For anyone living in most of the state this year, the smoke and haze associated with the 2006 wildfire season was obvious and widespread. For days you couldn’t even see the Bridgers from downtown Bozeman, and Interstate 90 was closed to traffic a number of times. Fires raged near Glacier National Park and prompted the evacuation of a handful of communities around Columbus.  All told around the country nearly 100,000 wildfires burned almost 10,000,000 acres, making 2006 the (oft-repeated but always accurate) “worst fire season in years”. According to the Wilderness Society, 2006 saw a jump of nearly 59% more acreage burned over the last five years’ average.  When fires rage, a number of organizations are mobilized, but few have the impact and importance of the various smokejumper groups around the country – brave men and women who parachute into the very heart of backcountry wildfires and attack the infernos with little support and nothing more than the picks and shovels they can carry on their backs.In recognition of this work, the Bozeman Watch Company has supported the Missoula-based National Smokejumper Association from the company’s very inception. Through sales of the SmokeJumper Chronograph, the BWC has awarded the NSA over $2,500 to support the efforts of these high-flying firefighters. After teaming with the 23^rd  governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, this past August, the BWC developed an ambitious online auction of SmokeJumper #23 – the “Governor’s Edition” SmokeJumper Chronogprah – to infuse as much cash into the NSA as possible.

           With a wide variety of major media outlets publicizing the event, the reach of the Bozeman Watch Company’s auction spread far and wide. The eventual winner, Ms. Peggy Marcantonio of Los Angeles learned about the auction from United Airline’s in-flight magazine “Hemispheres” and took home the Governor’s Edition SmokeJumper for her boyfriend, Montana native Dusty Cladis, with a winning $5,000 bid. The watch, delivered in time for Christmas, was engraved with Governor Schweitzer’s signature and is truly one of a kind.

            Bozeman Watch Company CEO Christopher Wardle and V.P. of Design Patrick Ayoub were on hand to present Doug Houston, president of the National Smokejumper Association, with a check for $5,000 on December 15^th at the BWC’s first-year anniversary party in Bozeman. “The Bozeman Watch Company is proud to support the efforts of the men and women of the National Smokejumper Association – truly the unsung heroes of the American West,” said Wardle as he handed over the charitable funds to Houston of the NSA