The Jim Hall Foothills Learning Center is a public facility designed to support the ongoing educational efforts associated with the Boise Foothills.
Location: 3188 Sunset Peak Road (printable map)
Description
Located in the Hulls Gulch Reserve between Boise’s North End and the foothills, the Foothills Learning Center opened April 22, 2005. Operated by the City of Boise Parks and Recreation Department, the Foothills Learning Center focuses on education and information about the Boise foothills and the surrounding high-desert environment. It is also home to the Ridge to Rivers program. The center features a fully functional classroom, conference room, offices, and an outside amphitheater. The building is start of the art, utilizing energy efficient features in order to create a model of sustainability and efficiency in building design.
The Foothills Learning Center located in Boise’s Hulls Gulch Reserve is a public facility designed to support the ongoing educational efforts associated with the Boise Foothills. The purpose of the education center is to provide a place for interpretive and learning opportunities for the community to help raise the awareness and appreciation of the desert environment, the urban-wildland interface and the challenges land management agencies face in caring for these unique lands.
Use of Facility
Public use of the Foothills Learning Center shall be selected based on its potential to improve public awareness of the foothill’s unique natural ecosystems, enjoying the foothills responsibly, the art of living in a fire-safe manner in an urban-wildland interface environment, and the historical and cultural features in the Boise foothills.
Compatible educational uses shall include programs that provide education on:
• Boise foothills geology and soils
• Wildland fire hazards associated with living among wildland areas.
• The art of building and living safely in a wildfire environment
• Wildland fire ecology.
• Watershed function and value
• Plant ecology
• Wildlife habitat and function
• Responsible recreation and visitor use
• Landscaping for wildlife/water conservation
• Threatened and Endangered species
• Erosion and flood control
• Prehistoric use of the land by man
• Damaging land-use practices
Appropriate uses of the Center include:
• Studies about the flora and fauna of the area;
• Meetings associated with wildfire prevention; or
• Opportunities to showcase the integrated energy sources used at the Center
The Jim Hall Foothills Learning Center will offer outdoor learning experiences for students of all ages. Classroom programs will have a hands-on focus that promotes awareness, understanding, and appreciation for the foothills environment. Students will have access to a creek, several ponds, and a rich abundance of plants and wildlife. These programs will be correlated to state learning standards.
The planted area around the Learning Center features native plants and water thrifty plants. The gardens also demonstrate FireWise landscaping – how to use plants to decrease the potential for wildland fires to ignite a house.
Administration
The learning center is maintained by the Boise Parks & Recreation Department. Use of the facility will be scheduled by Boise City for the purpose of education consistent with the categories listed above. Public requests for use of the facility for purposes other than those listed above will be deemed incompatible and not permitted.
Visit the City of Boise website for more – click here