WILDERNESS -- Trails in the proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness straddling the Montana-Idaho border are getting a boost this season from volunteers who are being supported by a $6,000 grant from a new national fund.

Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness recently received $6,000 from the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance to continue the group's efforts to build, reconstruct and maintain trails in the Scotchman's roadless area of the Idaho Panhandle and Kootenai national forests.

In its first year, the NWSA's National Forest System Trail Stewardship Grants program awarded 23 grants for projects on 20 national forests in 13 states. Funding comes from private donations, volunteer groups and the U.S. Forest Service.

In the Scotchman's northeast of Lake Pend Oreille, volunteers have been working with the Forest Service since 2010. This year, four training days and 10 project days have been completed so far, said Sandy Compton, FSPW program coordinator. 

Trails improved on the Idaho Panhandle include Scotchman Peak Trail 65, Morris Creek Trail 132 and Regal Creek Trail 556.

Trails improved on the adjoining Kootenai Forest in Montana include Star Peak Historic Trail 999, Napoleon Gulch Trail 1019, Hamilton Gulch Trail 1016 and the new Spar Lake Trail 143-A.