There are about eleven active phosphate mines in the United States. Four of those mines are in Idaho, in the southeast corner of the state, centered on the small community of Soda Springs. The town’s claim to fame – other than being a Superfund site – is that travelers on the Oregon Trail stopped there…
WC is associated with a prominent environmental organization. Be clear: the views expressed in this blog post are WC’s views and in no way reflect the position of any organization with which WC is associated. WC has written before about the Simplot Grand View Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation – CAFO – just north of Grand…
WC wore a coat and tie most of his professional career. Perhaps in an over-reaction to that long costuming requirement, WC mostly wears shorts and a hoody these days. But occasionally Mrs. WC can persuade WC to put on slacks, a dress shirt, one of his elderly tacky ties and a blazer and pretend to…
Most readers know about the Yellowstone Mantle Plume, the “hot spot” that has given us the Yellowstone caldera and, not long ago in geologic time, some very scary eruptions. The mantle plume is the source of the heat that makes Yellowstone National Park what it is today. Research on the geologic history of the mantle…
WC is a member of the Board of Directors of Idaho Conservation League, which has strongly held, public views on this issue. In fact, WC will quote ICL’s position later. WC wants to be very clear that the views expressed in this blog post are WC’s, not ICL’s, and that ICL bears no responsibility for…
The Idaho Legislature is engaged in a Holy War against abortion. And the thing about letting religious zealots have their way is that, blinded by their holy mission to deny women control of their own bodies, they lose sight of the consequences of their actions. That’s what’s happening in Idaho now. The Idaho Legislature has…
WC has written about the Bruneau Sand Dunes before. This year it was the destination for WC’s and Mrs. WC’s shakedown trip. Because it’s better to discover problems with your RV reasonablyclose to home. So we spent a couple of mid-April nights at the very nice Idaho state park there. Now any geomorphologist looking at…
WC thanks the late Jonnie Swift for the inspiration for this post. WC also acknowledges the contributions of Deci Juvenalis. The State of Idaho Department of Law has been intensely frustrated in its efforts to execute the many folks waiting on death row. Idaho has the death penalty and Idaho law currently provides for execution…
It is very easy to be blinded to the essential uselessness of them by the sense of achievement you get from getting them to work at all.1 Douglas Adams, describing the products of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, in So Long, Thanks for All the Fish The late Douglas Adams, in his absurdist, five volume Hitchhiker’s Guide…
(This post was about half written when WC got an email from Idaho State Senator Melissa Wintrow’s (D, Common Sense), forwarding an article in her recent weekly newsletter. At the risk of stating the obvious, she has no responsibility for what WC has done to it, or what WC says here.) “The Idaho Way” is…
Stupidity is dangerous. And sometimes legislators do things that are so stupid that they can only serve as a horrible warning to others. Two members of the Idaho Legislature, where there is more than few poster children for the Dunning-Kruger Effect, recently demonstrated these principles. Sen. Tammy Nichols (R, Middleton) and Rep. Judy Boyle (R,…
One of the benefits of moving from Fairbanks, Alaska to Boise, Idaho is the much greater variety of winter avifauna. There are other benefits, to be sure, but a Christmas Bird Count in Boise will turn up a hundred or more species; in Fairbanks, in a really good year, there might be 25. In celebration…
A philippic is “a fiery, damning speech, or tirade, delivered to condemn a particular political actor.” The best known philippic is Paul Simon’s song of the same name. WC can’t pretend to lyricism, but let’s examine the Republican-controlled, Idaho Legislature’s treatment of children. WC has no children. But WC has served as guardian ad litem…
After a delightful hot springs soak, WC and Mrs. WC wandered up the Middle Fork of the Payette River, past Crouch, Idaho, looking for birds, mammals and critters of that ilk. Birding was a little slow, although we did see a small flock of Clark’s Nutcrackers. But the most notable success was elk. Elk are…
Idaho voters selected Raúl Labrador as the next state attorney general. Labrador, a singularly ineffective former Congressman and failed gubernatorial candidate, ran for state attorney general as a stepping stone for another run at the governorship. Or maybe he’s just polishing his resumé. In his campaign, he spoke only in generalities, although he wears his…
