Sawtooth National Forest

Today, we're talking with Dr. Kelly Hopping, Associate Professor in Human Environment Systems at Boise State, about research looking at targeted sheep grazing as a tool to manage cheatgrass, restore rangelands, and potentially reduce wildfire risk.

Her work in Idaho's Sawtooth National Forest brings together researchers, land managers, sheep producers, and herders managing sheep on the landscape.

We'll talk about what targeted grazing really looks like on the ground and what they're learning about when and how intensely sheep need to graze to affect cheatgrass and wildfire fuels, and whether ecosystem services like these could ultimately create new opportunities for Western sheep producers.

Dr. Hopping, thanks for joining us.

So that's great to hear.

Now let's start broadly with the problem.

What is cheatgrass and what is happening with it in the Sawtooth National Forest?

Cheatgrass is an annual grass, meaning that it has a really quick life cycle compared to a lot of our native perennial grasses that persist over multiple years.

Her cousin described her as an outdoorsy woman who loved to ski and took life at a slower pace sometimes.

On October 19th, 2020, Fern made a trip to the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho and set out for what should have been a simple day hike.

However, Fern failed to return home, and since October 19th, 2020, there's been no sign of Fern and she remains missing.

At around 1:00 PM on October 19th, 2020, Fern signed into the Prairie Creek Trailhead in the Prairie Peak area of the Sawtooth National Forest.

Fern would never sign out, and what happened to her is a mystery.

Upon checking the trail logs, investigators discovered that a group of five hikers also entered the trail around the same time as Fern, but they have never been able to track these people down.

Uh, McDonald's is planning to test an AI voice that can take orders in both English and Spanish.

In South Central Idaho, the Sawtooth National Forest is auctioning off 150 Christmas trees in their timber sale tomorrow morning.

Timber Program Manager Nelson Mills says harvesting Christmas trees in this sale will encourage aspen tree growth and benefit local wildlife habitats.

Ford has recalled over 40,000 vehicles over a headlight defect they say could heavily affect a driver's visibility on the road.

On July 25th of that year, Craig left his home for what would be the last time, and after he set out to go camping, he simply never returned.

Weeks later, Craig's abandoned Teal 1977 Ford F-150 was discovered in the Sawtooth National Forest among the trees near Road 232 north of Lava Spring and the North Fork of Shoshone Creek.

The Jerome Police Department was contacted and when they failed to make contact with Craig, the owner of the truck, they filed a missing person report.

Multiple searches of the area have been conducted, however, there has been no sign of Craig.

Her cousin described her as an outdoorsy woman who loved to ski and took life at a slower pace sometimes.

On October 19, 2020, Byrne made a trip to the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho and set out for what should have been a simple day hike.

However, Fern failed to return home and since October 19th, 2020, there's been no sign of Fern and she remains missing.

At around 1pm on October 19th, 2020, Fern signed into the Prairie Creek Trailhead in the Prairie Peak area of the Sawtooth National Forest.

Fern would never sign out and what happened to her is a mystery.

Upon checking the trail logs, investigators discovered that a group of five hikers also entered the trail around the same time as Fern, but they have never been able to track these people down.

Her cousin described her as an outdoorsy woman who loved to ski and took life at a slower pace sometimes.

On October 19, 2020, Byrne made a trip to the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho and set out for what should have been a simple day hike.

However, Fern failed to return home and since October 19th, 2020, there's been no sign of Fern and she remains missing.

At around 1 p.m. on October 19th, 2020, Fern signed into the Prairie Creek Trailhead in the Prairie Peak area of the Sawtooth National Forest.

Fern would never sign out and what happened to her is a mystery.

Upon checking the trail logs, investigators discovered that a group of five hikers also entered the trail around the same time as Fern, but they have never been able to track these people down.

Her cousin described her as an outdoorsy woman who loved to ski and took life at a slower pace sometimes.

On October 19, 2020, Byrne made a trip to the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho and set out for what should have been a simple day hike.

However, Fern failed to return home and since October 19, 2020, there has been no sign of Fern and she remains missing.

At around 1pm on October 19, 2020, Fern signed into the Prairie Creek Trailhead in the Prairie Peak area of the Sawtooth National Forest.

Fern would never sign out and what happened to her is a mystery.

Upon checking the trail logs, investigators discovered that a group of five hikers also entered the trail around the same time as Fern, but they have never been able to track these people down.

Her cousin described her as an outdoorsy woman who loved to ski and took life at a slower pace sometimes.

On October 19, 2020, Byrne made a trip to the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho and set out for what should have been a simple day hike.

However, Fern failed to return home and since October 19th, 2020, there has been no sign of Fern and she remains missing.

At around 1pm on October 19th, 2020, Fern signed into the Prairie Creek Trailhead in the Prairie Peak area of the Sawtooth National Forest.

Fern would never sign out and what happened to her is a mystery.

Upon checking the trail logs, investigators discovered that a group of five hikers also entered the trail around the same time as Fern, but they have never been able to track these people down.

Fish and Wildlife Services, and all of the opportunities.

From there, I decided to try to get into more of a leadership role, went through some of the internal programs that were fabulous, Middle Leader Program, and Ended up doing some stints as detailed rangers, did some work with the Washington office, state and private forestry, and ended up as a as a ranger in Ketchum, Idaho and on the Sawtooth National Forest.

And I think, you know, as anybody will say, I think, you know, leaving the agency was extremely difficult decision because I never thought that I would.

But I've kind of made I'd made a life out of it.

And say, maybe we need help.

Maybe we can't do this, whether it was because of staffing, whether it was because of funding, whether it was, I mean, you name it, there was a lot of different variables.

And so the one example I have was the most recent position on the Sawtooth National Forest.

We worked with a partner group.