Idaho News (Boise, Pocatello, Twin Falls: shop, vehicle, parking)

[pimit2]

In an article from the Bonner County Daily Bee today:

CFF (for sure) and other interested parties will enjoy reading about the new, updated maps of the Cabinet Mountains prepared by the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, the Montana Wilderness Association and the U.S. Forest Service.

The old maps were outdated and out of print. The new ones are more than just maps of the 94,272-acre wilderness. They also include photos, area history and suggested activities.

According to the article, the maps are available at USFS ranger stations, local Chambers of Commerce, and other locations in the Cabinet Mountain area.


Cabinet Mts. have map appeal - Bonner County Daily Bee: Local News


pimit2 (Bob)

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Fantastic! Thanks, Bob! Looking forward to picking one up--I've been griping about the inadequate maps, too.

[Syringaloid]

Idaho's Long-Term Job Growth Set to Outpace National Average | citydesk | Boise Weekly

[pimit2]

Two female grizzly bears have been added to the grizzly population of the Cabinet Mountain wilderness in northwest Montana.

2 grizzlies transplanted to Cabinet Mountains

Hang loose...


pimit2 (Bob)

[Syringaloid]

The states largest music fest is tomorrow!

Boise Music Festival

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Grizzlies: Please stay north of the Clark Fork River!
Boise people: Have fun at the festival!

[banjomike]

Some bad news for Clark county.
The U.S.D.A. has slated the Experimental Sheep Station in Dubois for closure.

The station has existed since 1915. Over the years, the station created a new sheep breed that was developed specifically for the sheep growers of the northwest, called the Columbia. Columbia sheep are very hardy, are one of the breeds that are easiest on their range when grazing, and are fine for both wool production and as for their meat. The Columbia became the most popular breed grown from Oregon to Kansas as a result.

Over the years, as the sheep industry has declined, the station became a pioneer in new grazing practices that can apply to all the west's grazers- cattlemen have profited just as much from adopting the station's practices as the sheepmen.

The station is currently the only one in the nation that is working on the new wasting disease that is currently decimating the west's wild longhorn sheep populations, a species that provides all the states where the longhorns live with valuable hunting and the outfitters and guides industry. These sheep range all the way from the Mexican border to Canada, throughout the entire Rocky Mountain range.

The causes for the disease are unknown. Domesticated sheep seem to be immune to it, so far, sand some biologists think there may be a possible link between wild and domestic sheep sharing the same range, but this is yet unproven, and the disease could easily come to infect domestic sheep, which would decimate the sheep growers' flocks.

In a worst case scenario, the disease could potentially come to kill sheep all over the world, as domestic flocks are imported and exported everywhere as breeding stock, and sheep are grown on every continent on the planet. Wild sheep also grow all over the world.

Wool remains one of the most commonly used fibers in the world as well, and the loss of a nation's sheep industry could cause the serious damage to the economies of several countries worldwide, including New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Great Britain, France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Morocco, Egypt, most of the middle eastern nations, Russia, Mongolia, China, and northern India, Pakistan. Every major mountainous area in the world except for the tropics would be affected.

Wool is the only natural fiber that retains it's insulation abilities when fully soaked with water. The only wool-growing species that wouldn't be affected by this new disease is the ***, and it is unknown if they are vulnerable to the disease as yet. The disease could possibly become the equivalent of the Spanish Flu, which wiped out about 18% of humanity in the 3 years it existed.

If the wild bighorn herds continue to decline at their present rate, they may soon be listed as an endangered species, taking away all the hunting industry that goes with the listing.

The station's funding has been flat for the past decade, and was cut back twice in a row the past 2 years in the USDA's budget, causing the loss of some of their best biologists due to early retirement. They can no longer afford to hire replacements. The station currently employs 28 people- 5% to Clark county's jobs. Losing those jobs is a serious blow to the county's economy.

One of the main reasons why the station is slated for closure is it's location in the middle of some changing grizzly bear habitat. The grizzly is moving down from the high mountains due to lack of their main late summer food source- the whitebark pine trees. These pines grow high, and their cones provide a high fat, nutritious food source for the bears late in the season, just before denning for the winter. The trees are dying due to lack of water and too-high temps in midsummer, causing the bears to come down in search of replacement feed.

