BOISE, Idaho — A group of incarcerated women are contributing to the restoration of Idaho lands after the long wildfire season.
The Sagebrush in Prisons Project allows adults in custody to grow sagebrush and rabbitbrush while in confinement to be planted in Idaho nature.
The project has been ongoing since 2015 and is put together by the Idaho Department of Correction, Idaho Fish & Game, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Institute for Applied Ecology.
Multiple male and female correctional facilities in Idaho participate in the Sagebrush in Prisons Projects.
Since 2015, the project has led to the planting of 850,000 brush seedlings.
The seedlings are planted and cared for in the incarceration facilities year-round.
On Wednesday, some of the women in the program from South Boise Women’s Correctional Center(SBWCC) had the opportunity to watch their work come to life in the community.
Ten women from SBWCC, were given permission to plant 300 of their seedlings in nature, outside of the correctional facility.
The women are under minimum security, allowing them special occasion trips off campus.
The participants of the Sagebrush in Prisons Project planted sagebrush and rabbitbrush in a burn scar area where the Plex fire burned hundreds of acres east of Boise near Micron in September.
This is the first plant out since 2018 due to Covid restrictions.
The women shared their excitement about putting their months of work to use outside of the facility.
"When you're there, it kind of feels like things drag when you're not doing something. And this, you have to put so much time in it, and it's there, it's almost therapeutic as well," – resident at SBWCC Alisha Danilson, told KTVB Wednesday.
Participants in the program have a chance to earn paid positions as crew leads, while some volunteer for their roles.
Many of them have found a personal interest in nature, and look forward to working in a similar field when they leave SBWCC.
"Now I realize being able to be out here and do this program and experience this that there is, I can go work in something like this. So that's, that's something that really I can look forward to in my future," said Heather Bethel, resident at SBWCC.
For many of these women, the program serves as a hobby to pass the time but they also see it as an opportunity to build skills for their future.
"Most importantly, I think it's benefiting the people involved. It's allowing people that are incarcerated to learn new skills, to have some peace of mind outside of the prison, to connect with nature, to learn how to work together, to potentially help them get jobs in the future and just be a more well-rounded human," said, Alyson Singer, Regional Project Manager for the Sagebrush in Prisons Project.