COEUR d’ALENE — What good is a dead tree to an ecosystem?

Kris Buchler would have been able to explain it well.

An interpretive sign that answers this very question was dedicated in her name Thursday by the Coeur d’Alene Audubon.

Buchler served as the Audubon chapter president for many years, leading countless wildflower and birding trips on Tubbs Hill. She contributed to Idaho Fish and Game’s “Idaho Birding Trail” publication, gathered and provided bird survey data to national data banks, and spoke in classrooms throughout the Inland Northwest.

“Over the years, she touched thousands of lives of all ages,” said Kris’s husband, Ed Buchler.

The new sign is the second of its kind on Tubbs Hill and is a way for the local Audubon chapter to both honor and continue Kris’s legacy of environmental education. It highlights the importance of dead trees in the environment and how they benefit birds.

Kris passed away in 2017 at the age of 74.

“(Kris) is a reminder of what one person can do through taking action,” said Audubon chapter president Ted Smith, who described his predecessor as “an exceptional birder, environmentalist, and educator.”

An inscription on the sign memorializes Kris as “an environmental educator, lover of nature, (and) friend.”

“She truly excelled at each of those roles,” Ed said. “I hope the good that she has done lives on.”

Buchler also invited the nearly 20 Audubon and community members in attendance to share their memories of Kris.

For wildlife biologist Carrie Hugo, meeting Kris “changed the trajectory of her life” by introducing her to birding.

“I would not experience the joys I do now if I never met Kris,” Hugo said.

Others recalled Kris’s endless energy, enthusiasm and genuine love for her life’s work.

“She never ran out of hugs and smiles,” Ed said.  

    The new interpretive sign on the east side of Tubbs Hill educates visitors on the role of fallen trees and standing snags in the local ecosystem.