Fire watchers have long helped fight wildfires in Idaho

BOISE, Idaho – The Boise National Forest still uses fire lookouts today. During wildfire season, it staffs about eight lookouts. These lookouts have also played a crucial role in the history of wildfire suppression.

The story begins in 1908, when the Boise National Forest Service was founded. A forest ranger was walking toward a forest fire when he encountered Harry Shellworth, who worked for the Boise Payette Lumber Company.

“That's when they both recognized the need to protect our wilderness areas from fire. They entered into a gentlemen's agreement and it spurred the Southern Idaho Timber Protective Association.”

Virginia Clifton, historian and archaeologist with the Boise National Forest.

This partnership built the area's first fire lookout tower, now called Thorn Creek Lookout, on top of Bald Mountain in 1908.

Two historical pictures from Thorn Creek Lookout

“It's been rebuilt, it's still standing and it's occupied. Since the Civilian Conservation Corps was formed in the 1930s, we've largely rebuilt many of our overlooks.”

Clifton

The CCC was founded in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to escape the Great Depression. Harry Shellworth saw an opportunity and went to Washington DC to lobby for funding for the CCC in Idaho.

“After California, Idaho was the most densely populated with CCC people and CCC camps,” Clifton said. “So a lot of lookouts were built.”

The Shafer Butte Lookout had already been built in 1925, but the Quartz Fire of 1931 scorched much of Boise. The Civilian Conservation Corps set to work building Boise Ridge Road as a firebreak and further access to the lookout.

The Shafer Butte Lookout is still located on the Bogus Basin, but has not been used for decades.

It still stands at the summit of what is now Bogus Basin Ski Resort. In total, there were 163 CCC camps in Idaho, with 20,000 people working on a variety of projects, including lookouts that are now located on mountaintops throughout Idaho.

“I think one reason Idaho has historically had so many observation posts throughout the state, and not just in the Boise National Forest, is because of our terrain. Our terrain is so steep and rugged that communicating with fire officials outside of the observation posts is much more difficult.”

Clifton

An example of the view you would have had from the Shafer Butte Lookout on Thursday

Fire lookouts have always been the best way to detect a wildfire when it's small. While there are new technologies like cameras and artificial intelligence to detect smoke, some of the lookouts in the Boise National Forest are still manned by humans.

Many of the lookouts have been rebuilt from what they once were, while others, like the Deadwood Lookout, can be rented to stay overnight. This lookout has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, but is currently endangered by the Nellie Fire.

There are other places in Idaho that deserve this designation, such as the Danskin Peak Lookout, built in 1941, and Virginia Clifton is committed to preserving these historic lookouts.

“This has been my goal since I started at Boise National Forest in 2016. I want all of our overlooks to be recorded and documented. That's not all of them, and we need to have them all evaluated for the National Register of Historic Places.”

Clifton