The song was a big hit for the late Johnny Mercer in 1944, and has been covered by a long, long list of other musicians since, ranging from The Andrews Sisters to Dave Van Ronk. Mercer is responsible for the lyrics; the melody is by Harold Arlen. It’s one of those hopelessly optimistic, bouncy tunes that…
In Alaska, the pumpkin vandals were large and mostly impossible to deal with. If a specimen of Alces alces americanus – moose, the largest member of the deer family – acquired a taste for the largest member of the squash family, there wasn’t much you could do. When we relocated to Idaho in 2015, we…
The place name “Secesh,” including the lovely Secesh River in central Idaho, has a romantic, American Indian sound to it. Unfortunately, it’s short for “secessionist,” and a name given by refugees from the South in the American Civil War. The territorial history of Idaho reads as a struggle between Federal, pro-Union appointed officials and popularly…
Pronghorn were an unexpected treat when WC started hanging around the Intermountain West. And WC still cannot resist photographing them when there’s an opportunity. Here are a few shots from this year. Because you can never have too many photos of Turbo Speed Goats. Remember, they are not antelopes, and are only distantly related to…
August set a record in Boise, Idaho for the greatest number of days hotter than 100° F ever, beating the record set in 2017. Happily, WC’s central air-conditioning system worked pretty well. WC dealt with the blast furnace temperatures by huddling around his AC vents. But, hotter or hottest, August is done, maybe way past…
There are so many mysteries about Lake Idaho. How did it last an incredible 7.8 million years? Where did it go? Why did it go? Geologists are slowly teasing out some of the answers, but as in the case of most good science, each answer just raises more questions. This is Part 2 of 2…
There are so many mysteries about Lake Idaho. How did it last an incredible 7.8 million years? Where did it go? Why did it go? Geologists are slowly teasing out some of the answers, but as in the case of most good science, each answer just raises more questions. This is Part 1 of 2…
Today is the 50th Anniversary of the creation of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. It coulda shoulda woulda been a national park, and enjoy better protection that the limited benefits of being a national recreation area, but at the time half a loaf was all that was possible in Idaho’s perennially weird politics. If it…
Some humans ain’t human, some people ain’t kind You open up their hearts, and here’s what you’ll find A few frozen pizzas, some ice cubes with hair A broken popsicle, you don’t wanna go there — John Prine, “Some Humans Ain’t Human,” Fair and Square, 2005 WC admits to an occasional fascination with some appallingly…
Oh people, look around you The signs are everywhereYou’ve left it for somebody other than youTo be the one to careYou’re lost inside your housesThere’s no time to find you nowYour walls are burning and your towers are turningI’m going to leave you here and try to get down to the sea somehow Jackson Brown, “Rock…
Lunatic, Lunacy: late 13th century, “affected with periodic insanity dependent on the changes of the moon,” from Old French lunatique “insane,” or directly from Late Latin lunaticus “moon-struck,” from Latin luna “moon” Etymology Online It is a remarkable coincidence that the new Chair of the Idaho Republican Party, elected on the occasion of the most recent supermoon, is named Dorothy…
WC cautions readers that this post is mostly WC’s speculation, geology ex cathedra WC’s bellybutton, as it were. But it is at least slightly informed speculation. Let’s talk about stream courses in the Idaho Batholith. Anyone unfamiliar with Idaho who tries to trace the course of the Salmon River on a map will find the task immensely…
Winston regrets his purchase of a Corvette: “I’ve decided I don’t like the car I bought last year. I want to return it and get my money back.” Clyde is disappointed with his lottery ticket: “My ticket didn’t win anything; I want my money back.” Janet and Dave met with their bank loan officer. “We…
Birders prize backroads, the little-used dirt tracks that wind through environmentally healthy habitat. There are birds close to the road, the absence of traffic makes it easy to stop and glass any birds, and the birds are less likely to be spooked by other cars. But in Idaho, too many of those back roads aren’t…
Dear Lt. Governor McGeachin: The Idaho Statesman reports that at a campaign event on April 21, in response to a press inquiry about your botched and overdrawn Idaho Lt. Governor’s Office budget, you said, Honestly, who cares about $2,000 … in the lieutenant governor’s budget? I think more people in Idaho are concerned about their…
Wickersham's Conscience 
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