Idaho: there goes the neighborhood

George W. Bush is in my home state tonight, and as another perplexed Idaho blogger said, "Of all places he could stay in Idaho he chose Donnelly."

Not every Idahoan is rushing to welcome the president, just as not every Idahoan welcomed Tamarack, formerly known as WestRock, formerly known as ValBois.

I think I might have an inkling why he headed to Tamarack instead of Payette Lake, or Redfish, or Alturas, or Sandpoint, or Priest Lake or Victor or Ketchum or any number of other lovelier Idaho spots. Tamarack's developer once said, “Skiing by itself has a tinge of the masses. When you’re skiing, you’re always with crowds... Tamarack is an attempt to change that vision and have essentially a boutique resort with a private club, limiting the number of skiers.” Not exactly the Idaho philosophy of life (and of public lands) that I grew up with, but a fine fit for Dear Leader.

Donnelly's nice. Myself, I think that it, with the rest of Valley County, was a better place before Tamarack, but as one of my best friends - a guy with long-time family property on the same side of Cascade Reservoir as Tamarack, a guy who ran for Congress in Idaho as a Democrat, poor devil - anyway, as he said, "the saddest thing you'll ever see is when a mill shuts down." That's just what happened down the road from Donnelly, in the town of Cascade. It was closed by Boise Cascade Corporation, my dad's employer when I was growing up farther down the road in Boise.

So Valley County people need jobs, and at least there are jobs tending the golf course and the second and third homes at Tamarack. I hope that not too much weed-and-feed runs off the grass; Cascade Reservoir's had quite a recent history of algae blooms and cultural eutrophication, and can get a little stinky. One year, in 1993, 22 cows died from drinking water from the reservoir. This year, I'm pretty sure that the Secret Service has cordoned off the cows.

So I hope that W. enjoys his first visit to Idaho, and to the future of Idaho that Tamarack embodies. As for me, some days I look back to the mountains of home and think, all that is solid melts into air, all that is sacred is profaned...

Update 8/23/05: Dude stole my headline! From the AP - There Goes the Neighborhood