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Idaho Update
S PR I NG 2015 E DITION
I D A H O U P D AT E
The
Director’s
Desk
TONI HARDESTY
The two-hour drive I take between
our Boise and Hailey offices is a
coveted time for head clearing and
creative thinking. During a recent
commute, as I looked out at the
beautiful sagebrush country, my
thoughts wandered to the past,
likely because 2015 marks our
chapter’s 50th anniversary.
It’s hard to believe that 50 years have passed since a
small group of University of Idaho professors decided to
start a Conservancy chapter here in Idaho.
Creek, we have set the stage for the groundbreaking
work we pursue today in places like Pioneers-Craters, a
vast region that includes 2.4 million acres (featured in
this newsletter).
With your support, we have accomplished so much
together over 50 years. On behalf of our team,
thank you.
Join us in coming months as we honor the people
and places that made it possible to conserve so much
of Idaho. We invite you to renew your commitment to
the future of Idaho’s remarkable lands, waters, wildlife
and people.
Your friend in conservation,
From our humble beginnings at Idler’s Rest near
Moscow to the creation of our flagship preserve at Silver
Toni Hardesty, Idaho State Director
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Recognition for a
Remarkable Place
Between the Pioneer Mountains and
the Craters of the Moon National
Monument lies an expansive region
of remarkable ecological diversity. It
is a place where one of the farthest
pronghorn migrations occur in the
West. Pygmy rabbits, wolverines, big
horn sheep and greater sage-grouse
roam freely.
The Pioneers-Craters region also supports several
family-run ranches and farms. Fourteen years ago,
The Nature Conservancy began working with one of
these families, Kathleen and Brian Bean, to establish a
conservation easement on 7,500 acres of their Lava Lake
Ranch. The easement made it possible for the Beans to
continue their sustainable ranching operations, while
also protecting their property from future development
that would impact wildlife.
From left: Lou Lunte, The Nature Conservancy; Keri York, Wood
River Land Trust; Krysta Harden, USDA Deputy Secretary of
Agriculture; Mike Stevens, The Nature Conservancy.
with ranchers, local residents, conservationists, scientists,
business people, and elected and agency officials.
Today these collaborative efforts, known as the Pioneers
Alliance, are on track to conserve more than 80,000
acres of private lands in Pioneers-Craters by the end
of 2015.
The Conservancy’s work as part of the Pioneers Alliance
recently earned the Secretary of Agriculture’s highest
honor for conservation. Deputy State Director Lou
Lunte proudly joined alliance members in Washington,
D.C., to receive the award, which recognizes large,
community-driven efforts to safeguard private-public
landscapes that are important to people and nature.
This relationship with Lava Lake and the Beans marked
the beginning of a decade of conservation in the region
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New Eastern Idaho
Manager Becomes Part of
Conservancy Team
Conservancy supports working lands while using science to lead
the path in conservation efforts.”
When not working, David enjoys hiking, skiing, fly fishing, floating
rivers, gold panning and hunting for wild edibles.
David Weskamp joined The Nature Conservancy in December
2014 as the Eastern Idaho conservation manager. He will work
with multiple partners and landowners, conserving and restoring
the landscape in Eastern Idaho.
David has a bachelor’s degree in freshwater fisheries from
Humboldt State University in northern California. He began his
career with the Yurok Tribe on the Klamath River as a fisheries
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biologist, focusing on anadromous salmonids and watershed
restoration. He has worked with Idaho Department of Fish
and Game in the Wood River Valley, and Trout Unlimited in
West Virginia.
“Growing up in a rich agricultural community, I have a deep respect
for farmers and ranchers,” David says. “I like that The Nature
Volunteer
Opportunities
VOLUNTEER PHOTOGRAPHER — Statewide
Looking for the opportunity to use your photography skills for a
great cause? The Nature Conservancy in Idaho is always in need
of great photos that showcase our landscapes, wildlife, people and
way of life. This volunteer position may include independent travel
or, in some cases, opportunities to join staff in the field.
Do you want to make a difference and
have fun doing it?
Contribute your time and talents to The Nature Conservancy in
Idaho! Volunteers help with a variety of projects, from planting trees
to taking photographs — and a whole lot in between.
Current opportunities
OFFICE ASSISTANT — Idaho Falls
Assist with records management, digitizing documents and
organizing. Experience with Microsoft Word is required.
PRESERVE STEWARD — Cougar Bay
This volunteer position offers opportunities from March through
November and includes performing general maintenance around
the parking lot and trailhead. This would be a weekly task, mostly
picking up trash, keeping dog waste off of the road and trail, and
walking the trails once a week or so.
PRESERVE STEWARD, BALL CREEK RANCH —
Bonners Ferry
For more information on how to apply, contact Nancie Lange at
Come volunteer at the Conservancy’s beautiful North Idaho farm
www.nature.org/volunteeridaho.
and wetland. A typical volunteer starts with breakfast at the barn
[email protected] or (208) 578-4230, or go to
at 7 a.m., followed by fencing (deconstruction and construction)
and wetland restoration (shrub planting, tree protection, etc.).
