Dedication Point

James Skillen is a professor at Calvin University, and the author of several books about the history of land management and land management policy here in the US. His first book, “The Nation’s Largest Landlord”, chronicles the history of the BLM, while his most recent book, “This Land is Our Land”, explores conservative rebellion against federal land management agencies.

Emily Wakild is the Cecil D. Andrus Endowed Chair for the Environment and Public Lands at Boise State University. She has written books about this history of public lands management in Latin America, and she brings this unique perspective to our ongoing discussions about the management of public lands here in Idaho.

This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at this year’s Snake River Raptor Fest, an event that the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership hosts at Indian Creek Winery every June.

Josh Jackson is the author of the forthcoming book “The Enduring Wild: A Journey into California’s Public Lands”. He’s also the founder of the Forgotten Lands project, and has become an expert on the Bureau of Land Management.

In this episode, we explore a restoration site in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA. Just a few weeks ago, the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership hosted a public planting day in celebration of National Public Lands Day. Listen in as Birds of Prey NCA Partnership president Steve Alsup explains the restoration process, and Charlie Baun from the Idaho Army National Guard helps volunteers get plants in the ground.

This is our final episode of Season Four! We hope you enjoyed all of our restoration-focused interviews!

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This week, we’re talking about growing native plants in a nursery setting. Lots of restoration projects include as one component, the planting of nursery grown seedlings. There are several plant nurseries in the region that specialize in growing native plants for restoration projects, and for this episode, we spoke with the owners and operators of Twin Peaks nursery in McCall, ID.

This week’s interview is focused on one crucial aspect of desert shrubland restoration efforts - the use of pre-emergent herbicides. These pre-emergent herbicides prevent seeds from germinating without causing significant harm to most established perennials, and they are used almost universally in restoration projects in sage-steppe ecosystems to reduce the cover of invasive annual grasses. Brynne Lazarus, biologist with USGS, will be guiding us through her research on the use of pre-emergent herbicides in desert shrubland restoration efforts.

This week’s interview is focused on the Soda Fire. This megafire burned nearly 280,000 acres in Southwest Idaho and Southeast Oregon - just adjacent to the the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA - in 2015. This wildfire generated a historic response, with more resources put into restoration, emergency stabilization, and research than ever before. We’re most interested in the research that has been conducted in an effort to test the effectiveness of a variety of different restoration strategies, and our guest is USGS ecologist Cara Applestein. Cara has been conducting research on post-fire restoration at the Soda...

This week’s interview is focused on the strategic challenges associated with restoring sage-steppe ecosystems in the Great Basin. Our guest is Chad Boyd, a Rangeland Scientist and Research Leader who has been based in Eastern Oregon and working on restoration projects since 1999. His work is focused on establishing strategic decision-making protocols for land managers looking to restore sage-steppe ecosystems across the Great Basin. Despite the enormity of the problem, Chad is optimistic about the future of these landscapes, and I hope this optimism rubs off on some of our listeners!

This is the first episode of Season 4 of Dedication Point! Season 4 will be focused on restoration in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA, and we're getting this conversation started with Matt Germino, supervisory research ecologist with USGS. Germino has been leading a research team focused on restoration strategies and techniques in the Intermountain West since 2011, and he shares his wealth of knowledge on this topic here in this episode!

A panel discussion featuring Brandon Flack and Zac Hulling from the Idaho Fish and Game Department and Aaron Utz from Idaho Power discussing management strategies and the population status of waterfowl and upland game species in the CJ Strike Wildlife Management Area (which is encompassed by the Snake River Birds of Prey NCA).

Rita Dixon, the State Wildlife Action Plan Coordinator for the Idaho Fish and Game Department, discusses the diverse array of bat species that one can see in the NCA, as well as the the looming threat of white-nose syndrome, a devastating disease affecting bats across North America.

Boise State University Professor Ian Robertson discusses the role of insects in the ecosystems of the NCA, as well as his research on insect-plant interactions.

Herpetologist Kristina Parker discusses reptile surveys and rattlesnake research that she conducted in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA.

In this episode we’re talking about Jackrabbits, and how improved survey methods designed to assess their populations in the NCA hold the potential to benefit wildlife survey efforts all across the globe.

Guests for this episode are Dr. Jen Cruz, Assistant Professor at Boise State University, and her graduate student, Leticia Camacho.

Welcome to Season Three of Dedication Point! We're extremely excited to bring you a new season of episodes about the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA. 

