Idaho
Fire lookouts have a long history to help fight wildfires in Idaho
![Fire lookouts have a long history to help fight wildfires in Idaho Fire lookouts have a long history to help fight wildfires in Idaho](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fe28f1f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x672+0+24/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fx-default-stgec.uplynk.com%2Fause%2Fslices%2F794%2F79a97dd50ab44e14af9959bd019221e1%2F794f98b2654542d0988eeec284df3132%2Fposter_0a5bc6fb77c64f4bbc00b06d870cc433.jpg)
BOISE, Idaho — The Boise National Forest continues to use fire lookouts today as they have around eight staffed lookouts during wildfire season, these lookouts have also played a pivotal role in the history of fighting wildfire.
The story begins in 1908 when the Boise National Forest service started. A forest supervisor was walking towards a wildfire when he ran into Harry Shellworth who was working for the Boise Payette Lumber Company.
“At that time they both saw the need to defend our wild areas from fire. They set up a gentlemen’s agreement and it spurred on the Southern Idaho Timber Protective Association.”
Virginia Clifton, a historian and archeologist with the Boise National Forest.
This partnership would build the first fire lookout in the area in 1908 on top of Bald Mountain, today it is called the Thorn Creek Lookout.
“It has been rebuilt, it is still standing and it is staffed. For the most part we have rebuilt a lot of our lookouts since the 1930s since the Civilian Conservation Corps came about.”
Clifton
The CCC was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 as a means to get out of the great depression. Harry Shellworth saw an opportunity and went to Washington D.C. to advocate for CCC funding in Idaho.
“Behind California Idaho was the most densely populated with CCC folks and CCC camps,” said Clifton. “With that came a lot of construction of lookouts.”
The Shafer Butte Lookout had already been built in 1925, but the Quartzfire of 1931 ended up scorching much of the Boise Boise. The Civilian Conservation Corps went to work building the Boise Ridge Road as a fire break and for another access point to the lookout.
It’s still standing on top of what is now Bogus Basin Ski Resort. In total there were 163 CCC camps in Idaho with 20,000 people working on a variety of projects including lookouts that were now located all over Idaho on the top of mountain peaks.
“I think part of the reason why Idaho has a history of so many lookouts across the entire state and not just the Boise National Forest is because of our terrain. Our terrain is so steep and so rugged that it makes communications with fire managers outside of lookouts a lot more challenging.”
Clifton
Fire lookouts have always been the best way to catch a wildfire when it’s small. New technology has emerged including cameras and artificial intelligence to detect smoke, but people still man some of the lookouts in the Boise National Forest.
Many of the lookouts have been rebuilt from their earlier days while some like the Deadwood Lookout is available for people to rent out and stay in. That lookout earned a designation on the National Register of Historic Places, it’s also under threat right now from the Nellie Fire.
Idaho also has others that qualify for that designation like the Danskin Peak Lookout built in 1941 and Virginia Clifton is working to help preserve these historic lookouts.
“It’s been my goal since I started with the Boise National Forest in 2016. I want to get all of our lookouts recorded and documented, not all of them are and we need to get all of them evaluated for the National Register of Historic Places.”
Clifton
If you want to learn more about how lookouts work and the value they provide here is a story we did on the Danskin Lookout.
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Idaho
F&G darts and relocates young bull elk in Boise
![F&G darts and relocates young bull elk in Boise F&G darts and relocates young bull elk in Boise](https://idfg.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/styles/open_graph/public/media/img_8466.jpg?itok=CvgGZK1b)
“In any cardinal direction this elk could have traveled, it would have presented a substantial public safety risk for a vehicle collision,” Royse explained. “It was in a very bad place, and the only option it had was to move to somewhere worse.”
Doing nothing is sometimes the best answer, but decision-making is dynamic
In many cases, such as with the two moose that have taken up temporary residence in outlying Boise communities, the risks of moving the animal currently outweigh the risks of not doing so. These two moose are hanging out in areas without any major concerns for traffic collisions, have not been reported as showing signs of aggression, and have opportunities to move safely out of the area into connected open spaces.
“There is some risk involved with living in close proximity to any wild animal, including a moose, but the evidence we have tells us that the risk with these moose is low,” Royse said. “We have been actively working to further mitigate that risk, to a level that is less than the risk of darting and relocating, through proactive communication with, and education of area residents.”
That said, the factors that go into Fish and Game’s decision-making are dynamic. When they make an initial decision not to intervene with an animal in town, Fish and Game staff continue to monitor the situation, and routinely reevaluate their decisions as circumstances change.
Even in the moment, the right decision in the interest of public safety can change from hazing or darting and moving an animal to dispatching it.
“When it comes to dealing with wildlife in unsuitably urban areas, every variable in that equation can change on a dime. Our decision-making must be just as nimble and dynamic,” Royse said. “The only truly rigid element of our decision-making process is that we are putting public safety first, followed by the safety of our staff and the safety of the animal.”
Idaho
Obituary for Dennis Gordon Niederer at Eckersell Funeral Home
Idaho
‘Healing garden’ erected in memory of 4 slain University of Idaho students: ‘Always find light’
![‘Healing garden’ erected in memory of 4 slain University of Idaho students: ‘Always find light’ ‘Healing garden’ erected in memory of 4 slain University of Idaho students: ‘Always find light’](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/vandal-healing-garden-outside-physical-88090857.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024)
The still-grieving University of Idaho community dedicated a “healing garden” Wednesday to the four students viciously murdered in their off-campus home nearly two years ago.
The student-designed flower patch honors the lives of all students who died while enrolled at the school, but specifically memorializes Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Maddie Mogen.
“It’s a reminder that even in moments of sadness, always find light. In the wake of tragedy, I take great inspiration from the amazing resilience of the families involved,” Dean of Student Blaine Eckles said at the unveiling ceremony.
The Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial was established as a “permanent space for quiet reflection, remembrance, hope and healing” — following community outrage ignited by the demolition of the off-campus rental where the foursome was stabbed to death on Nov. 13, 2022.
The small walking path, complete with a “Memory Garden” and overhang, is wedged between several academic buildings and peppered with various flora and fauna.
It was designed by the University of Idaho’s architecture students and “inspired by community input.”
There was public outcry earlier this year — including from the victims’ family members — when the three-story home at 1122 King Road was torn down.
Protesters demanded that the home remain intact until after suspected killer Bryan Kohberger’s trial concluded in case the building harbored remaining evidence.
But school officials, who were given the house after the tragedy, called the structure a “grim reminder of the heinous act that took place there.”
A university spokesperson told The Post that the memorial garden was not meant to replace the off-campus home because the site was never intended to be a place of reflection.
The Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial also honors lost students other than Kernodle, Chapin, Goncalves and Mogen, the representative noted.
Prosecutors believe Kohberger broke into the off-campus house around 4 a.m. and stabbed the four friends to death inside their bedrooms. Lifelong pals Mogen and Goncalves were sharing a bed at the time, while couple Kernodle and Chapin were sleeping across the hall.
Kohberger’s defense team claims he was not in the vicinity of the property, but was instead on a late-night drive miles away in Washington State to look at the moon and stars.
At the time of the slayings, Kohberger was a criminology Ph.D student at Washington State University, just eight miles away from the house.
The state will pursue the death penalty at Kohberger’s trial, which is set for June 2025.
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