Season One: The Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area

Episode 2: Protecting the Canyon

In the late 1960s, a group of young raptor enthusiasts, inspired by Morley Nelson, began conducting the research that would prove the uniqueness of the Snake River Canyon for birds of prey.  This set the stage for the establishment of the Snake River Birds of Prey Natural Area in 1971. Click here to see full episode description and credit list.

Full episode will be available Feb. 6 at 4pm MST.

Episode 3: Land of the Prairie Falcon

In the 1970s a truly unique partnership began to take shape in the Snake River Canyon that would connect scientific research to politics and public policy in a manner not seen before or since. Click here to see the full episode description and credit list.

This episode will be available Feb. 13 at 4pm MST.

Episode 4: The Swan Falls Agreement

A controversy over water rights in Idaho that had been brewing for decades took center stage in the 1980s, and played a crucial role in determining the future path for the protection of the Snake River Canyon. Click here to see full episode description and credit list.

This episode will be available Feb. 20 at 4pm MST.

Episode 5: A National Conservation Area

The Snake River Birds of Prey Area needed a champion in congress if it was ever to receive permanent protection, and in 1990 that champion emerged with the election of Democrat Larry LaRocco to Idaho’s first congressional district. Click here to see full episode description and credit list.

This episode will be available Feb. 27 at 4pm MST.

Episode 6: Combat Training

The designation of the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area brought controversy, as the presence of a military training area within the newly created NCA became well publicized for the first time. Click here to see full episode description and credit list.

This episode will be available March 5 at 4pm MST.

Episode 7: Ancient History

The Shoshone and Paiute people and their ancestors have lived in and around the Snake River Canyon region for at least 14,500 years, and in this episode of the series we take a look at their culture and life-ways before the arrival of European American settlers. Click here to see full episode description and credit list.

This episode will be available March 12 at 4pm MST.

Episode 8: Unceded Land

European American settlers first began to arrive in Southwest Idaho and the Snake River Canyon region in substantial numbers in the mid-1800s, setting off a conflict over land ownership that persists to this day. Click here to see full episode description and credit list.

This episode will be available March 19 at 4pm MST.

Episode 9: The Cheatgrass Fire Cycle

The spread of cheatgrass, an invasive annual grass species, throughout the Snake River Plain, and much of the Intermountain West, has transformed the ecosystems of the entire region. Click here to see full episode description and credit list.

This episode will be available March 26 at 4pm MST.

Episode 10: The Climate Crisis and Our Uncertain Future

Now, at a time of urgent conservation need due to a multitude of threats stemming from our climate crisis, funding for basic research and monitoring of raptor populations is extremely hard to come by. Click here to see full episode description and credit list.

This episode will be available April 2 at 4pm MST.