Question for Idahoans: Do you consider Idaho to be a part of the Pacific Northwest? (Boise: rentals, home)
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The term that's the most accurate is : Intermountain West.
This is what is used the most here, and it describes the region that is west of the Rockies and east of the Pacific coastal ranges, the Cascades and the Sierras.
The Intermountain west includes all of Idaho and Utah, the eastern half of Washington and Oregon, and the northern most part of Nevada.
But the Pacific Northwest is the second best descriptor, as Idaho starts on the western slope of the Rockies, so it's outside the Rocky Mountain region.
Agree with the Intermountain West...but that also defines the Great Basin eco-system.
The first term is economic....the second is ecological.
Idaho has NEVER been part of the Pacific Northwest, except in the minds of folks outside of Idaho.
In my mind, to be part of the PNW you have to at least be sort of close to the Pacific.
I think is part of the confusion. "Pacific" doesn't mean all the PNW is near the Pacific Ocean, it just means the region called the PNW is boarded by the Pacific on the west.
There was the old “Northwest Territory” in the trans-Appalachian American borderlands north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi Rivers (later the states of Ohio, Indiana, and the upper mid-West), memorialized, for instance, in the name of “Northwestern University” near Chicago. Do you mean that old “Great Northwest,” or perhaps the later “trans-Mississippi Northwest”?
Then there was the Canadian old “Northwest” beyond Ontario (which later became the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan); do you mean that one, or perhaps Canada’s “Northwest Territories” in the arctic?
...
But the term has its own history expressed in shifts in phrasing from “north west” to “North west” to “North West,” and then on to the “Pacific North west,” the “Pacific Northwest,” and finally, “The Pacific Northwest.” This curious
linguistic evolution describes how a direction becomes a name.
So the PNW moniker came about to differentiate from the older Northwest designations.
Maybe we should just clear everything up by renaming the PNW to Cascadia.
The real answer is Idaho is indeed part of the Pacific Northwest in the panhandle. It becomes a bit murky as you move south. Boise is in between the PNW and the Rockies. Idaho Falls/Pocatello definitely more Rocky MTN oriented.
I've never considered Idaho as being part of the PNW, anymore than I consider Creston in BC, just north of the Idaho border to be part of the PNW. To us here in BC, Creston is part of the Kootenays.
However just looking up what areas are in the PNW, it's literally all over the map. Some sites include, Oregon, Washington State, Idaho, Montana, and one even included Wyoming! Some include BC and Alaska as well.
The difference may be because of different people mean slightly different things by the PNW. Many Americans mean the Pacific North-west of the lower 48.That may be why some Americans include Idaho and exclude Alaska.
Some include Alaska and BC since they mean the PNW of the Pacific Ocean itself.
In my mind, to be part of the PNW you have to at least be sort of close to the Pacific.
How close is close enough?
Most of our weather comes from the Pacific, and while Idaho isn't exactly coastal, it is closer to the Pacific than its neighbors Wyoming, Utah, Montana and Nevada.
At the same time, it's farther away than it's other neighbors Washington and Oregon.
For sure, it's a tricky question that can be answered in several ways that aren't exactly right but not exactly wrong.
The term that's the most accurate is : Intermountain West.
This is what is used the most here, and it describes the region that is west of the Rockies and east of the Pacific coastal ranges, the Cascades and the Sierras.
The Intermountain west includes all of Idaho and Utah, the eastern half of Washington and Oregon, and the northern most part of Nevada.
But the Pacific Northwest is the second best descriptor, as Idaho starts on the western slope of the Rockies, so it's outside the Rocky Mountain region.
I have never even heard of Intermountain West. Googling it, the map looks insane.
I have heard of the Mountain West or Mountain States. ID, MT, WY, UT, CO, and optionally AZ, NM, and NV. I don't think there is any debate that Idaho fits into that area.
I have never even heard of Intermountain West. Googling it, the map looks insane.
I have heard of the Mountain West or Mountain States. ID, MT, WY, UT, CO, and optionally AZ, NM, and NV. I don't think there is any debate that Idaho fits into that area.
No debate?!?!?
Dang, even Amazon sells books that place Idaho in the NW.
Agree with the Intermountain West...but that also defines the Great Basin eco-system.
The first term is economic....the second is ecological.
Idaho has NEVER been part of the Pacific Northwest, except in the minds of folks outside of Idaho.
I teach geography at the college level. Most people would disagree with you when it comes to the Idaho Panhandle region. It has "Pacific Northwest" engrained into its very DNA.
Lewiston on north to the Canadian border is very much the Pacific Northwest. The Idaho panhandle has commercial ties to the Columbia River and Lewiston is the state's only water port connecting to the Pacific Ocean.
Historically, Spokane was the major financial and commercial hub for this region, not Boise. The Idaho panhandle was actually designated as part of Washington Territory long before it was adjoined to the rest of Idaho. Another difference is that the panhandle region was explored primarily by French Canadian fur trappers and Jesuit Catholic priests. The old Cataldo Mission near Coeur d'Alene is evidence of this. Contrast this with the fact that the rest of Idaho was settled by Mormons.
Additionally, the Idaho Panhandle is geographically and ecologically linked to the Pacific Northwest and contains the state's only rainforest (https://sandpointreader.com/conserva...alth-of-idaho/) which it shares with Washington and British Columbia.
Last edited by apple92680; 01-10-2023 at 11:00 AM..
The question was specifically do you consider Idaho to be a part of the Pacific Northwest? I guess you looked and couldn't find anything in Idaho with "Pacific Northwest" in the name? Yeah if you leave "Pacific" out of Pacific Northwest, then it fits Idaho.
There seems to be quite a few things in Idaho with Mountain West in the name.
Boise State University is in the Mountain West Conference.
There is a Mountain West Bank based in Boise.
Mountain West Group is a real estate company based in Boise.
There used to be a Mountain West Airlines based in Boise.
Mountain West Rentals & Sales is in Chubbuck, ID.
Mountain West Products is in Rexburg, ID.
Mountain West Dairy Services is in Idaho Falls.
Mountain West Medical Services in Meridian, ID.
Mountain West Farm Equipment in Idaho Falls.
Bavarian Mountain West Motorcycle Club of Idaho.
I could go on the list is endless. There is a lot of Mountain West stuff in Idaho, but I can't find anything named Pacific Northwest in Idaho. Why would that be?
I think is part of the confusion. "Pacific" doesn't mean all the PNW is near the Pacific Ocean, it just means the region called the PNW is boarded by the Pacific on the west.
Most of our weather comes from the Pacific, and while Idaho isn't exactly coastal, it is closer to the Pacific than its neighbors Wyoming, Utah, Montana and Nevada.
At the same time, it's farther away than it's other neighbors Washington and Oregon.
For sure, it's a tricky question that can be answered in several ways that aren't exactly right but not exactly wrong.
The way I've always thought of the PNW is everything west of the Cascades, or the Coastal Mountain in BC.
Rightly or wrongly.
Once past that, you get into some much drier terrain and climate. It just looks and feels different.
I'm going to have to ask if someone in Northern BC in the town of Fort Nelson, if they think of themselves as living in the PNW.
Fort Nelson is much, much closer to the Northwest Territories, and northern Alberta than it is to the ocean, or Vancouver.
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