2026 Wilderness Speaker Series

Speakers: Leo Rosenthal, Montana FWP, and Sheena Pate, Flathead Rivers Alliance
Topic: “The Three Forks of the Flathead — Fish, Flow, and the Future”

Join us for an engaging evening exploring the past, present, and future of the Flathead River system through the lens of fisheries science, collaboration, and conservation.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks fisheries biologist Leo Rosenthal opens the program with an overview of the Three Forks watershed, highlighting long-term trends, monitoring efforts, and what the data tells us about two of the Flathead’s iconic native trout: bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout.

Following the science, Sheena Pate, Executive Director of Flathead Rivers Alliance, will connect the dots between data and action. Sheena will spotlight collaborative partnerships across the Three Forks, current threats and conservation trends, and the upcoming the 50th Anniversary of the Flathead Wild & Scenic River designation in 2026.

Together, Leo and Sheena bring complementary perspectives – agency science and nonprofit collaboration – offering a powerful picture of how fisheries management, community engagement, and river advocacy intersect.