This season’s theme is prey. The Snake River canyon region was set aside as an National Conservation Area because of it’s uniquely high density of birds of prey - and while these raptors get a lot of attention - the prey species that the raptors rely on are often overlooked. We seek to amend this situation in Season 3 of this podcast - each episode will be focused on a...

Danielle Murray and Andres Esparza from the Conservation Lands Foundation discuss their ongoing efforts to conserve public land through grassroots organizing, and how the new Climate Atlas mapping tool can help.

Discussing climate change, habitat restoration, and management goals with Ann Marie Raymondi, the ecologist for the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA.

Former Utah State University graduate student Scott Zimmer discusses his research on climate models that predict vegetation and habitat changes in the Intermountain West. We discuss what these projections tell us about our rapidly changing landscapes, and how these findings can be used by land managers.

Dr. Jen Pierce is an Associate Professor in the Geoscience Department at Boise State University. She is an expert on the impact of Climate Change on Wildfire, and is currently engaged in research about carbon sequestration in desert ecosystems. Dr. Pierce spoke with Dedication Point co-hosts about what the future may hold for sagebrush steppe ecosystems in Southwest Idaho.

Patty Glick is the lead author of a new paper that lays out a framework for land management in our modern era of climate change. She explains how the framework was crafted and how it can help land managers adapt their practices to account for our rapidly changing climate.

A panel of raptor biologists discuss the current effort to survey the Snake River canyon’s Prairie falcon population. As you’ll hear in the discussion, the Snake River canyon is a very special place for prairie falcons, and the full canyon survey that’s currently underway is part of a monumental effort to assess the size and health of this unique population.

Amanda Hoffman is the current manager of the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA. She took over this role in March of 2016, having previously served as the acting associate monument manager at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. We talked with Amanda about the challenges that she’s faced since becoming the manager of this NCA, and how she’s taken lessons from the unique history of the area.

Dr. Julie Heath is a professor in the department of Biological Sciences and the Raptor Research Center at Boise State University. Her research lab is focused on addressing questions about how birds respond to large scale environmental change. She has conducted numerous research projects within the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA, working with a number of other researchers and graduate students. This research has documented how raptors are responding to some of the changes occurring within the NCA and the surrounding area.

Kent Carnie is a lifelong falconer, longtime board member of the Peregrine Fund, and the founder of the Archives of Falconry. His close friendship with Morley Nelson lasted for many decades, and Carnie played a central role in the decision to relocate the Peregrine Fund’s headquarters to its current home in Boise, ID. We discussed with Mr. Carnie the history of American falconry as well as the influence that Morley Nelson had on the sport. Carnie also explains the role that Morley played in the recovery of the peregrine falcon, and the influence that the Peregrine Fund exerted to...

Roger Rosentreter is a retired BLM botanist – he spent 35 years working as the Idaho BLM state botanist. During that time Roger worked throughout Idaho and the Intermountain West, but always maintained a strong connection with the high desert ecosystems of the sagebrush steppe, and has spent quite a bit of time working in the NCA. He has amassed a wealth of knowledge about the introduction of invasive species such as cheatgrass, and has conducted numerous research projects analyzing the effects of these introductions on native species. He has authored close to 100 scientific publications over the course of his career.

John Freemuth is a professor of public policy at Boise State University, but he also serves as the Cencil Andrus endowed chair of Environment and Public Lands for the Andrus Center for Public Policy. During the Clinton administration, Freemuth served as the chair of the science advisory board for the BLM, so he has a vast depth of knowledge on how science can and should affect public policy. We talked with John Freemuth about the legacy of Cecil Andrus and how science should continue to affect policy in the Snake River Birds of Prey NCA.

Dean Hagerman is a historian, graduate student, and former National Guardsman who worked at the Orchard Combat Training Center within the Snake River Birds of Prey NCA. As someone with both direct experience working for the National Guard at their training area inside the NCA, and a graduate student studying the history of this very area, Dean is uniquely positioned to share the history behind this National Guard training center. And this history is quite unique – as Dean points out, there are no other examples on the planet of an active military training area operating from within an area prot...

John Sullivan was the first manager of the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, serving in this role for over a decade. In our interview, Sullivan provides some fascinating insight into the issues that needed to be addressed during the early years of the NCA, including a contentious relationship with an Army National Guard training center.

Tracy Andrus is the middle daughter of former Idaho governor and secretary of the interior Cecil Andrus. Tracy has a wealth of amazing stories about growing up in the Andrus household and traveling to Washington, D.C. for her father’s term as the Interior Secretary. She has become an advocate for public lands in her own right in her role as the president of the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State U, and her insight into the processes behind the establishment of the Snake River Birds of Prey NCA is invaluable.

