Bill Schneider

He started exploring the outdoors at an early age, and by the late 1960s, during college, he was working on a trail crew in Glacier National Park. Then he spent the 1970s publishing Montana Outdoors magazine for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, and covering as many miles of trails as possible on weekends and holidays. In 1978 he wrote his first book, Where the Grizzly Walks.

In 1979, Bill, along with his business partner to this day, Mike Sample, created Falcon Press Publishing Company and published two guidebooks the first year. Bill wrote one of them., Hiking Montana, which is still a popular guidebook.

Since 1979, Bill has served as publisher of Falcon Press, which is now established as a premier publisher of recreational guidebooks, with over 300 titles in print. He has also written six more books and many magazine articles on wildlife, outdoor recreation, and environmental issues. Along the way, on a part-time basis over the span of 12 years, he taught classes on hiking and camping in grizzly country for The Yellowstone Institute, a non-profit educational organization in Yellowstone National Park. Bear Aware, the most recent addition to Bill's list of book titles, is a compilation of expert advice and thirty years of personal experience in grizzly country. Mixing scientific statistics and practical suggestions for hiking and camping in bear territory, the volume is recommended reading for everyone who plans on sharing the outdoors with these magnificent animals. As Bill puts it,"proper preparation allows you to keep the fear of bears at bay and let enjoyment rule the day."

Bill Schneider generously agreed to serve as a guest at GORP while we featured an excerpt from Bear Aware. He answered questions and addressed issues and concerns offered in the Bear Aware thread of GORP's Hiking Forums.

Bear Aware	Hiking the Beartooths
Hiking Montana

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