Promising practices to protect and restore the Owyhyees

Editor's note: The first-ever Owyhee Research and Restoration Roundup was held on October 23 and 24 to showcase how research taking place in the Owyhees is being used to inform conservation and management.

By Art Talsma, restoration manager, The Nature Conservancy in Idaho
 
The Owyhee Roundup was a great exchange of ideas and conservation practices that showcased promising and effective ways to protect, restore and enhance rangelands to benefit both wildlife and ranching in the region.
 

Photo ©John Robison/Idaho Conservation League

We shared several innovative and traditional conservation practices where science is being applied across the region. These practices included: 

• Coated seed pods that increase planting success after weed treatments or wildfire.
• Ways to model and predict wildfire flow so we can locate fire breaks in the most effective places.  
• Satellite and infrared images that help locate best places to control juniper near sage grouse lek.
• Which types of sagebrush are preferred by sage grouse for feeding and winter cover and even a robotic sage grouse hen that attracted male sage grouse on the dancing grounds. 
• Understanding of threats from transmission lines and new invasive grasses coming to the west.
• Radio tracking for big-horn sheep and sage grouse as well as way to be more cost effective in aerial surveys of wildlife.

Ranchers, agency land stewards, Trout Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy presented a suite of success stories including:

• Using Air Force aircraft to control cheatgrass and increase survival of native bunch grasses.
• Using mastication equipment and chainsaw crews to control juniper encroachment in sage grouse nesting areas.
• Protecting riparian habitat and cold headwater stream or springs to help redband rainbow trout survive the summer heat and drought.
• Understanding the practical side of ranching economics and helpful sources of funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) that assist ranchers in doing conservation practices to benefit the lands and waters on which all life depend.
  
  To find out more about our work in the Owyhees, check out this link. To learn about how you can get involved, contact Art Talsma: atalsma@tnc.org

The Wild & Scenic Bruneau

The Nature Conservancy’s Will Whelan recently joined friends on a four-day float trip down the Bruneau River in southwest Idaho. He brought back photographs of one of the most stunning and remote canyons in Idaho.

Will has a special link to the Bruneau because he has spent the last several years working with the Owyhee Initiative, a collaborative effort with ranchers, county government, Shoshone-Paiute Tribes, conservationists and recreationists dedicated to improving public lands management in this five million-acre corner of Idaho. Last year, the Owyhee Initiative worked with Senator Mike Crapo to pass federal legislation that designated the Bruneau Canyon a wilderness and wild & scenic river. This was Will’s first visit to the Bruneau since these new protections were enacted into law.

The Bruneau’s steep walls create a shady and relatively cool oasis along the river. The canyon bottoms support surprisingly lush plant communities, including the Bruneau River prickly phlox, a cliff dwelling flower that exists only here. The canyon is also home to the reclusive canyon wren, which serenades visitors with its distinctive descending scale of notes. Most boaters stay close to the water, but numerous side canyons offer rugged hikes that lead to caves, slot canyons, and vast desert tables high above the river.

The easiest way to see the Bruneau Canyon is from the scenic overlook a short drive off of the Bruneau-Three Creek Road, about twenty miles south of the town of Bruneau. The overlook is perched on the edge of the canyon and provides a breathtaking view nearly 1,000 feet straight down to the river below. Floating the Bruneau during the short boating season in late spring involves long hours of travel over rough roads and challenging Class IV rapids.