The Montana Wilderness Association's board of directors searched the world over to find its new executive director, but ended up hiring someone from their own back yard.

Tim Baker joined the MWA in 1984 as a volunteer, then took a paid position in 2001 as the Helena-based organization's chief fund-raiser.

When Bob Decker resigned three months ago after 12 years as executive director, Baker filled that position on an interim basis.

On Wednesday, MWA announced that Baker has agreed to take on the job permanently, with a $60,000 annual salary.

"I am proud and honored to lead the Montana Wilderness Association, an organization steeped in a rich tradition of reaching out and engaging Montanans around the common vision of protecting our great outdoor heritage and legacy," Baker, 45, said.

According to MWA board member Paul Edwards, more than 75 people from throughout the world submitted resumes in hopes of heading one of Montana's leading environmental organizations. But when it came down to choosing the new executive director, Baker's passion for wilderness and commitment to the organization's goals made him stand out.

"Tim is committed to Montana and to wilderness, and is a guy who has the capacity to bring together interests that are pretty disparate in a civil sort of way," Edwards said on Wednesday. "He can extend himself in a friendly and creative way to work toward our goals."

Baker grew up in Detroit and earned a degree in economics from the University of Michigan. He moved to Montana in 1981, and graduated from the University of Montana Law School three years later.

He was hired as an attorney for the state Department of Environmental Quality, where he focused his efforts on air quality enforcement cases. Although the DEQ often is chided for seeking only minimal monetary punishment from polluters, Baker said that during his 10 years with the state, he believes air quality substantially improved in cities like Billings and Missoula, in part through the DEQ's efforts.

"Was it enough to please all the interests? That's hard to judge," Baker said. "But certainly, we made good strides in protecting public health."

During his tenure at DEQ, Baker said he also remained active in public lands issues through MWA.

"I've been working on travel planning issues since the mid '90s," Baker said. "I didn't deal with those types of issues while at DEQ ... so I never felt there was much of a conflict between the work."

MWA was created in 1958, with the goal of protecting the wild places that make Montana special. The group prides itself on being instrumental in the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act and in the designation of every Wilderness Area in the state, as well as in gleaning Wild and Scenic designations for the Missouri and Flathead rivers.

But the state has been in a "wilderness drought" for the past 20 years, and Baker said it's time to review tactics.

In particular, instead of striving for a statewide Wilderness Bill -- a political football to which Sen. Conrad Burns has long been opposed -- Baker said he's hoping to pursue smaller tracts of land for wilderness designation.

"I think the era of the statewide bill is dead. Those won't make it through Congress," Baker said. "So we are focusing on where we have public lands with wilderness qualities, whose designation may be less controversial. ... I think if we focus on specific places and reach out to non-traditional allies, like what we did on the (Rocky Mountain) Front, that we can build coalitions."

The MWA has a staff of 16 and operates on an annual budget of about $1.25 million. Baker said that during his three years as the organization's chief fund raiser, he tried to lessen their reliance on national grants -- which may have strings attached to try to sculpt a non-profit's objectives -- to raising money from memberships.

For example, in 2001 MWA had a $600,000 budget, with about $425,000 of that coming from grants. Today, the annual budget for 2005 is around $1 million, but the amount coming from grants is the same as in 2001.

The organization also has increased its membership from about 4,000 to 6,000 during that time.

"We've dedicated resources to getting new members ... and have become better at talking about what we do, how we do it and why we do it," Baker said. "But both of those factors have been dwarfed by the issues. People are coming to realize that if we don't speak up for our wild heritage, we'll lose it."

He turns toward two large picture windows that looks out onto a downtown Helena parking lot, and quotes Montana historian K. Ross Toole, who said "In Montana ... wilderness is never far from the window pane."

As if to accentuate his point, a large painting of a landscape between the two windows suddenly crashes to the floor.

Baker's eyes widen and he bursts out laughing.

"Wow," he said. "I guess the spirit of K. Ross Toole still lives."

Reporter Eve Byron can be reached at 447-4076 or by e-mail at eve.byron@helenair.com.