REICHERT: Change.

It can be unsettling.

It can be exhilarating, it can be downright confounding.

That certainly applies to issues facing the west as well as to individuals.

Of course, sometimes turning that page to the next chapter requires from us teamwork, sacrifice, and a willingness to look at things in new ways.

all the values that have made Idaho, Idaho.

ANNOUNCER: Funding for Outdoor Idaho is made possible by the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation committed to fulfilling the Moore and Bettis Family Legacy of building the great state of Idaho by the Friends of Idaho Public Television, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

REICHERT: The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is no stranger to challenge.

That was true in 1899 when the agency was formed, and it's true now.

What has changed throughout the years though - are the types of challenges.

And the solutions the agency uses to resolve them.

RICK WARD, IDFG: Chronic wasting disease is a pretty serious business.

It's a hundred percent fatal for deer and elk and moose if they contract it.

It can lead to some, some pretty serious population declines if left unchecked.

REICHERT: In fall of 2021, two mule deer harvested by hunters tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease or CWD, the first two cases ever found in Idaho—despite the disease existing in our neighboring states for decades.

And that resulted in a swift response from the wildlife agency.

WARD: We implemented these hunts to use the public, to help us get additional CWD samples.

We rely on hunter harvest to, to get those samples REICHERT: The agency put together an emergency hunt, with special tags requiring hunters to bring the deer head to the agency after harvest.

The disease affects the deer's brain and evidence of it can be found in the animal's lymph nodes.

After it's brought in, the lymph nodes are removed from the deer's head and sent away to be tested for CWD.

RICK WARD: We are requiring hunters to give us a GPS coordinate of the, the kill site, where they harvest that animal at.

That will help us dial in on where the epicenter might be.

REICHERT: With more data, Idaho Fish and Game will be able to come up with a management plan - although without a treatment for CWD, controlling the spread will require a unique collaboration between the agency and hunters.

RICK WARD: I do know there, there is no cure for CWD.

There's no vaccination, there's no cure for infected animals.

Going forward, the hunting public will be an integral part of our management plan.

REICHERT: With the disease officially within our state's borders, the agency is stepping into a new era of disease management, adding yet another task to their already full plate.

REICHERT: The department also has the herculean task of managing hundreds of thousands of animals across our state.

And one way they're doing that - is by taking photos of them.

30 million times a year.

REICHERT: Using trail cameras and artificial intelligence, the wildlife agency is working on a new way of getting population estimates.

MICHELLE KEMNER, IDFG: The game changer about it is the fact that we can get population estimates on multiple species and forested habitats where we could never do that before.

REICHERT: Michelle Kemner is the Statewide Population Coordinator for Fish and Game.

Today she's in the Boise National Forest picking up a memory card from a trail cam and replacing it with a new one.

KEMNER: It's a process.

And it requires, you know, a harness and tree steps and a lock.

And also if you're by yourself, then it requires you to get down out of the tree and view your pictures and decide that it's okay.

Being out here and understanding it gets you to understand why it's so important to set the camera properly, to check the view shed, to make sure that anything that walks across and walks through the road is on it.

You know, it really makes you think about, we're trying to try and get population estimates.

So we've got to make sure that we concentrate how we set everything up.

This is a way of the wave of the future.

We've got to make sure that we do this right.

REICHERT: Idaho is at the forefront of trail cam technology, with more cameras than any other state.

And with artificial intelligence being used to identify animals, the wildlife agency has opened up the door to more data than it ever could've imagined.

SARAH THOMPSON, IDFG: I just added it up.

And I think through AI, I have overseen something like 32 million images.

And so it's just an enormous amount.

REICHERT: Sarah Thompson is a biometrician with Idaho Fish and Game.

That means, she uses statistics and mathematics to answer questions about biology - and in this case, wildlife biology.

THOMPSON: I mean, the thing is like with 750 cameras each taking about 20,000 images, it just ends up being, you know, it takes seven days to just move that from one hard drive to another.

And so again, it's like all hands on deck.

REICHERT: The photos are sent in million-photo batches to a supercomputer with Microsoft where they are processed and then sent back to be entered into the Fish and Game system.

THOMPSON: The ability to detect an animal is sort of separate from the ability to identify what it is.

And so the detecting of an animal tends to be great.

The retraining and tuning model tends to be more needed with species identification.

THOMPSON: AI often thinks for instance, that cow is a bear because they're big and black and bulky, and it sees a lot, a lot of cows anyways.

And so there are things that are fairly commonly mistaken.

KEMNER: It's to the point now where it's picking up elk and deer, like just picking up things in the background that a human eye I didn't pick up.

When I looked at it, I was impressed by it.