All of our previous interviews released as a part of this series have been focused on the very recent history of the Snake River canyon region. This interview with Ted Howard, the tribal chairman of the Shoshone-Paiute tribe, takes us back to the earliest interactions that humanity had with this landscape, and also provides crucial insight into issues over land ownership in Southern Idaho and throughout the West.

Dr. Mark Plew is a professor of Anthropology at Boise State University. He has spent a significant portion of his career conducting research in the Snake River plain, and has spent more time investigating archaeological sites within the Morley Nelson Snake River birds of Prey NCA than any other archeologist in history. It this oral history interview Dr. Plew outlines a number of key insights into the ancient history of human occupation in the Snake River canyon, as well as discussing the politics surrounding archeological research in this area.

Former Deputy Attorney General for the state of Idaho Clive Strong discusses the Swan Falls controversy of the early 1980s. This landmark agreement has had far reaching implications for water rights and water law across the US, but it also had a local impact on the establishment of protection for the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA.

Norm Nelson is the oldest son of Morley Nelson, who is widely considered to be the most influential figure in the establishment of a National Conservation Area in the snake river canyon. What many people don’t realize however, is the substantial role that Morley’s family played in working to get protected status for this unique area. While Morley was working his full time job as the region’s snow survey supervisor – a job that he held from the late 1940s through the early 1970s – it was often his kids – Norm, Tim, Tyler and Suzie – who were out in the field w...

Larry LaRocco served as a congressman from Idaho’s 1st congressional district in the US House of Representatives from 1991 through 1995. When he was elected, LaRocco knew very little about the Snake River canyon region, but he had cut his teeth as a politician working on wilderness legislation in central Idaho as a field coordinator for Senator Frank Church. LaRocco entered congress at a moment when Morley Nelson, Cecil Andrus and others were starting to become concerned about the need to permanently protect the Snake River canyon. The Snake River Birds of Prey Natural Area had been protected through a 20 ye...

Dean Bibles played a key role in one of the most important actions connected to the establishment of the Snake River Birds of Prey NCA - the 1980 withdrawal by then Secretary of the Interior Cecil Andrus, which created the current boundaries for this protected area. It was actually Dean's idea to increase the boundary of what was then called the Snake River Birds of Prey Natural Area, via an administrative withdrawal, which he suggested to Cecil Andrus on a float trip down the Snake River canyon. Dean went on to serve in a variety of public office roles throughout...

Karen Steenhof has been working in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCa for over 40 years as a wildlife and research biologist. The research that she conducted in the 1970s, 80s and 90s played a key role in the establishment of protection for the area. She has become one of the leading advocates for research based management of the NCA – advocating for continued raptor monitoring in the Snake River canyon, and playing an important advocacy role in the controversial decision to route a new powerline through the canyon. It was an honor to speak with Karen about he...

In our fifth episode of this oral history series we are featuring our interview with Andy Ogden, a man who knows more about the Snake River Canyon than most do about their backyard. Andy was introduced to birds of prey by Morley Nelson when he was just a teenager, and Nelson quickly became a role model for Andy. When Andy was in high school Morley convinced him to take on one of the first raptor research and monitoring projects in the Snake River Canyon. Andy become fascinated by the Snake River Canyon, and as a graduate student conducted the...

This, our fourth episode of this oral history series, will feature an interview with Cecil Andrus. Andrus is probably Idaho’s best known politician - he ran for Governor of Idaho in 1970 as a Democrat and an environmentalist - and he won. Andrus also served as the Secretary of the Interior under president Jimmy Carter, where he was able to have his most dramatic influence over the establishment of a protected area in the Snake River canyon. Andrus passed away in 2017, but we’re able to hear his perspective on the Snake River Birds of Prey NCA because of an i...

Michael Kochert has been researching raptor species for over 40 years and has served in multiple capacities for the Raptor Research Foundation. He has been interested in wildlife biology since he was a child, and admits he wasn’t initially interested in birds of prey. But, it didn’t take long after his first impression in the Snake River Canyon that he would proudly called himself a “desert rat”. Michael was instrumental in researching and understanding the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area. His work was pivotal to NCA borders established by the BLM. He met Morley Nelson as a you...

Steve Stuebner is the author of “Cool North Wind”, a biography of Morley Nelson. Steve spent years researching Morley’s life for this book, conducting numerous interviews and uncovering fascinating details about the creation of the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA.