May 20, 2015

"Interior Secretery Comes To Idaho To Unveil New Sage Grouse Plan."

That's the top story from Idaho right now. We're keeping track of Idaho. It's on our list of places in the running for Our Future Meadhouse. Reasons to move to Idaho:

1. Best named governor: Bruce Otter!

2. The beautiful Perrine Bridge, which can be enjoyed without jumping off and setting your parachute on fire.

3. ...

96 comments:

El Camino Real said...

Fly fishing for trout in DT Boise.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Bruce Otter know that a Sage Grouse can be your best friend.

Original Mike said...

3. Dark skies

Rick said...

3. Profit!

Michael K said...

It's probably another federal land grab, like Clinton's "National Monument" to his coal tycoon's memory. I wonder if he is contributing to Hillary's campaign ?

Sorry, it was a Utah land grab.

What has Clinton done for Indonesia that harms the United States? The answer is - with a stroke of his pen he wiped out the
only significant competition to Indonesian coal interests in the world
market before it even got started, a move that at the same time relegates
this country to importer status.


Of course coal is evil and, by the way, Obama is from Indonesia. I'd check that sage grouse habitat.

Bob Ellison said...

Idaho is a big place, and most of it is beautiful. Don't tell anyone, or they'll all move there. Also, Montana.

Hagar said...

Sarah Palin's home state.

LarryK said...

You can be neighbors with Ben Stein; he has a place in Sandpoint and loves it there.

TosaGuy said...

Napoleon Dynamite might be your neighbor.

Ann Althouse said...

Isn't "sage grouse" a wonderful symbol of old-age retirement?

It has both elements of elderliness: wisdom + crankiness.

Coconuss Network said...

"Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there."

Birches said...

Cost of Living is fantastic.

Spouse was born in Idaho. He considers it the Promised Land. I was born and raised in the Phoenix Metro area. So I made it a condition of marriage that we would never live in Idaho. Ever. I can't live in a place where the snow doesn't melt all winter. Probably doesn't affect Madisonians the same way.

Anonymous said...

3. Potatoes are cheap. heavy things potatoes. expensive to ship...

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

More pseudo science from the bureaucratic bastards at EPA, ignoring their duty and pretending that a bird for which licenses are issued to hunt because they are so plentiful can be considered "endangered" so that the FASCISTS at EPA can exert more control over military bases. Sad.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I can't live in a place where the snow doesn't melt all winter.

If the snow melts part way through, it's not actually winter.

Meade said...

3. Potato blogging.

SteveR said...

Victor, in the summer

Hagar said...

You mean all summer, don't you?

Anonymous said...

Mike,

The other angle is that Grouse protection imperils oil drilling. Who wants that nasty oil kept where it is? Inquiring minds...

BASE Jumper In Twin Falls Dies After Parachute Set On Fire

who'd a thunk that putting lit nylon into 100 mph winds was gonna end up poorly? Obviously anybody that watched the "Day of Days" episode of "Band of Brothers" and watched burning jumpers exit C-47s, could have predicted bad things.

ah the lack of a classical education...

Anonymous said...

Mike,

The other angle is that Grouse protection imperils oil drilling. Who wants that nasty oil kept where it is? Inquiring minds...

BASE Jumper In Twin Falls Dies After Parachute Set On Fire

who'd a thunk that putting lit nylon into 100 mph winds was gonna end up poorly? Obviously anybody that watched the "Day of Days" episode of "Band of Brothers" and watched burning jumpers exit C-47s, could have predicted bad things.

ah the lack of a classical education...

Bob Ellison said...

Keep in mind that there are only 49 contestants in the beauty pageant.

Known Unknown said...

The City of Trees!

Jason said...

Boise is a beautiful city. Lots of music. More good musicians per capita there than anywhere I've ever been except MAYBE Nashville.

I don't care for cold weather, but otherwise I'd live there in a heartbeat.

tim in vermont said...

It's not oil drilling that is harming the sage grouse, it's ethanol.

One thing I like about Bernie Sanders is that he is against it. He will probably come out for it though if he ever gets a serious chance at the nomination.

Tim said...

Idaho is a big place, and most of it is beautiful. Don't tell anyone, or they'll all move there. Also, Montana

Lefties have nearly ruined both already.

Tim, in Montana

richard mcenroe said...

Tornado season is just lovely.

Original Mike said...

"I can't live in a place where the snow doesn't melt all winter."

Snow not lasting all winter? Inconceivable!

