American forester and writer Bob Marshall described the threat of urban growth as the "tyrannical ambition of civilization to conquer every niche on the whole earth."

The great outdoorsman, who died of heart failure at the age of 39, wouldn't see the wilderness bearing his name carved into law, a legislative move forever preserving one of the greatest mountain ecosystems in the country.

Neither would Marshall see the Telluride Mountain Film Festival rise to fame. Or the Telluride Mountain Film Tour that now partners with grassroots organizations across the country, working to save the last best places from the very threat Marshall saw coming more than 70 years ago.

But next week, film and wilderness will converge when the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation joins the Telluride Mountain Film Tour on a three-city stop through Montana. It's a fitting union given the festival's mission, and Marshall's view that wilderness was a social and environmental ideal worth pursuing.

The Telluride Mountain Film Festival began in the 1970s with a focus on climbing. It has slowly grown over the past three decades to include adventure and cultural films, not unlike the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Alberta.

But if you ask the festival's tour director down in Telluride, Colo., he'll admit to chasing a greater goal, one that looks to inspire audiences on "issues that matter" and "environments worth preserving."

"People can walk away, hopefully, inspired to do something locally in their own lives, something tangible at home," said Telluride Mountain Film Tour director Justin Clifton. "A big part of the tour is to support local and regional nonprofits."

Clifton said the festival library now includes more than 400 titles dating back 30 years. The films are chosen to suit the hosting organization, such as the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation.

This year's touring films include "Losing the Elephants," which looks at habit loss among Asian elephants and their relationship with people. "Via Bearzi" gives tribute to a climber who died on an expedition in the Alps, while "Shikashika" looks at Peruvian girls who sell the sweetest snow cones carved from glacial ice.

"We want to do shows that have a great impact with quality hosts like the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation," said Clifton. "We're trying to grow intelligently."

While the festival itself has expanded since its inception in 1979, so have the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation and the Telluride film tour grown across Montana.

Helena made the touring list just last year. Organizers added Great Falls to the list this year, bringing to three the number of Montana cities on the Telluride stop, including Whitefish.

"This is the major fundraiser for our organization," said Paul Travis, executive director of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation. "It's been very successful. We keep expanding it to different cities across the state."

The festival attracted 500 people in Helena and Whitefish in 2008. This year, Travis said, the foundation hopes to draw 800 viewers to the three-city tour.

"The venues in Helena and Great Falls are pretty small," Travis said. "But if they're successful, we'll expand to bigger venues as it grows."

Money raised by the world tour across Montana goes to support the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation's volunteer program. Coupled with the Forest Service, the organization relies mainly upon volunteers to maintain 1,900 miles of trail across the Bob Marshall Complex, which includes the Scapegoat and Great Bear wilderness areas.

It's a massive swath of land encompassing 1.5 million acres. It abuts Glacier National Park to the north, the Rocky Mountain Front to the east, and the

Seeley-Swan Valley to the west.

Bob Marshall himself never saw the completion of his namesake wilderness before his death in 1939. But today, the swatch of land still claims some of the best wildlife habitat in the lower 48 states. It's also considered one of the most ecologically sound mountain ecosystems in the country, if not the world.

"We use the money from the film tour to coordinate volunteer projects throughout the wilderness doing trail work and pulling noxious weeds," Travis said. "We had over 400 volunteers come out on roughly 45 projects last year."

The outings sponsored by the foundation last anywhere from one day to nine days, the later spent deep inside the wilderness doing difficult work.

The results are easily seen by those who travel into the Bob, from footbridges crossing sensitive marshes to erosion-control efforts on tight-turning switchbacks.

Last year, volunteers helped maintain or restore more than 480 miles of trail. Such groups as the Continental Divide Trail Alliance, the American Hiking Society, and the National Smokejumpers Association, have helped in the past.

As many as 50 trips are already planned for this summer.

"There's work involved in the trips, but people who get involved gain so much from the experience," said Travis. "It puts them in touch with the wilderness itself."

The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation was organized in 1996 and incorporated in 1997. It partners with the U.S. Forest Service to complete work throughout the complex, which came together in pieces starting with the Bob Marshall itself in 1964.

The Scapegoat Wilderness area was added in 1972, followed by the Great Bear Wilderness area in 1978, thanks to the efforts of Sen. Lee Metcalf.

Not much has been accomplished since then, in the way of new wilderness. But those who have lent a hand on past volunteer outings have enjoyed the effort and their wilderness experience.

"I think we're fulfilling a need for folks who want to give something back," said Travis. "There are so many trails that are in risk of being lost. The Bob is so huge, I don't think we'll ever run out of work to do."

Helena tour stop details

The Telluride Mountain Film Tour arrives in Helena on Friday, April 17. The films will be shown in the Simperman Hall Auditorium at Carroll College with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. and the films beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets available at Carroll College (447-4380) and Blackfoot River Brewery (449-0307).

Bob Marshall conservation history timeline

1865: First game law passed by Territorial Legislature

1869: Law protects quail and partridge as game birds

1872: Law passed closing season on game animals

1877: Killing game animals for hide alone is now illegal

1879: Law protects buffalo for 10 years in 4 counties

1895: Game and Fish Commission created

1897: Lewis and Clark Forest Preserve created

1901: Montana Fish and Game Department created

1901: Bob Marshall is born

1905: Preserve turned over to new U.S. Forest Service

1906: Law creates uniform season for all game animals

1910: Glacier National Park created by President Taft

1913: Sun River Game Preserve established

1923: Blackfeet Game and Bird Preserve created

1929: Gibson Dam floods major elk migration corridor

1931: South Fork Flathead Primitive Area created

1933: Pentagon Primitive Area established

1937: Bob Marshall calls wilderness a "social ideal"

1939: Pentagon Primitive Area is enlarged

1943: Sun River Conservation Council organized

1953: Blackfeet Game and Bird Preserve abolished

1954: Land proposed for Bob Marshall Wilderness

1958: Montana Wilderness Association founded

1964: Wilderness Act passes, Bob Marshall protected

1968: Wild and Scenic Rivers Act passes

1972: Lincoln-

Scapegoat Wilderness Area created

1973: Endangered Species Act passes

1976: Parts of Flathead River listed as Wild and Scenic

1978: Great Bear Wilderness created by Lee Metcalf

1979: Blackfeet Wildlife Management Area created

1983: Bob Marshall pulled from oil and gas exploration

1984: First of 10 additions made to Bob Marshall

1995: Plans made to manage Continental Divide ecosystem

1997: Gloria Flora removes Front from oil and gas

1999: Mining moratorium placed on Front

2009: Efforts renewed to add more Montana wilderness

Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or mkidston@helenair.com