Jace Parker
April 3 2015
Environmental Studies 221
Barber Park-Harris Ranch
Barber Park- Harris Ranch
The land of Barber Park and Harris Ranch experienced a great number of changes between the times of 1950 to 1975. There where problems with the people of Barber Park and Harris Ranch with the development of the Lucky Peak Dam. Dams that would threaten local fish populations and locals that enjoyed fishing in the river as well as tubing and kayaking. Then there was nature working against them in the great fires of Harris Ranch
that burned the majority of plants that anchored down the soil and kept it from eroding downhill. When the fires burned it caused an immense landslide that covered the area for several months. The thick mud settled like concrete when it started to dry. There where highs and lows that the people of the Barber Park and Harris Ranch had to endure. Yet the people of the area made it through these times and because of these events they where able to improve the area for future generations.
Harris Ranch and Barber Park was a generally small community that is located next to the Boise foothills. Yet living next to these large hills does have its dangers. The Environment of Boise is generally dry and full of shrubs such as sage Brush and Bitter Brush also included very flammable invasive species such as cheatgrass. Cheatgrass life cycle lives off fire by which it grows then burns then the seeds are laid in the burnt ground and grow to adulthood then the cycle repeats it self. In 1959 a major fire spread throughout the hills of Boise burning countless amounts of acres. This caused all the local plant life and invasive plants to die and the roots that held the soil in place was gone. When plants and soil succumb to intense heat from a wild fire the soil forms a hydrophobic layer that causes the ground when wet to slide and create a landslide. This is exactly what happened shortly af
ter the fire was put out. The rainstorm saturated the land and caused the soil to run down the hill hitting the community in Barber Park with a large landslide of thick mud and debris. The mud when it stopped flowing would seize up and act like concrete making the removal process extremely difficult. It took countless man-hours and days to remove the mud so that the people of Barber Park could go back to their normal lives. This natural disaster had many people worried; they couldn’t afford to have something like this happen again. They had many government
officials come together and try to figure out a way to prevent or reduce the risk of landslides in the parcel of land. They decided that they would dig out vertical paths along the foothills, which can still be seen today. This caused breaks in-between any landslides reducing the verticality, thus reducing landslide potential. The second thing the government officials decided to do was reintroduce the plant life to the area. When plants such as Sagebrush and bitterbrush are planted there root systems spread out creating a sort of anchor that keeps the land in place. After the process was complete the amount of landslides that occurred where greatly decreased. Thanks to the efforts of many individuals the foothills were better protected for the mean time. As we look at what they did in today’s environment we see that the only thing that actually helped reduce landslides was the reintroduction of local plant life. Because when they cut the hills it caused landslides to have less surface tension increasing chances of a landslide. This goes to show the dangers in messing with the environment without doing the proper research.
The people of Barber Park also had another issue on their hands and it was a “Dam” big one. The Lucky Peak damn was completed in 1955 and it threatened the lives of many local fish populations and also the recreational enjoyment of hundreds of people that come to that area to enjoy it. The environmental effect alone was enough to get people up in arms. Damming a river affects the river, the land around it and local wild life that call it home The Boise River is the home of many fish species such as the Rainbow trout and many other types of fish. Fishermen come from far and wide to fish the river and the dam threatened the fish’s population since it would be blocking the river and preventing fish from
traveling it. This can prevent fish from finding new areas for food and preventing other fish from finding places to lay their eggs. When you cut off a species from another area it is called geological separation and it’s a huge threat in todays world. Yet in a way the wild life wasn’t the most important part of this issue at least not in a way that meant keeping them completely safe. When the dam was built and it cut off local fish populations it caused local fisherman who enjoyed the areas rich fish population to either not fish in the area or protest the dam. The Dam was a threat to the commercial success of the river hurting the people of Boise in many ways. When there are not any fish to catch there wont be any fisherman. When there aren’t any fishermen then they’re not spending their money. During this time period environmental protection was not as big of a deal as it is now a days it was something that was always put on the back burner. This was because it was expensive to create a damn with fish ladders that helped local fish population get through dams with a reduced chance of the fish dying in the dams. These where not being used as much as they are in today’s dams that are much more fish friendly and environmentally responsible. So in the long run fish populations where hurt along the Boise River because of the dam.
Fishing was not the only popular activity to do in Barber Park. Tubing was extremely popular and it was an ever-growing activity amongst the l
ocals. The people of Barber Park had a prime spot to take off and float the river. This drew in many people to enjoy the area and it natural beauty. While floating down the river people enjoyed the trees along the banks and the wild life that surrounded the area. Barber Park is where tubing was first introduced to Idaho and it took off in a big way. Boise State at the time had many races down the river and it formed a sort of club for the students of Boise State.
We see in the Barber Park-Harris Ranch land area there where many struggles that caused many people to be hopeless with what was going on. As we humans do we find a positive to everything? There where fires and land slides that caused massive amounts of damage, damming that hurt local economy, and a threat to local fish populations we found a way to have fun through it all. The people from 1950 to 1975 had struggles that even today would be tragic and difficult to get through. They did make it through it all and created a strong community in today’s world.
Urban Environmental Boise 