Enviro groups fear the station's pastures, all located in nearby federal forests, will attract the bears, causing more bear-human interaction problems. The fear is the bears, not the sheep, are going to get the short end of the stick, and more bear deaths will result, potentially cause the grid to go back on the endangered species list.

While I'm sure there have always been some bear problems, I have never read or heard of any large enough to warrant making the news.
But, for a fact, there are more bears, especially young ones, who are staying up and feeding well into the winter now than ever before. It is thought that the old bears who are still feeding on the pinecones are running the young ones off, where before, there were plenty of cones for all of them.

Rep. Mike Simpson announced yesterday that he is talking to the USDA and to members of his caucus on the House Ag Committee to try to keep the station funded, as the station had already developed predator/prey solutions years ago that are used in coyote predation of sheep, and if the stations funding is continued, the station could possibly find a similar solution for bear predation.

As we all know, life out here is complicated with our wildlife. Finding and maintaining a delicate balance that allows humans to live in our bountiful and mostly wild state is always hard and full of unintentional consequences which always are shifting.
I'm sure America's scientific community's research abilities are capable of finding solutions to all the things I mentioned, and I'm also sure that those folks will, sooner or later, need a field station, where the steel of scientific theory meet the grindstone of nature. Nature will take it's course, and Idahoans know better than most about what can be done realistically and what can't.

I'm just as concerned about our sheep, wild and domestic, as I am about our bears. My share of the tax bill needed to keep the station running couldn't be more than a dime at most, and I'm willing to allow my government to spend that dime where it's needed, even if it costs me 10 1/2¢ next year to get it's funding back to where it should be.

I don't know what the station's budget is, but I think it could not be any more than a budget for any other similarly sized biological research center, and probably only a small fraction of what we pay for in a large research lab in a teaching hospital, and we have hundreds of those. I hope Rep. Simpson's efforts will be successful, and I'm writing a letter of support to him soon. I think a few more letters from us wouldn't hurt his cause any, especially if it's home grown thing, not some mass email issue overload.

There are lots of abstractions in our thoughts about government spending these days, but this one is not abstract for me. I know a couple of guys who have worked at the station, and i know some sheep growers. My own Grandfather ran 8 bands of sheep in his prime. So this is upfront and personal with me.

[Syringaloid]

Madelynn Taylor Sues Idaho For Right to Be Buried With Late Wife in Vet Cemetery | citydesk | Boise Weekly

Madelynn Taylor Sues Idaho For Right to Be Buried With Late Wife in Vet Cemetery

Posted By George Prentice on Mon, Jul 7, 2014 at 12:19 PM

But Idaho won't recognize Taylor's marriage and therefore won't pre-accept her burial application, asking that she and her late spouse's ashes be interred together at the state cemetery.



"It's inexcusable that the State of Idaho refuses to honor the wishes of a veteran of our armed forces to be buried together with her spouse," said Boise-based attorney Deborah Ferguson. "The state's disrespect for a veteran's honorable service to our country is one of the clearest examples of the harm and indignity that Idaho's discriminatory marriage laws inflict on same-sex couples through the state. The state's treatment of Ms. Taylor and her late wife violates the most basic principles of equality and respect for human dignity enshrined in our Constitution

[Clark Fork Fantast]

I didn't even want to read this story when I saw the headlines...There may be two sides to it, but the fact remains that a beloved dog buddy who did nothing wrong is dead...

Idaho cop shoots, kills adorable black Lab named Arfee after mistaking him for aggressive pit bull - NY Daily News

[CrownVic95]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

I didn't even want to read this story when I saw the headlines...There may be two sides to it, but the fact remains that a beloved dog buddy who did nothing wrong is dead...

Idaho cop shoots, kills adorable black Lab named Arfee after mistaking him for aggressive pit bull - NY Daily News

I hope Sage chimes in and gives his take on this. From where I sit, the benefit of the doubt goes to the officer.

The owner says....

"If my dog is barking and wondering who's peering through the windows, he doesn't care if you're a cop, an attorney, or President Bush. He doesn't know any different,"
Read more: Idaho cop shoots, kills adorable black Lab named Arfee after mistaking him for aggressive pit bull - NY Daily News


By the same token, when an officer doing the duty we ask of him is threatened by a lunging aggressive animal, he doesn't care - cannot care - whose "best buddy" it is.