News Article

Phil Hough, chair of the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, will discuss “Wilderness Potential for the Scotchman Peaks” from 5:30-7 p.m., Monday, Sept. 17, in the Jepson Center Wolff Auditorium. Sponsored by the GU environmental studies program, Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, Conservation Northwest, and the Spokane Mountaineers, the event is free and open to the public.

Hough is president of the American Long Distance Hikers West Association and the Kinnikinnick Chapter of the Idaho Native Plant Society. His love of wilderness has led him to hike the entire Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail – twice – as well as paddle the length of the Yukon River. Hough was recently honored with the Idaho Conservation League’s highest award for environmental activism for his work on the proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness Area, one of the last and largest areas of wild land in North Idaho and Western Montana.

Looming above Lake Pend Oreille and the Clark Fork River in the Cabinet Mountains, Scotchman Peak is the highest point in Bonner County, Idaho, at 7,009 feet. The Friends of Scotchman Peaks organization is comprised of concerned Idaho, Montana and Washington residents who believe the Scotchman Peaks area warrants permanent status as federally designated protected wilderness.

For more information, contact Jonathan B. Isacoff, director of the environmental studies program and assistant professor of political science at Gonzaga, at (509) 323-5951 or via e-mail.