We must stop wasting precious water in western Idaho | Opinion
We’re wasting too much water
We all see new development everywhere with big yards and in some cases enormous common areas. New lawns and common areas need frequent watering to establish. But in most all cases I see these commons areas and some lawns get fully established and yet the watering times and frequency stay the same.
Developers and lawns companies set watering times but don’t adjust after fully established. This is a terrible waste and use of our irrigation water especially in drought years. But they seem to not care. The lawn companies in most cases set watering times and home owners and HOA’s don’t know or care how much is being used but only that their lawn is green and shrubs are growing.
Perfect example is the SF Subdivision next to me (off Park Lane, Eagle) that is watering established lawn and trees twice daily. This is a rampant problem with new and old subdivisions all over the Treasure Valley with a misuse and waste of our precious water. Is the thought I pay my HOA or irrigation dues, so there is no limit to how much I can water. This needs serious attention. Even my HOA is guilty.
David Hovde, Eagle
Chainsaws unnecessary in wilderness
Cutting through a downed tree with a cross-cut saw is satisfying. Using only the power of your body, you overcome the antagonist of America’s enormous wilderness trail system — a thick, downed tree. You hear a loud pop, a thud and then silence.
Last summer I worked with the Idaho Trails Association (ITA) to open trails on Idaho’s wild public lands. ITA uses traditional tools in wilderness in accordance with the 1964 Wilderness Act. The Act limits people to using non-motorized tools, excepting emergencies.
Clearing a trail the “wilderness way” builds skills and camaraderie. You can actually hear one another. You move at a thoughtful pace. There is a sense of play and problem-solving. It’s hard work — you sweat, get blisters and curse at the trees blocking your way. But it’s good work: communal, slow, thoughtful and outdoors.
Chainsaws should not be in wilderness. Yes, we should better fund trail work. Of course more people should have the privilege of being out in Idaho’s Big Wild. But doing it the Wilderness Way is a reward in its own right, an expression of our values, and a precept enshrined in the Wilderness Act.
Paul Busch, Moscow
Talarico right on trans kids
Kudos to Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico for expressing empathy for transgender children and for admiring their courage in traveling to the Texas State Capitol to advocate for their humanity.
An article in the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics states: “Access to gender-affirming care is associated with increased quality of life and decreased rates of self-harm, including 44% and 73% lower odds of suicidality in transgender adults and youth, respectively.”
As author Joseph Campbell observed, “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” For many people, the ability to live openly as their true self is not a political preference. It is the difference between a life of authenticity and a life of forced concealment and shame.
A government that claims to defend freedom should not be defining who people are allowed to be. It should ensure that all individuals can discover, declare, and live their identities without fear.
Terry Hansen, Grafton
Prison overcrowding intolerable
Idaho should not respond to prison overcrowding by placing women with good behavior in “the hole.”
Recent reporting from InvestigateWest revealed that women transferred to South Idaho Correctional Institution in Boise have been placed in segregated housing not for breaking rules or threatening safety, but because regular beds were unavailable. Some women described being confined to cells for 23 hours a day, with limited access to showers, property, communication, and basic human connection.
That should concern Idahoans across the political spectrum. Accountability matters. Public safety matters. But overcrowding is a state management failure, and incarcerated women should not bear the psychological cost of that failure through isolation.
Idaho already has the highest women’s incarceration rate in the nation. If our facilities are beyond capacity, the answer cannot simply be more punishment inside punishment. We need smarter use of treatment, reentry support, community supervision, and alternatives for nonviolent offenses, especially drug, and poverty-related cases.
No one is asking Idaho to ignore crime. We are asking Idaho to respond with discipline, fairness and basic human dignity.
Women should not be placed in solitary-like conditions because the state ran out of beds.
Devon Van Kleek, Boise