Additional 2025 Meeting Information

2025 Field Trips

2025 Meeting Schedule

2025 Attendee Documents

Meeting coordinators

Stephen Love, APS Bulletin Editor, Professor Emeritus, University of Idaho - 2025 Annual Meeting Arrangements Chair
Mikel Stevens, APS President, Professor Emeritus, Brigham Young University - 2025 Annual Meeting Arrangements Co-Chair

Meeting Summary

Dates: Friday, June 13^th through Monday June 16^th

Meeting headquarters will be the Burley Inn & Convention Center (800 N Overland Ave, Burley, Idaho).

Field trips will be conducted in the arid habitats west and south of Burley, including the Sublett Mountains, City of Rocks, Goose Creek, and South Hills.

Arrangements have been made to visit two supplemental sites on Friday afternoon, before the reception – Orton Botanical Garden and the Native Roots Nursery.

A post-meeting field trip will involve a visit to the Aberdeen Research and Extension Center to view the native plant domestication research plots.

The Region

The communities of Burley and Twin Falls are located within the Magic Valley region of the central Snake River Plain. Irrigated agriculture dominates the area, both visually and economically. This region is a major national producer of milk products, dry beans, potatoes, and vegetable seeds. South of the agricultural area, a series of low, rounded mountain ranges divide southern Idaho from northeastern Nevada and northwestern Utah. These hills will be the focus of our field trips. Bounded by the Snake River Plain to the north and the Great Salt Lake basin on the south, these mountains and intervening basins are isolated and lonely. A few small villages (population of less than 20) are surrounded by open flats, sagebrush covered hills, and the occasional ranch homestead.

Environment and Habitat: The isolated south-central hills of Idaho include Mount Harrison, one of the snowiest locations in Idaho and at the other extreme, Malta the driest town in Idaho with 4 inches of annual precipitation located in the rain shadow of the Albion Mountains. Lower elevations are dominated by sagebrush grasslands and juniper covered hills. Higher elevations are typified by open meadows and sparse Douglas fir forests. City of Rocks National Preserve contains the only pinyon-juniper forest in Idaho.

Geology: Fifteen million years ago, the mountains of central Idaho extended all the way south to the Utah and Nevada borders. Seventeen million years ago, the Yellowstone hotspot appeared in southeastern Oregon. As the earth’s crust moved across the hotspot, extensive volcanic activity “melted” down the mountains, leaving in its wake the basin we know as the Snake River Plain. In south-central Idaho, the Snake River flowed out of Wyoming and Montana and cut the deep basaltic canyons near Burley and Twin Falls. As recently as 15,000 years ago, part of Lake Bonneville lapped against the slopes of the Albion Mountains and South Hills. A breach of Lake Bonneville at Red Rocks Pass near Preston, Idaho released huge amounts of water that flowed down the Snake River and restructured the landscape. At the same time, the receding waters left the south slopes high and dry.

Local History: The first inhabitants of the area around Burley were the Northern Shoshone and Paiute Indians. The Oregon Trail passed by the area on the north side of the Snake River. The divergence of the California Trail occurs a few miles east of Burley. European emigrants began to settle in 1905, and the town was incorporated in 1909.

Travel Options to Burley

The best way to reach Burley by air is to fly into Boise and make a 2-hour drive east on I-84. It is also feasible to fly into Salt Lake City, drive north on I-15 to Tremonton, then west on I-84 to Burley. A closer option is to fly into the Twin Falls regional airport which schedules one Delta flight each day. From Twin Falls, drive 35 miles east on I-84 to Burley.

Drive to Burley from the east or west on I-84. If you live to the north or south, you are out of luck (just kidding, but I-84 is still the only way).

Lodging

Please make your own reservations for lodging. We have arranged reduced rates at the Burley Inn & Convention Center and the Budget Motel. If you plan to stay at one of these facilities, please register early to access the reduced rates.

Motels

Motels with reduced APS meeting rates:

Burley Inn & Convention Center, 800 N Overland Ave, Burley, Idaho (208) 678-3501 (starting at $149+tax)

Budget Motel, 900 N Overland Ave, Burley Idaho (208) 678-2200 ($99+tax)

Other nearby motels:

Super 8 by Wyndham, 336 S 600 W, Heyburn, Idaho (833) 570-4055

Holiday Inn and Suites, 801 N Overland Ave, Burley Idaho (208) 678-0885

RV Parks

Burley Snake River RV Park, 1110 Bedke Ave, Burley, Idaho ($25) - online reservation and prepayment: https://burleyidaho.org/236/Burley-Snake-River-RV-Park

Nearby campgrounds:

No primitive campgrounds are available near Burley. The only campground within a reasonable distance (20 miles) is:

Lake Walcott State Park, 959 E Minidoka Dam, Rupert, Idaho ($14) – website for information, contact, and reservations: Lake Walcott State Park Information | Department of Parks and Recreation

Registration

The registration desk will open at 5:00 pm in the Burley Inn & Convention Center. Registration will continue during the reception until 7:00 pm when the presentation begins. If you arrive late, you may register at the tour departure site on Saturday morning.

Meals

Cost for meals associated with the Friday reception and the Saturday evening banquet are included in the registration fee. All other meal arrangements are the responsibility of attendees. Pack a lunch and carry it with you on the Saturday and Sunday field trips. Field trips are into very isolated areas so pack extra water and snacks.

Welcome Reception

On Friday afternoon, June 13^th, beginning at 6 pm, we will host a welcome reception at the Burley Inn & Convention Center. At 7 pm Robert Johnson, collection manager for the BYU Herbarium, and Mikel Stevens, professor emeritus at BYU will present the results of taxonomic studies on the big blue penstemon complex of southern Idaho.

Banquet

On Saturday evening, June 14^th we will host the annual meeting banquet and business meeting at the Burley Inn & Convention Center Saturday, June 14th. The reception will start at 6 pm. Dinner will be served at 7 pm after which we will conduct a short business meeting, and finish with a keynote address by Sophia Bates, park ranger at the City of Rocks National Preserve.

Annual Meeting preview from the 2024 meeting

Stephen Love gave a preview of the 2025 meeting during the business meeting of the 2024 APS annual meeting. His presentation was recorded and can be found on the APS YouTube Channel