March 21, 2026, BHA and the BLM Boise Field office joined forces to take out a half mile fence. The work occurred on BLM land south of Boise in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area. A wordy name for an epic place in Southwest Idaho. Named after Morlan “Morley” Nelson, a falconer and conservationist. In 1958 Nelson helped to influence the Idaho Legislature and create a law to protect raptors here and across Idaho.  

     

The NCA was established by Congress on August 4, 1993. It is home to North Americas greatest concentration of nesting birds of prey, with 15 different species found in the region. The NCA totals 484,873 acres and is managed by the BLM. With cliffs and deep canyons reaching down to the Snake River it is some truly remarkable country. Not only do raptors call this large area home, migrating pronghorn, mule deer, small game, and unusually high numbers of borrowing animals live here. With high numbers of borrowing animals like the Paiute ground squirrel, birds of prey thrive here.

     

 

We had 12 volunteers out to help with this undertaking. This has been an ongoing effort by the BLM to remove a total of 11.4 miles of fencing in this area. The fence was originally constructed after a fire to keep livestock from disturbing the recently burned area and to let the plant life regrow. This was the final push to complete this project. The group finished removing the half mile of fence before lunch. With all the old fencing materials loaded up we head back to the main road with a quick stop to pull out more t-posts left behind from other work events. Overall, this was a great turnout, we got the fence removed and deposited 1 ton of metal to the scrap yard, not bad for a few hours work. This gave the group sometime in the sun to talk hunting and public lands over a packed lunch. One lucky winner was selected for a free pair of Bogs Boots just for joining us and volunteering their time. It is the hope that work in this area will continue with BHA and more old fences can be taken down here in the future!

Working to remove old fences on public lands reduces the chance of entanglement by big game and raptors alike. It is the goal of this work to open large tracks of public lands for these animals and bring people together in the process. Thank you to all the volunteers who showed up for this event! If you missed this one and want to get involved in the future keep an eye on our event page.