers on habitat for fish and wildlife and about ways to resolve beaver conflicts.

Presented by: Torrey Ritter, Nongame Wildlife Biologist
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Missoula

12/18/2025

We always enjoy a moment to celebrate lookouts, especially local ones! To know lookouts in Northwest Montana is to know (or know of) Leif Haugen.

Check out Leif's interview on The Lookout Podcast below!

It was an honor to have one the living legend Leif Haugen on the show! Leif has 32 years in service as a Lookout and has been keeping watch over our national...

10/06/2025

Join us every Thursday in October at Cabinet Mountain Brewery and support NMLA and our restoration work. This money will directly support the restoration of NW Peak Lookout (and pick up your commemorative pint glass while you're at it!)

See you there (and bring a friend or two)!

08/22/2025

A great example of modern technology working alongside staffed fire lookouts to provide a comprehensive understanding of local fires. Great photos! Stay safe out there.

08/22/2025

08/17/2025

Shoutout to the Stevens County Historical Society for carrying the 4th edition of Fire Lookouts of the Northwest by Ray Kresek. This is a classic for lookout enthusiasts. If you're interested in purchasing your own copy, you can do so below. Fun fact, if you check out Stahl Peak you can see a little mention of NMLA's restoration and preservation work!

Fire Lookouts of the Northwest 4th Edition By Ray Kresek

08/11/2025

A moment to cherish Marli & Rick Davis' new oral history interview. Rick and Marli are active board and founding members of NMLA, whom we are incredibly thankful for. They served up on Cyclone Lookout from 1971-1975 and still serve as active lookout volunteers (plus their time coordinating projects and events for NMLA).
Give it a listen here:

Rick and Marli Davis discuss their experiences as lookout staff for the Flathead National Forest on Cyclone Lookout from 1971-1975 and on Baptiste Lookout and again Cyclone as volunteers, from 2012 to the present. Marli shared growing up in Kalispell, Montana where she loved being outdoors and spend...

08/07/2025

We are busy working on summer projects, but just posted two new oral history interviews to our website!
Take a listen Diane Boyd's interview here (and if you haven't read her book A Woman Among Wolves, you absolutely should!)

Diane Boyd, a lookout veteran from the early 1980s, discusses being born and raised in Minnesota. She shares that she moved to Montana in 1979 for a Master's study on the only wolf in the area at the time. She details her career in wolf research, which has grown significantly over the years, and dis...