[2][3][4] Activities within the 730,864-acre (2,957.70 km2) recreation area include hiking, backpacking, White water rafting, camping, rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, fishing, and hunting.

[7] In recent years forest management activity has increased in the form of Prescribed Fire, commercial Logging, and non-commercial thinning of dead and diseased trees throughout the Sawtooth NRA.

[8] Much of the SNRA was heavily glaciated, especially in the Sawtooth Mountains where remnants of these glaciers exist as glacial lakes, moraines, hanging valleys, cirques, and arêtes.

[citation needed] In Idaho, the mountain goat license plate symbolizes the importance of protecting the high quiet places like those found in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA).

The mission of SIHA is to protect and advance the natural and cultural history of Idaho's Sawtooth – Salmon River Country through preservation and education.

At the time of the Sawtooth Society's founding, a major threat had arisen in the Stanley Basin: a highly visible and unapproved 160-acre subdivision.

The Society negotiated an end to the project and successfully urged Congress to appropriate $17 million to the U.S. Forest Service for the purchase of conservation easements protecting this land in perpetuity.

Preserving Open Space The Sawtooth Society has worked with the Administration and Congress to secure $17 million in federal funds for the purchase of conservation easements in the SNRA; published "What Works" a document to clarify and distribute private land regulations to encourage inconspicuous development; educated private landowners about their responsibility in making development less conspicuous.

Enhancing Recreation Facilities and Services The Sawtooth Society supported USFS efforts from 2005 through the present to design, build and fund the Stanley to Redfish Lake trail.

The Society also coordinated nearly $1 Million in Goat License Plate grants for 220 enhancement projects to benefit the SNRA and all who live, work and recreate in it.