Actually, I'm disappointed when we lose the snow cover in winter. I've always threatened to move north of Madison in retirement. I'm tired of living in the tropics.

Bob Ellison said...

May I suggest San Antonio? That's a really wonderful town. Nice area. Lots of scenery. Good Mexican food.

LYNNDH said...

Has Hot Springs to maintain a youthful body for oldsters.

Bob Ellison said...

Then again, you have convinced me that Madison is a pretty nice place.

LYNNDH said...

Potatoes??

Lava Beds - but then they are kind of hard to sleep on.

traditionalguy said...

Trading brats for baking potatoes sounds so carb heavy.

Bob R said...

My sister and her family moved to Carey, ID from New Jersey. They love it, but they are big hunters, very outdoorsy. My brother-in-law has a real estate license (like most of the people up there.) He could find you a nice place near Mark Furman's. (Lots of LAPD retired in northern ID.)

Charlie said...

Sand Point is awesome.

Birches said...

3. The climate makes it easy to avoid Men in Shorts.

MadisonMan said...

Tornado season is just lovely.

In Idaho? More like brief.

I'd be more concerned with fire seasons. If you move there and buy, know the fire history of the land you acquire.

~ Gordon Pasha said...

As Flashman said of India in the time after the Sepoy rebellion, "The prices went up, the service went down, and the women got the clap." More is ofttimes less, stay in Wisconsin.

Rusty said...

Can we call you "spuds" Althouse?

chillblaine said...

3. Red state, no fanatical climate change alarmist in Governor's mansion. Unlike California. I've been dreaming of middle-of-nowhere Idaho for years now. I could sell my house and buy two up there.

However, Obama wants to turn the state, and is going to start shipping Syrian refugees there.

Gabriel said...

Move to Eastern Washington. Almost everything you like about Idaho is there, but no state income tax.

tim in vermont said...

Actually, I'm disappointed when we lose the snow cover in winter.

Me too, it is so much brighter than brown grass and bare trees.

Gabriel said...

Incidentally, in Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington I have never seen snow last all winter, or even a month's worth of days below freezing.

I have, however, seen snow fall in every month but August; and since June and July temperatures are warm the snow of course doesn't stay very long.

Q. said...

Can't believe no one said Evel Knievel and the Snake River Canyon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pghl2U0wVIw

Display Name said...

OK this is my first comment after lurking for quite a while... Have a lake house in the CDA area, about 1.5 hours south of the Canadian border. Beautiful scenery, nice people, wonderful summers. 6+ ski areas within a 2 hour drive. Directly on a lake, views are about 90% of Tahoe quality at 15% the price - which means a place can still be pricey.

Another plus - the Governor actually answers to "Butch".

If my profile picture uploaded correctly... that's a December sunset off my deck.

Joe Schmoe said...

Isn't one of John Kerry's vacation homes in Idaho? That would be enough for me to cross it off the list.

Known Unknown said...

Secret Ery.

I think there's some kind of coded message in the headline.

Or maybe it's a typo.

Ann Althouse said...

@Funk SoulBrutha

Thanks for commenting! Beautiful sunset!

Birches said...

sn't one of John Kerry's vacation homes in Idaho? That would be enough for me to cross it off the list.

Yep, Sun Valley, I think.

Birches said...

I have, however, seen snow fall in every month but August; and since June and July temperatures are warm the snow of course doesn't stay very long.

That would send me to the funny farm. We've had about two weeks of nonstop rain. It's been fairly chilly. My spouse just called and asked if we wanted to take an impromptu trip to AZ for the long weekend. I think we're all stir crazy.

Smilin' Jack said...

Reasons not to move to Idaho:

""Interior Secretery Comes To Idaho To Unveil New Sage Grouse Plan.""


If my profile picture uploaded correctly... that's a December sunset off my deck.

So that would be, like, 2:30 in the afternoon?

Etienne said...

Ahh Idaho, I used to stop by the Juniper Rest-Stop on I-84 on the way to Oregon every year.

The Indians all had their handmade trinkets laid-out, and I'd buy a bunch for Christmas gifts.

My niece is fully equipped with Indian jewelry now and even Ralph Lauren would be jealous...

Gabriel said...

@Birches: Well, it doesn't frequently happen that snow falls in June or July. In 20 years of living there I did see it, but not every year and only twice in July.

And it's not cold at that time of year either; the snow is falling because it came from somewhere else and got that far before it melted. It's still warm. It's just odd.

Gabriel said...

@Smiling Jack:So that would be, like, 2:30 in the afternoon?

