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A group of Sanders County men and women volunteered their time last week to help preserve a part of Montana history for future generations.

More than 50 men and women from around the country gathered at the Savenac Historic Tree Nursery as part of the Passport in Time (PIT) program of the U.S. Forest Service as they have done for the last 27 years, said Heather Berman, who serves on the recreational staff of the Plains-Thompson Falls and Superior ranger districts and was one of the staffers during the PIT project last week. Berman said that the annual work at Savenac is the longest running PIT project since it began in 1991.

The volunteers, ranging from 5 years old to 83, spent a week at the nursery working on dozens of projects, from widening trails to repairing buildings, inside and outside. But the volunteers last week weren't all PIT people. It included members of the Youth Conservation Corps from the Superior Ranger District and the advanced Youth Conservation Corps from the Plains-Thompson Falls Ranger District, which their team leader, Kim Earhart, called his "A Team."

Earhart's A Team included Faith Palmer and Kinzie Cox, both of Thompson Falls, and Plains resident Gavin Schrenk, along with Plains-Thompson Falls Ranger District seasonal staff member Kylee Altmiller. The group spent their four days at Savenac laying a new floor in the bunkhouse. They worked 10-hour days throughout the week to install the 41 boxes of laminate flooring in the 800-square-foot structure. Earhart's team ripped out the old carpet, leveled the floor, cut the strips of flooring to size, and constructed new baseboards throughout the bunkhouse, which originally served as a barn.

"They did a really good job. I was really pleased with their performance," said Earhart. He said the goal behind the YCC's participation in the PIT project was to help maintain the history of the site and to help the kids learn new skills. He said last week they learned cutting, marking, leveling and staining. He said a lot of kids their age don't even know how to properly use a tape measure, which he feels is an important life skill. Earhart also noted that Schrenk is now interested in getting into carpentry. This was the second year for the 16-year-old Schrenk, who said he likes working with tools.

Savenac Nursery, located 15 miles west of St. Regis along Interstate 90, was constructed in 1907 as a large nursery for the Forest Service, but the 1910 fire destroyed it. Berman said they immediately rebuilt the facility, which was in operation until 1969. Most of the 11 structures were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression in the 1930s. She said the bunkhouse was erected in 1962. The oldest structure on the 340 acres is the outhouse, built in 1913, said Berman, an archaeologist with the Forest Service for the past six years. The bunkhouse now serves as one of summer rental buildings on the grounds.

"I think it's a cool place for everyone to see," said the 17-year-old Palmer, who is in her third year working with the YCC and is interested in working as an archaeologist for the Forest Service. "There's so much history behind it and it's so educational. Anything like this is worth preserving," said Palmer.

Passport in Time is a volunteer historic preservation program made up of volunteers from around the country that work on Forest Service projects around the country. Last week's volunteers traveled from Oregon to New York and from Texas to Florida to spend the week working on more than a dozen projects at Savenac. The Superior Ranger District YCC group worked all week to widen the East Arboretum trail so that people can walk side by side under the 80-year-old trees, said Erika Scheuring, an archaeologist with the Lolo National Forest.

Scheuring, who's been with the Forest Service for 13 years, was the primary coordinator for the week's activities, although she said she was recruited as a "chef in training" most of the time. She said the Plains-Thompson Falls Ranger District YCC volunteers did a "phenomenal" job on the bunkhouse. Scheuring was one of the coordinators of the Big Hole Lookout restoration project northwest of Plains seven years ago. She said the volunteers at Savenac put in more than 1,600 hours last week and since 1996, Savenac has accumulated over 43,000 volunteer hours from over 350 volunteers.

She's been involved in the PIT Savenac project since 2014. "The Savenac PIT volunteers assist the U.S. Forest Service to maintain the facilities at Savenac," she said, adding that the historic facilities need repairs annually, with such things as repairing holes in walls, sanding, painting and staining the wood furniture. "We also have two trails, one in the East and one in the West Arboretum. Those trails need maintenance each year after the nearly 10 feet of snowfall," she said.

The PIT volunteers pay their own way to Savenac, but once there the Forest Service houses and feeds them. Scheuring said they got up early in the morning, had breakfast and went straight to work. Several of the PIT volunteers are returning workers, such as Kay Brown of Vancouver, Wash., who's been a participant since 1997 and this year was a cook. Eighty-three-year-old Frankie Gartner of Tampa, Fla., was one of four cooks during the week and has been a PIT volunteer since 2002, although in other years she's had landscaping, cleaning, and repairing duties. In 2006, at 66 years old, she helped put a new roof on the cookhouse.

The workers get three meals and two cookie breaks each day between their projects, which this year included painting the shop, repairing and reglazing windows, trimming hedges, repairing hand rails, doing mortar work in the breezeways, and reinstalling broken signs from snow damage, according to Scheuring, who has four degrees - forestry, archaeology, recreation, and anthropology - from the University of Montana in Missoula.

Berman said they get 1,000 to 2,000 visitors each year for reunions, weddings, anniversary parties, or just to camp at the nursery. "We have families that come back year after year," said Berman. The Superior Elementary School sixth grade holds an outdoor class for a week at Savenac every year. Most of the facilities are closed during PIT week, although visitors can still use the picnic areas, trails and the museum, which is open only during the summer.

They had 32 PIT volunteers this year. "They love coming here to help with Savenac. Some of them learn new skills and get to complete accomplishments and be part of the history of Savenac," said Berman. Angela Reichert, a seasonal archaeologist with the Forest Service, feels it's important to maintain the nursery for the public, but added that they try not to change its historic flavor. "We want to keep the feeling of that historic era," Reichert said, adding that they will refinish some of the historical wooden beds and this year they are working on a few of the 1956 desks and dressers. This year, the Bartlett Tree Experts from Spokane, Wash., volunteered to remove a 100-foot tree that was in danger of falling on the visitors center, formerly Savenac's administration office.

Ed Moreth

INDOOR REVAMPING – Kim Earhart snaps in a piece of flooring in the Savenac Historic Nursery bunkhouse while Kylee Altmiller prepares to hand him another piece. From the left in back: Faith Palmer, Kinzie Cox and Gavin Schrenk.

"I think it's special that people get to come and stay here. It's a pretty important historical place for the Forest Service," said Altmiller, whose mother, Kelly, and sister, Kara, also work for the Plains-Thompson Falls Ranger District. Kylee, a biology major at the University of Montana, helped Earhart repair the bunkhouse bathroom last year.

"It's because of our volunteers that we can maintain these facilities and their historical integrity," said Scheuring. "We are fortunate to have such a place in our backyard."

The PIT volunteers, along with about 35 past PIT workers and their families took part in a potluck Friday, which included a presentation on the history of the Forest Service and a PIT presentation of the week's activities.

"It went well," said Berman of the PIT volunteers, which finished Friday morning. "We appreciate the Passport in Time volunteers and we couldn't maintain these buildings or grounds without their help," said Berman, who guessed that about three-quarters of the PIT volunteers said they wanted to return next year. "Savenac has a long history and tradition of people who care for the nursery," said Berman, "and without them Savenac wouldn't be what it is today."