Northwest Montana Lookout Association
Restoring & Preserving Fire Lookouts in Northwest Montana
Listen here for interview 1- June 20, 2022 listen here for interview 2- July 11, 2022 Interview 1 Summary: Brian shares being born in Indiana but his family moved to Montana when he was four. He tells of living in Potomac, where he also went to school. He says playing outdoors led to a “wild …
listen here This interview spans Leif Haugen’s entire lookout career: Mount Morrell, Mt. Henry, Numa Ridge, and Thoma. Along with experiences on the lookouts, Leif discusses knowledge and experience he gained on how to live on a lookout and do a quality job; the Park Service and Forest Service organizations; and his role in creating …
listen here for interview 1- December 7, 2021 listen here for interview 2- December 9, 2021 Interview 1 Summary: Bill Fordyce discusses being born in St. Louis and moving as a child to Sheridan, Wyoming where he lived on a dude ranch. He describes his family later moving back to St. Louis, but Bill couldn’t …
September 23, 2021 listen here This interview covers lookout experiences for Clare Walters in 1963 and Clare and Jan Walters in 1967. Clare Walters describes his first lookout job on Johnson Lookout, Flathead National Forest, in 1963. From the Star Meadows Guard Station, Clare said he hiked into Johnson Lookout while a pack string took …
August 21, 2021 Listen Here Suzy Ronfeldt recalls stories her parents, Betty Jennings Muldown and Lloyd “Mully” Muldown, related about when they were lookouts on Whitefish Mountain Lookout near Whitefish, Montana in 1942, with Suzy, a three-month old baby. Suzy discusses her mother being born in Whitefish, and meeting her father, who was from Minnesota, …
July 23, 2021 listen here Ted Clarke discusses being born in Eureka, Montana and living in the “new” town of Rexford after Lake Koocanusa inundated their home during the Kootenai Dam construction. Ted remembers being 11 in 1955 when his dad, Ed, became the lookout at Webb Mountain Lookout above Eureka. Ted recalls his first …
Listen here for interivew 1- February 4, 2021 Listen here for interview 2- Febraury 26, 2021 Listen here for interview 3- March 4, 2021 Interview 1 Summary: Gene describes growing up in Montana’s Swan Valley and how that helped him decide to become a U.S. Forest Service lookout. Miller talks about his 38-year tenure as …
listen here Bob recalls how growing up in Montana, then visiting to hike, camp, and fish after his family moved, influenced his decision to work for the Forest Service after high school. He discusses applying for a fire lookout position in the summers while attending Seattle Pacific College. Folkestad describes working two summers on the …
listen here Greg describes his experiences working at Jumbo Lookout in the Flathead National Forest for a year during the 1960s. He talks about why he chose to become a lookout, then describes where the lookout was located, traveling to it by horseback, and what sorts of commodities it did and did not contain. Morley …
listen to a shortened (~15 min), AI-created podcast please click here. listen to the full interview here Kjell talks about staffing the Snow Peak and Beaver Ridge lookouts as a U.S. Forest Service employee, starting in the late 1960s. He recalls how his lookout was struck by lightning three times in one afternoon, hauling water, …
