BOISE, Idaho — The Boise National Forest fire lookouts have played a pivotal role in the history of fighting wildfire. The story begins in 1908 when the Boise National Forest service started. A forest supervisor was walking towards a wildfire when he ran into Harry Shellworth who was working for the Boise Payette Lumber Company. “At that time they both saw the need to defend our wild areas from fire. They set up a gentlemen’s agreement and it spurred on the Southern Idaho Timber Protective Association,” said Virginia Clifton, a historian with the Boise National Forest. This partnership would build the first fire lookout in the area in 1908 on top of Bald Mountain, today called the Thorn Creek Lookout. Harry Shellworth took advantage of the Civilian Conservation Corps established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 to advocate for funding in Idaho.