Sometimes a plan comes together and things just work out. September 26, 2026, National Public Lands Day was one of those days. After months of planning and meetings the weekend was finally here. The Bureau of Land Management had identified an outdated 3.5-mile fenceline in the Owyhee desert for BHA to assist in the removal of. At the same time BHA’s own Ryan Callaghan was going to be on a backcountry road trip through Southern Idaho filming his journey with MeatEater. The plan was for Ryan and the film crew to meet up, participate in the fence removal, and film the entire journey. 

The volunteer crew met up early Saturday morning for coffee. Getting up to the fence we met up with Cal, talked safety, got set up with lunch, and started work. The US Fish & Wildlife Service had reached out a few weeks prior about bringing the agency’s skid steer and wire winder to make the effort a bit easier. This ended up working out great. 

 

The fence crew was able to cruise down the fenceline, removing clips and t-posts, cutting the fence stays, and pulling the wire to be winded up by the machine. The film crew could barely keep up with the volunteers as we moved down the line dismantling the fence. They were troopers about getting the shots and interviews they needed while not slowing down the work efforts. 

Overall, BHA had a great showing of volunteers with multiple agencies being involved with the removal. Grace Bullington from Idaho Fish and Game, the Southwest Regional Habitat Biologist, was also able to join us for the event. With the project taking place in her region, she was a great resource for Cal and volunteers, sharing insight into the health of local wildlife and the challenges species face on the landscape. Questions about bighorn sheep and Greater sage-grouse were some of the most common, giving volunteers a chance to connect the fence removal work happening on the ground to the bigger picture of wildlife habitat and migration across the region.

 

The group made it to the end of the fence and took some pictures and a break to socialize a bit before hiking the two and a half miles back to the trucks. We passed the skid steer on the way back as they made their way down the fence rolling up the remaining wire. Back to the parking spot by 3pm, not a bad day's work. The group got some more time to chat over refreshments and snacks while we waited for the skid steer to finish up, they weren’t far behind us. 

 

Once back at camp the group relaxed until dinner when we enjoyed a wild game potluck with elk tacos and venison stew. We sat around the campfire talking about this fall's hunts and took pleasure in a job well done. 

The day had worked out better than I could have planned, with amazing weather, a hard working crew, and great company all around. BHA can’t do these projects without help from our volunteers and collaboration with our agency partners. It’s great to come away from the weekend knowing there are so many passionate people in the public land community willing to get their hands dirty to help wildlife. 

If you haven’t had the opportunity to attend a BHA event this year, consider finding one in your local area, BHA Events Page. 

And if you aren’t a member of BHA, consider joining!

Snort enjoying some well earned rest!