REICHERT: In order for the program to learn, it needs a lot of photos, and those photos have to be pretty good.

KEMNER: The cameras are set to take pictures every 10 minutes, and then they're also set for motion triggered.

There's all these different little nuances that you can do with the cameras, because what we wanted to do is we want to take a very clear picture at night, and as things are moving quickly through, and a very, very clear pictures during the day.

REICHERT: While trail cameras haven't entirely replaced older methods of getting population estimates, and the system is still being perfected - the trail cameras and artificial intelligence work being conducted by Fish and Game represent a willingness by the agency to step into the digital age and try to figure out ways to better serve both people and wildlife.

KEMNER: Abundance estimates were mark recapture and you know, very old fashioned science, you know, and we've completely evolved.

And that's, that's the cool thing is.

Cause I, I want to keep hunting elk and I want to go out and hunt my deer every year.

So I think that really that's what we're here for.

We want to go fish that stream and make sure there's still fish in it.

REICHERT: The US Forest Service is arguably the most influential federal agency in the state.

A little over 20 million acres, or 38% of Idaho, is managed by the Forest Service.

So we gathered together some of their leaders, including the former chief, to look back on the agency they devoted their lives to.

TOM TIDWELL, RETIRED CHIEF OF U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Initially, the agency was created to provide clean water and a sustainable flow of timber.

It was always this concept to be able to manage these lands, basically to protect them.

And back then, the Forest Service was the white hat agency.

I'm old enough to remember Lassie and, what was it, Ranger Rick.

We were on TV and it was like the ranger was the hero, and of course Lassie was a big part of it.

It was definitely a white hat agency.

And right after World War II, there was a need to put out a lot of timber/lumber to actually build a lot of the homes that were needed at that time.

We looked back on it today, and we would've done things a little different.

There's no doubt clearcutting is the least cost way to harvest timber off a landscape, but there's trade-offs, big time.

JIM CASWELL, RETIRED FOREST SUPERVISOR: So yeah, that's the period of time when we were arrogant.

No doubt about it.

The pendulum swung over it on the industrial side, and we're responsible for cutting on the national forest in places that we should've never cut.

And it just can't support that kind of forestry.

We paid for that in the end.

We were listening more to the industry as opposed to the broader ecosystem sort of approach.

TIDWELL: At the same time, there was a lot of political pressure.

CASWELL: Oh yeah, there was.

TIDWELL: To be doing that.

I look back on those times and I think we learned a lot.

And I wish we could've learned a little faster and a little sooner.

TAWNYA BRUMMETT, SUPERVISOR, BOISE NATIONAL FOREST: We tended to think of ourselves as the experts on everything.

We would ask for public input, and then we'd put it away in a tiny, little file and we would go on with what we wanted to do.

CHERYL PROBERT, SUPERVISOR, NEZ PERCE-CLEARWATER FOREST: We seem to be 10 years behind.

As we're trying to put into practice collaboration, is it beefed-up public involvement that we really just used as an opportunity to tell people why they were wrong, or is it truly you look at the definition and it's creating something together?

MOLLY EIMERS, ARCHEOLOGIST, PAYETTE NATIONAL FOREST: I think that multiple use provides a really excellent tool for us to stay engaged with the public and bring them to the table to figure out how they see their lands being used.

As our country is changing so rapidly and becoming so much more diverse, that is going to be critical.

TIDWELL: We were taking on this controversy, and Jim was part of it, to deal with the roadless areas in Idaho.

It's like 9 million acres, a big chunk of national forest.

And when we started that, I thought there was no way we were going to come up with anything where there would be agreement.

And I saw how you were able to bring people together in a way and allow them to really share their thinking.

You didn't challenge a person's values.

You listened to them.

And what came out of that was an agreement where the administration, the governors and the communities bought off on it, and that was my first true experience with collaboration.

I'm still somewhat in amazement that we were able to do that.

As far as I know, and these guys can correct me, but it's still working in this state.

JARED SCHUSTER, FIRE MANAGEMENT, MCCALL RANGER DISTRICT: That's one of the things I really like about this organization, is the learning culture.

We understand that we make mistakes.

We're trying to learn from that.

TIDWELL: On climate change, we have longer fire seasons that are hotter and dryer.

And our scientists would say, "They're 78 days longer because we have the research, and here's the data to show it."

And that's all been driven just by climate change.

There's still this expectation that we can suppress every fire.

It's not going to happen, and never has and never will.

When we get these large fires, the science is very clear.

No amount of suppression is going to change the overall size of that fire.

When it comes to point protection, to be able to protect communities and homes and that sort of thing, we do a tremendous job, but the science will show the size of those large fires is basically the same whether we were there or not.

When I think about how hard everyone is working out there on the lines and I'd hear this criticism, I'd get really defensive.