Couer d'Alene is maybe 30 miles north of Wisconsin. It's not Alaska.


Gabriel said...

Seattle, Couer d'Alene, and are a little farther north than Duluth--which are all about the same latitude as the French Riviera and hence have the same winter day-length.

Scott said...

What this blog will look like, after the blogress is unbound from the chains of academic peer pressure. My mind is duly boggled.

Idaho, youdaho, hedaho, shedaho...

Mark Nielsen said...

Hey! Come on over -- it's great here. But don't waste your time with the southern part of the state. Boise is nice enough, I guess, but southern Idaho is mostly sage brush. The north part of the state is beautiful, though. I live in Moscow because that's where the University of Idaho is. But if I could choose where to locate, I'd go 100 to 150 miles north of here to either Coeur d'Alene or Sandpoint.

Even though we're farther north, the elevation here is much lower than most of southern Idaho, so the winters really aren't bad -- after Wisconsin it will seem like the tropics.

Michael K said...

" I'd go 100 to 150 miles north of here to either Coeur d'Alene or Sandpoint. "

I loved Cour d'Alene but the city is getting a bit freaky. I can't find the story now. Standpoint is full of LAPD retirees so I'm sure it is safe.

kzookitty said...

3. Baked grouse and potatoes with sage.

4. Baked otter and potatoes with sage.

5. "Boise" is a very whimsical word.

kzookitty

DKWalser said...

We'd love to have you in Arizona.

dustbunny said...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0gcvjlMSsPY
Iris Dement in 'Easy Keeps Getting Harder Everyday"...wish I could run away to Coeur d'Alene"

Etienne said...

Funny story, we used to go up north to Regina (sounds like vagina) to get out of the North Dakota winter.

Damned Canadians were running around with their shirts off in 32 degree weather, and we just left 19 below farther south.

Gabriel said...

@Kzookitty:5. "Boise" is a very whimsical word.

No, it is a very serious word. You will find this out if you pronounce it with a soft "s". You will be immediately informed that there is no "Z" is BoiSe.

Gabriel said...

@Mark Nielsen: I live in Moscow because that's where the University of Idaho is.

I lived in Pullman for the corresponding reason. I now live near Seattle. I grew up in Eastern Washington, and always loved it, but I didn't real appreciate it until my four-year exile to Wisconsin.

madAsHell said...

Check out Walla Walla. So nice, they named it twice.

Plus....they have wine.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael K said...

"Check out Walla Walla. So nice, they named it twice. "

The places that we checked out in 1959 were Wallace and Kellogg where prostitution was legal. I think it might have been legal in Walla Wall at the time, too.

One of the Crosby twins was nearly killed driving back from Wallace drunk one time.

Michael K said...

"Damned Canadians were running around with their shirts off in 32 degree weather, and we just left 19 below farther south."

In the 50s, we called Canadian girls who came south to Cour d'Alene "honkers" as in Canadian geese. Washington had blue laws then. The only open bar in Cour d'Alene was called "The Athletic Round Table" or the "ART." The only pornographic puppet show I have ever seen was at "The Early Birds Club" in Spokane. It was a private drinking club and stayed open all night on Saturday while legal bars had to close at Midnight.

The only remaining reference to it. It was not a ballroom but a suite.

That was a wild place in the 50s.

Display Name said...

If my profile picture uploaded correctly... that's a December sunset off my deck.

Smilin' Jack: So that would be, like, 2:30 in the afternoon?

4:00-ish in December. Pitch black by 4:20.

I'm fortunate to have an alternative in Austin if I want big city choices, lots of politics, ungodly traffic, showbiz types everywhere and warm Decembers with 6:15 sunsets.

And come to think of it... both places keep it weird. It's all good

Fred Drinkwater said...

Back in about '79 (?) I met a young woman, wife of a contract pilot at NASA, nominally working for my father. (The husband was part-timing at NASA while he was furloughed from his airline job.) She had just bought him a Porsche 928 for his birthday, on her Kindergarten teacher salary, the day before he was furloughed. Cute little thing, only about 5'2". Typical California blondie, I am thinking.
Fast forward to 2011, when my father asks me to read him a letter from them. Out fall a couple of pictures of their retirement place somewhere in Montana, along with one showing said young woman (now about 60, I suppose) with the biggest revolver I've ever seen strapped to her thigh. And the pic was taken in her family room, mind. (And I'm familiar with the .44 Magnum S&W.) Big smile on her face. Still cute.
So watch out, folks. This is what happens to pretty CA kindergarten teachers when they move to the american outback.

