Held annually in mid-July, the Seven Devils Butterfly Count takes participants from the Salmon River to Heaven’s Gate Lookout, covering a dramatic range of elevations, habitats and landscapes along the way. Idaho Fish and Game staff joined volunteers from the McCall Master Naturalist chapter for the annual survey, searching meadows, forests, roadsides and other habitats for butterflies.
Seven Devil's butterfly count provides valuable data for conservation
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Annual survey helps track butterfly populations, habitat and long-term trends
The count is part of the North American Butterfly Association’s (NABA) long-running Butterfly Count Program, which has collected standardized observations across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Within designated 15-mile-diameter count circles, volunteers spend a day identifying butterfly species and recording how many they see.
That information becomes more valuable when the count is repeated year after year. The observations help scientists track which species are present, monitor changes in abundance and distribution, and better understand how factors such as habitat, weather and other environmental changes may affect butterfly populations.
For the McCall Master Naturalist volunteers, the Seven Devils count is a chance to put their knowledge to work in the field while contributing to a much larger conservation effort. From the river bottoms of the Salmon River to the high country around Heaven’s Gate, every butterfly adds another piece of data to help track changes in butterfly communities, better understand habitat conditions and support conservation efforts.