As the cost of fires went up every year, we had to take money out of all the other programs to be able to pay for fire suppression: 50% less foresters, 50% less engineers, 50% less wildlife biologists, fisheries biologists, 60% less archeologists.

And it's really had an impact on the agency's ability to provide the level of care and service that the public demands and should expect.

SCHUSTER: What I've seen come from that, though, is more ownership from the public.

When they finally realize that you don't have the workforce, I've seen more and more volunteers and people, groups that want to come out and then they take more ownership in it.

And I think that's been something that's really neat about the public stepping up and taking more ownership in that.

TIDWELL: When people feel that they're actually part of what goes on in a national forest, I think it helps to maintain that.

When I look at where the agency is today and how it's reflected with the folks that are sitting up here with me today, we're in a much better place today than we've ever been, and I'm just very confident that the agency will be there to provide what this country needs as we go forward.

REICHERT: When we look ahead at what's to come for our Idaho, one thing's clear, the youth of today will be the land stewards of tomorrow.

WADE VINING, VOLUNTEER: Everybody on this crew loves doing trail work.

You can just look down the valley and look at all the trees and sometimes you can see the trail that has been cut open.

And if you look, if you're lucky enough you'll see some people walking on the trail that you cut open.

REICHERT: And one Idaho organization is taking major steps forward in getting kids involved in outdoor work now.

with the hope that they have an interest later on.

The Idaho Trails Association was created in 2010.

Their mission, to keep Idaho trails open for all.

MELANIE VINING, ITA DIRECTOR: We focus primarily on non-motorized trails.

Most of our work tends to be in the backcountry.

So we really try just to stick to that mission and we use traditional tools, partly because we feel it's valuable to pass those skills on.

REICHERT: Melanie Vining is the newest executive director at ITA, an experienced horse packer and outdoorswoman, she knows how important it is to have well-cared for trails.

And with stunning views from thousands of miles of thousands of miles of hiking trails winding through Idaho's backcountry, the trail maintenance is never-ending.

Historically the forest service did the bulk of trail work, but budget limitations forced the agency to team up with groups like ITA to maintain the state's trails.

Like those here in the Seven Devil's Wilderness.

VINING: They knew the Forest Service needed help.

You know, chronically kind of underfunded and understaffed in the recreation depart, especially trails REICHERT: For the first eight years, ITA led adult volunteers into the backcountry to spend days clearing trails.

Then in 2019, they decided to throw a youth program into the mix.

VINING: We had 10 kids per trip and the kids just ran with it.

They learned the skills, they got excited and, you know, after the first day you didn't really have to motivate them.

They could see the, the fruits of their labor at the end of the, the week.

PATRICK MICHARDY, VOLUNTEER: For the big trees, our main tools is a cross cut, which is a double person saw, but we've also got a couple of silky saws ranging in size from six feet to one foot and then nippers for brush, and shovels.

And Pulaski's.

Pulaski's are really nice for clearing trails.

TRAVIS MCMICHAEL, VOLUNTEER: We just run through here, take out all the big trees that are on the trail.

And then we clear brush.

It takes more time with the handheld tools, but it looks a lot better.

It's really important, it's like the same in recreation with the forest service, they clean up and make it so people can come out and do stuff.

If we didn't come through here and clear this then no one can get through here and do this trail.

VINING: When you can do something as simple as walk down a trail and kind of be transported into another world away from technology and the fast-paced life that most kids lead now and school and peer pressure.

And, um, they can just be kids out here REICHERT: The crew spends a week in the wilderness working hard to clear trails.

They're managed by a team of volunteers who do everything they can to ensure a successful trip.

VALERIE MICHARDY, TRAIL BOSS: I think the greatest satisfaction is seeing those kids and how much they worked and seeing them all work together to push a log out of the trail and use their ingenuity, we did a lot of levers and fulcrums, and just that kind of growth that they've made of being able to realize what they can accomplish and reaching their potential.

REICHERT: This week's crew, led by women and attended by teenagers is a stark contrast from the days of the civilian conservation corps that put young men to work in the nation's parks and forests - one of their lasting legacy's being the creation of a trail network across the country.

JUDY HULL, VOLUNTEER: I feel good about doing this.

I feel better because I know the trails are getting cleared rather than I'm just going on a backpacking trip and enjoying myself.

I know they're doing a good thing so I feel good about it.

REICHERT: These volunteers are crucial to the success of the Idaho Trail Association.

JESSICA EVETT, VOLUNTEER: You know, Idaho really does have a rich legacy of public lands and the agencies really can't keep up on the maintenance.

It's a great thing, we have all of this in our backyards.

