BOISE, Idaho — In 2024, the Valley Fire devastated the Intermountain Bird Observatory at the top of Lucky Peak.
But like every bird migration, the observatory came back in 2025.
We met Greg Kaltenecker, the Executive Director of the Intermountain Bird Observatory, at the top of the ridge northeast of Harris Ranch.
“It raced up this west side of the front, and it burned pretty much everything, and it burned super-hot,” recounted Kaltenecker.
On October 4, 2024, the Valley Fire caused severe damage to the Intermountain Bird Observatory, but also to valuable wildlife habitat in the surrounding areas.
It also gave a group of students on-site a story for a lifetime.
“They started evacuating," added Kaltenecker. "The school group drove out with a BLM escort, and they drove right through the fire."
See how the Intermountain Bird Observatory has come back from a devastating wildfire in 2024
And when Kaltenecker could get up to the site after there was no threat from the fire, he said this, "It was saddening coming up the road and seeing it.”
The I.B.O. is a program at Boise State and relies on grants and donations to do its work.
From mid-August to mid-October, workers spend six days a week on top of a ridge at close to 6000 feet above sea level because they love the work.
Two members of the Hawk Watch explained what fuels their passion.
“It’s super special for me to be close to home and be able to have an impact on my local community and the birds that are here," said one member.
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Her colleague went on to add, "And the species change, the composition changes throughout the months that we’re up here. Early season, we get a lot of Swainson's hawk, Red Tail Hawks. Now we're getting into our Sharp-shinned Hawks and our Cooper's Hawks.”
Kaltenecker says it’s important to educate people about the migration habits of dozens of birds.
“Where birds winter, the kind of things that can kill birds, mortality factors, how long they live, all those things— I think the more people that know about that, yeah, we can affect long-term conservation.”
And to the damage from the Valley Fire, Kaltenecker feels better with every new season. “It’s these plants that are right here on this edge of the forest that are so important to the migrating songbirds, and I think that’s one of the most devastating losses at this site, anyways, from that fire, but as you can see, they’re coming back.”
