The weekend of May 29th, 6 volunteers set out to take down just over a mile of three strand barbed wire fence on BLM land just outside of Minidoka Idaho. The team got to work on Saturday morning with a wind that would not let up all day. That didn’t deter the enthusiastic team who made quick work of taking out fence stays, cutting t-post clips, and rolling up the old, barbed wire by hand.
The crew worked throughout the morning and didn’t break for lunch until the fence had been rolled up and in piles. After a quick burrito lunch, we were back at it to get all the rolls of wire and scrap metal out to a staged trailer.
This is a unique area situated on the edge of Craters of the Moon National Monument and the Great Rift Wilderness Study area. Elk, deer, and pronghorn use this as a migration route to winter range. Likely looking to winter along the Snake River and the fertile farmland that surrounds it.
The fence taken out is no longer needed for grazing and was a good candidate to be removed according to our BLM contact who identified this project. BHA will continue to work in this area with a future project on the books for this fall, if you missed this one and want in on the next one make sure to keep an eye on the Idaho Chapter BHA events page. One lucky volunteer received a free pair of Bogs Boots for coming out on their weekend! Thank you to all the volunteers who made this happen the work can’t be done without you!
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