But the importance of stewardship is from a volunteer perspective is the more of us that can get engaged with this, the more you really understand what it takes to maintain a good trail and to appreciate it.

REICHERT: And these youth trips are key in passing along a love and respect for nature that will hopefully endure into the next generation.

Keeping trails clear and young people outside.

VALERIE MICHARDY: Getting more kids out here working and accomplishing something as a team and camping out and having great food and being with great people is really going to encourage good stewardship of the land in the future.

And then once they get started on it, then they hopefully will take it and run with it.

REICHERT: One could easily succumb to vertigo in the high desert.

The vastness echoes an underwater world where sagebrush has replaced coral - standing stout in the wind while clouds swirl in the distance.

It's gritty ground, blistering hot in the summer, and biting cold in the winter.

Since 1946, this mesmerizing stretch of earth has largely been in the hands of the Bureau of Land Management.

And for most of that time our westward pioneers did not have high regard for this barren landscape.

Until now.

JOHN RUHS, FMR.

DIRECTOR OF BLM IDAHO: You hear less people saying that the sagebrush, range lands are, are a wasteland.

Now I think you see people that understand the value of them and, the vegetation, the communities that are there, the wildlife species that are there and the openness that comes with them.

REICHERT: John Ruhs is the former director of BLM Idaho.

And he's always had an appreciation for the desert RUHS: You know, it, it starts with, with even the setting that we're at you can, you can look around back behind us and you can see for miles.

REICHERT: Over the years, the Bureau of Land Management has been called "The Bureau of Livestock and Mining" and not without good reason.

The BLM was created because of a merger between the General Land Office and the U.S. Grazing service.

But in 1976, with the passage of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the land was designated for multiple uses.

RUHS: Livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, recreation, mining, issuance of rights of way and forestry are the six major uses that Congress identified, that's our core mission.

REICHERT: But today, it's recreation that's stepping into the forefront.

Record numbers of Idahoans are spending time outdoors.

And they're doing it in places where previously they hadn't been - like the desert.

CODIE MARTIN, BLM: I feel like people have kind of found the BLM for lack of a better term.

I feel like people used to recreate a lot in the forest and had their favorite camping spot.

But I think just due to demand and things being crowded and, and then us possibly offering, you know, additional opportunities out there as well, that we're just seeing a lot more people on, on the bureau of land management.

TANYA THRIFT, BLM: With the change in availability of, um, mountain bikes and e-bikes, and, you know, ATVs, UTVs, I think it just, it provided more opportunities for people to access some of the areas that they may not have been able to before.

REICHERT: A good thing, but worrisome too —because even though the desert looks tough, it's not has hardy as you might think.

RUHS: You're talking about areas that, they don't recover.

You know, whether it's from livestock grazing, whether it's from, uh, too many wild horses, whether it's from too many elk, uh, or too many people, you know, the resource just doesn't recover that fast.

And, and that bothers me and that scares me.

REICHERT: And like everything, there's a learning curve that comes with spending time in a new area.

THRIFT: Yeah, you might be surprised if you go to a new area and find, oh, there's, you know, there's livestock grazing on the trail, then I want to go up or, there might be somebody shooting and it's a different level of awareness if you're not used to recreating on multiple use lands.

REICHERT: Bossing cows around is one thing - but bossing people around,that's completely different RUHS: If you have a population that's moved into your area and they're coming from places where they didn't have the opportunity to use the public lands, they were never taught any land ethic.

They were never taught any, uh, you know, resource education when they were in school.

REICHERT: What began as a land that couldn't seduce a single state, has become land that's desired by many - but desire, can be dangerous.

RUHS: There's folks that used to say wildfire and invasive, wildfire, and invasive wildfire and invasive, and those are definitely big, but you got to add recreation in there.

So increased recreation use, impacts the opportunity for invasive species to come in.

Wild land fire obviously opens the door for invasive species.

Invasive species is something that we, we aren't easily able to handle.

All of it together is a big thing.

I don't know that you can pick out one of those things as, as a major.

Cause they're, they're all tied together.

REICHERT: While grazing and natural resource extraction may still sit at the head of the BLM table, things are changing.

Recreation is stepping up to the plate, raising its hand and reminding Idahoans, just how pretty a lonesome landscape can be.

RUHS: I like to be able to ride through Sage brush that's over the top of my head when I'm sitting on a horse.

I like to see the wildlife that's, that's utilizing that the birds and the coyotes and all the rest of it.

So there's nothing about being in the range that I don't like, nothing.

ANNOUCNER: Funding for Outdoor Idaho is made possible by the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation committed to fulfilling the Moore and Bettis Family Legacy of building the great state of Idaho by the Friends of Idaho Public Television, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

To find more information about these shows visit us at IdahoPtv.org