MathMom said...

I was born and raised in Twin Falls, and know the Perrine Bridge well (and the old one, before they built this one).

Idaho is a beautiful place. You don't find people from Idaho just everywhere, because they are smart enough to know they live in "almost Heaven".

Idaho is also volcanic. When the Yellowstone Caldera blows, it will take Idaho with it, so there's that...

MathMom said...

Evel Knievel tried his jump 2 miles from my uncle's farm.

Temujin said...

3) And the Aryan Nation is based there.

Oops.

Bruce Hayden said...

Idaho is a big place, and most of it is beautiful. Don't tell anyone, or they'll all move there. Also, Montana.

Have to agree. Sitting right now in NW MT, 20 miles from ID. Nearest Walmart is in Sandpoint.

Magson said...

This is a picture that I took of the front yard of my family's cabin in Island Park last summer: https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/10383877_10152227763072478_3263508007967366933_o.jpg

My dad was born in Malad and raised in Sugar City (yes, he's a sweet guy...[rimshot] ) so I've visited Idaho pretty much every year since I was born, and even did a year of school in Rexburg. Haven't ever really gotten much west of the I-15 corridor, though, so I don't know what it's like outside of the Snake River Valley, except that I love to take a week each summer to spend in Island Park. Easy to visit Yellowstone and the Teton parks from there, so it really works out nicely.

Bruce Hayden said...

Have a lake house in the CDA area, about 1.5 hours south of the Canadian border. Beautiful scenery, nice people, wonderful summers. 6+ ski areas within a 2 hour drive. Directly on a lake, views are about 90% of Tahoe quality at 15% the price - which means a place can still be pricey.

Not sure if I agree there. Spent awhile by Tahoe - south end, in NV, where we could see the Heavenly Valley ski area a couple thousand feet above us. Don't think there is anything in CDA near the view on the Heavenly Valley gondola looking down on Lake Tahoe.

I would also suggest Sandpoint over CDA any time. Or, rather, Lake Pend Oreille (Sandpoint is on that lake's northern shore). Of course, the two lakes are close enough together that it doesn't matter a whole lot. Still, Pend Oreille has a much more scenic shore line, esp. down at the other end (by Bayview). Interestingly, it also has a Navy base - where they test sonar and stealth boats (they have several subs in the lake, as well as a 1/4 size model of the newest destroyer). The lake is deep enough not to freeze, and is seismically inactive.

Fun fact - that is where the plug for Glacial Lake Missoula was. Periodically, the plug would blow out (or get levered up thanks to the ice floating), and a lake stretching 150-200 miles up the Clark Fork past Missoula would drain over night, causing major devastation throughout E WA and E OR. Plug would ultimately refreeze, the lake would refill, the plug would pop, etc.

Bruce Hayden said...

We just drove up the east side of ID on I-17, on our way back up to MT. Somewhat different from the part of the state that is only 20 miles away. Potato fields as well as hay and alfalfa as far as you can see. East side seems filled with a lot of very large Mormons. Guys I have known from there were in the 6'4"-6'6" range. And, the women maybe 6'. Maybe just luck, but that is our impression. Apparently, the Mormons were supplying the gold fields in MT by wagon train up that corridor from Salt Lake City.

Gabriel said...

@Bruce Hayden:causing major devastation throughout E WA and E OR.

I grew up in the Channeled Scablands.

Gabriel said...

@Bruce Hayden: East side seems filled with a lot of very large Mormons.

"Southern Idaho" is a misnomer, it's actually "Northern Utah".

And "Northern Idaho" is Eastern Eastern Washington.

Bruce Hayden said...

Still, Pend Oreille has a much more scenic shore line, esp. down at the other end (by Bayview).

Let me clarify that - much of the CdA shore is wooded, while at least down at the south end of Pend Oreille, you have some pretty spectacular cliffs dropping into the lake. And, not surprisingly, they host a fair number of bighorn sheep.

Still, one of the best brunches around that part of the country is at Dockside, at the Coeur d'Alene resort on Sundays. We did Mother's day there last year, and maybe will do her birthday there this summer. Or, mine. Or both. Brown sugar infused bacon, and Huckleberry everything. Then, it was $5 for all you can drink mimosas (they have four flavors, but if you are eating there, the Huckleberry is a must). With a name like that (Dockside), you are, of course, just above lake level, looking out over the main marina, etc.

Bruce Hayden said...

I grew up in the Channeled Scablands.

