'Rare' Guitar Will Feature in Black Ram Guitar Festival

A special event is scheduled this weekend at The Wilma that will support an ancient forest in the Yaak Valley of the Kootenai National Forest.

Currently, a proposed timber sale would clear-cut thousands of acres of forest, and potentially impact many more. The Montana Project is advocating to protect the forest and make it the country's first Climate Refuge. The Black Ram Guitar Festival will draw attention to the issue as well.

Featured Author Rick Bass Talks About the Yaak Valley

Rick Bass, author, activist, and Yaak resident, was recently a guest on the What Do You Know podcast with Scott Richman and Arnie Sherman to discuss the festival and the Black Ram forest. You can listen to the full episode below.

When asked about the Yaak Valley Bass described the geography and the fact that the area has two weather systems--the Pacific Northwest and the Rocky Mountains.

"You've got that rain and rot and snow, inland rainforest from the west, and then you've got that fire and ice, the glaciated country that comes from Flathead. It's got at least twice as much diversity because of that."

"You can't define a place by numbers but it boggles me that 25% of the entire state's list of sensitive species are found under one national forest there in the Yaak, the Kootenai. It's extraordinary."

He describes the area as a "biological wilderness, not a recreational one."

Bass has been inviting artists from around the country to see the Yaak Valley and create art about the area as a way to underscore the area's environmental importance.

"When something so hugely important is on the line you're going to choose to defend it with love, not fury or fear or hate," Bass said.

The Breedlove Black Ram Guitar

Created from a felled tree from the Yaak Valley's Black Ram Forest, the Breedlove Black Ram Guitar artistically symbolizes what's at stake. The guitar, from Jeff Bridges and Breedlove Guitars, is part of the "All in This Together" campaign and will be played during the festival.

The festival will feature Rick Bass as well as James McMurtry, Bill Mckibben, Pico Alt, Beth Ann Fennelly, John Flordis, Lauren Strohacker & Kendra Sollars, Siri SÆteren, Jeffrey Foucault and other guests.

The festival takes place on September 27 and 28. Tickets can be purchased here.