Opportunities are usually available during a weekend in the spring
and a weekend in the fall.
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The Conservancy’s East Idaho office has a new
location: 447 Park Ave., Idaho Falls, ID 83402
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Where Have all the
Curlews Gone?
Long-billed curlew at the Flat
Ranch Preserve.
Starting this spring, the Conservancy’s Flat Ranch Preserve
will serve as one of six locations in a study of long-billed curlew
populations in the Intermountain West.
“Ultimately, the research conducted will help guide management
strategies aimed at the conservation of long-billed curlews,”
says Jay Carlisle, research director at Boise State University’s
Intermountain Bird Observatory (IBO), which is conducting
the study.
Researchers plan to survey curlew nests and populations
between early April and mid-June. Tracking population density
and the success of nests, while taking into account habitat types,
human disturbance and predation, will provide insight into
factors affecting curlew populations.
“I’m looking forward to learning more about curlew migration
and their breeding ecology. Especially because once we’ve
answered some of the basic questions about where they go, and
what factors are influencing reproductive success, there are many
other exciting directions the research could take,” says Stephanie
Coates, Boise State graduate student and project researcher.
These surveys complement an ongoing IBO study of curlew
migrations that began in 2013 using satellite transmitters.
Preliminary results revealed a trend in which curlews breeding
in Western Idaho migrated to the Central Valley of California,
and those breeding in Eastern Idaho and Western Wyoming
migrated farther south, generally to locations around the
California-Mexico border.
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Satellite transmitters used to
track migrating birds.
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Researchers attaching a
transmitter to a curlew.
Last year one of those transmitters was placed on a female
long-billed curlew from the Flat Ranch Preserve. The Nature
Conservancy helped raise funds for the transmitter and enlisted
the public’s help in naming the tracked bird, “Henrietta.”
This spring, IBO also plans to deploy at least 16 new
transmitters on curlews from populations in Idaho, Wyoming
and Montana, including monitoring an additional curlew at the
Flat Ranch Preserve.
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By Lisa Eller, Director of Communications
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The
Bats of Ball Creek Preserve
F
or many years, thousands of little brown bats
considered the old farmhouse at The Nature
Conservancy’s Ball Creek Preserve to be “home.”
The bats had long used the attic as both nursery and
roost, causing the ceiling to sag under the weight of bat
guano. In 2000, workers sealed the attic and affixed
new bat houses to the outer siding, and the colony
soon flourished.
A decade later, the fatigued bat houses started to
crumble and fall. With the house in need of substantial
upgrades, the bats had to move. As it turns out,
mounting bat houses to the side of your house is not
such a great idea!
As insectivores, little brown bats are beneficial to
agriculture because they eat many species of agricultural
pests. Recognizing the huge ecological benefits of the
bats, Kennon McClintock, the Conservancy’s North
Idaho field representative, called in a bat expert to ask
about the feasibility of moving them.
The expert told Kennon that moving the colony was
risky, but if the boxes were oriented to make the most
of solar gain, and stayed within a certain proximity to
the old farmhouse and Ball Creek, the bats had a better
chance of adapting to their new homes.
The crew went to work repurposing the stinky batguano wood from the attic to build the new boxes. The
odor would entice the bats to check out the boxes. The
big question: Would they return?
During a population count last fall, staff recorded 165
bats that were indeed using these bat houses. In April,
when the bats return from hibernation, population
monitoring will continue. Look for updates on the
progress of the little brown bats on our blog:
idahonaturenotes.blogspot.com
For more about Idaho’s 14 species of bats and how to
build bat houses, visit:
fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/wildlife/nongame/
leafletBat.pdf
By Valerie Connor, Operations Assistant
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New Fly-fishing
Documentary
FEATU R E S CON S E RVANCY PR E S E RVE
A new documentary film, The Rocky Mountain Fly Highway, serves as a stunning reminder of the world-class
fly-fishing waters found right here in the Intermountain West.
The one-hour film, which features The Nature Conservancy’s
Silver Creek Preserve, is narrated by Tom Skerritt and
written by celebrated Idaho columnist Tim Woodward.
It follows a 500-mile section of U.S. Highway 20, from
Yellowstone National Park to the Oregon border, as it
winds through more than a dozen of America’s most
coveted fly waters.
For decades the Conservancy has preserved and restored
many of the lands and waters featured in the film —
legendary rivers like the Henry’s and South Forks of the
Snake River, the Yellowstone, the Madison, the Owyhee
and Silver Creek.
The one-hour film showcases Silver Creek’s history and
fly-fishing allure. A large, spring-fed creek in Central
Idaho, Silver Creek is widely considered to be both a
model for conservation and one of the most challenging
fly-fishing streams in the West. Anglers say the fish
at Silver Creek are so educated, they have Ph.D.s. As
Skerritt explains, “You can have ideal conditions, the
right fly, the perfect cast — and still go home frustrated.”
For more on the film, visit flyhighway.com. To learn more about Silver Creek Preserve, visit nature.org/idaho.
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The Nature Conservancy in Idaho
116 First Avenue North
Hailey, Idaho 83333
www.nature.org/Idaho
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@nature_ID
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