As is probably obvious, that is where Glacial Lake Missoula would go when the ice plug/dam up by Sandpoint would blow out. Normally, the Clark Fork flows into Lake Pend Oreille, and out of that up into Canada, where it joins the Columbia, which then heads down through WA becoming the border with OR right above Hermiston. But, when the ice dam would blow out, it would short cut down there, scraping everything in its way. And, that is what he is talking about there - the devastation in E WA and E OR that resulted from this huge flood of water.

I can't dispute your characterization of other parts of Idaho, except maybe to point out that WA itself seems to have veered hard left, at least as it pertains to guns and the like. Friends who spend their time between the two are stressed right now because of that. E. WA complains a lot about liberal W. WA, and E. OR maybe even more about the even more liberal hippies and rich transplants in W. OR. Still, at least around CdA and Sandpoint, the transition is pretty abrupt between the trees of NW MT and the plains of E. WA. It is those trees that make me question whether at least up there, NW ID is better classified as W NW MT.

MathMom said...

The panhandle of Idaho is actually a surveyor's error. Was supposed to be Washington State.

Oh, well!

Unknown said...

I have spent some time in Idaho; very nice. Good climate (warmer than Spokane for some reason), no income tax and heavenly terrain. I have relatives there and am envious of their sunshine.

Etienne said...

...with the biggest revolver I've ever seen strapped to her thigh.

The reason for such large caliber pistols, is that you may be confronted with bears or mountain lions on your trek to the mailbox, up on the main road :-)

kzookitty said...

@Kzookitty:5. "Boise" is a very whimsical word.

Gabriel responded:
No, it is a very serious word. You will find this out if you pronounce it with a soft "s". You will be immediately informed that there is no "Z" is BoiSe.

I almost always learn something new reading this blog! Never made it to Idaho, probably never will, now.

kzookitty

rehajm said...

I can't live in a place where the snow doesn't melt all winter.

In Lewiston, ID winters are quite mild, with temps rarely dropping below freezing and little or no snow. Never you need to shovel.

Of course it can be 117 degrees there in August...

Daddy Binx said...

Make sure you check out the McCall area - beautiful year-round.

Gabriel said...

@rejham:In Lewiston, ID winters are quite mild, with temps rarely dropping below freezing and little or no snow. Never you need to shovel.

Of course it can be 117 degrees there in August...


Well, then you go stand in the Snake, and then your lower body will be at 60F, which you put your average temperature at a comfortable 90F.

Hang out there all day, and then when you get back to Pullman it feels like a mountain resort in comparison.

Gabriel said...

@Bruce Hayden:except maybe to point out that WA itself seems to have veered hard left, at least as it pertains to guns and the like.

Not really. It's concentrated in King County--which of course has enough votes to pull the state with it.

But even King County wasn't strong enough to give us a state income tax (only on the rich, they promised) or raise the state minimum wage (which is already the nation's highest) to $15.

And there's a libertarian element that sometimes breaks through. There's lots of political microclimates you can shelter in, just as there are lots of ordinary microclimates.

Gabriel said...

@Bruce Hayden: That gun initiative, by the way, was voted on just a couple of weeks after a school shooting.

Michael K said...

"Not really. It's concentrated in King County--which of course has enough votes to pull the state with it."

Back when I was in Washington, the Spokane area had a fairly serious proposal to secede and form a second state called "Lincoln." It never got anywhere as best I can tell. Totally different psychology.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Most Republican state since Reconstruction.

More white than mayonnaise.

MathMom said...

Spokane, Washington, is the reason your dishwasher detergent doesn't work anymore.

Thank them for causing phosphate to be removed from everyone's dishwasher detergent, so you have to pay twice as much on super fancy detergents, and add Lemi-Shine, to get done what Vanilla Cascade used to do with ease, and cheaply.

It's not just King County!

RecChief said...

Please don't spoil Idaho with your leftist drivel

Aric said...

Wow, 93 comments and I'm the first one to point out that it's "Butch" Otter. The "Butch" is always in quotes.

The Elder said...

3) The quizzical looks you can get from telling people you live in Moscow.

Derve Swanson said...

Aric said...

Wow, 93 comments and I'm the first one to point out that it's "Butch" Otter. The "Butch" is always in quotes.
-------------

I pointed it out too, but was deleted.

It's ann's blog. You get points for agreeing, not correcting errors.

"Don't bring any outside knowledge into the chat room. Assume the hostess never makes mistakes, and repeat back to her what she wants to hear... Easy A."