A View to Wilderness – The Salmo Lookout Tower and the Salmo-Priest Wilderness Area

Summary

The Salmo-Priest Wilderness Area is a 41,335-acre wilderness area in the Selkirk Mountains, in northeast Washington. The wilderness area is within the Colville and Kaniksu National Forests. The area is noted for providing habitat for a number of threatened or endangered species including woodland caribou, grizzly bears, and grey wolves. Access to the area is limited to a few trails and visitation to the area is low. The Colville National Forest offers an alternative way to enjoy this wilderness area and explore a unique cultural property by visiting the Salmo-Priest Fire Lookout. Built in 1965, this R-6 flat cabin lookout is listed on the National Historic Lookout Register. The tower is accessible by a road, but is located on the border of the wilderness area. The lookout recently underwent rehabilitation in hopes of turning the tower into a recreation rental. This historic structure’s accessibility to the public and unique location next to a hard to access wilderness area, offer an opportunity for all people to both enjoy wilderness and live history, if only briefly, by experiencing a life similar to the fire lookout staff who used to man the tower.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 18723