Is Photography Destroying Idaho?

Idaho is full…

I could get in my car and start driving right now, and I wouldn’t make it more than 5 minutes before I saw a bumper sticker that said “Idaho is full”. I truly love to live, work and play in North Idaho, but I’m no stranger to the massive and rapid growth phenomenon we have been experiencing for quite some time. To go along with it is a sharp controversy that cuts deep in this community that is deeply personal to all involved. North Idaho is far from the first community to experience these issues and deal with the same controversy, but it’s the first one I’ve experienced myself. I want to talk about my thoughts, my opinions, and my observations on this topic as someone who really sees myself as reasonable and logical on matters like this. To be clear, a huge player in this controversy is politics. I’m going to try my hardest to keep this post apolitical and unbiased. These are just my thoughts.

University of Idaho Admin Lawn - The Hello Walk

Not long ago, I would have considered this matter completely separate from my photography, but I have recently been attacked and berated by people who don’t want me to share the beauty of N. Idaho because it will make more people want to move here. Some photographers and adventurers look at the location of the photos they take as massive secrets that should only be known by people who have done the work to find it. I can certainly understand that, because people don’t generally take care of places the way enthusiasts and conservationists would like. Because of this, there are certain spots that I don’t disclose the location of publicly. I do enjoy spreading joy with my photography though, and that means I prefer to not try and keep the world a secret without more of a reason.

Let’s start with my background:

I am a Texan by birth, and I used to be THAT Texan. The one who always told you how much better it was in Texas. Well, I was a kid when we moved to the area, but it only took me 6 months and I knew I’d never move back to Texas. This place has everything I want and need in a home. It has the sense of community, the live and let live attitude, and it has places I can go to be alone in nature with only myself or with my family. That last part wasn’t something I was used to in Texas. We didn’t own a big ranch, or any real property in Texas, so I didn’t’ know what it was like to be able to go hunting without having to pay a guide or a lease. In Idaho, you drive as far away from people as you want to go, and you can be alone for days if you want to. So at 18 years old, I shocked myself when I decided not to go back to attend the University of Texas in Austin like I had planned, but to go to the University of Idaho in Moscow. I think that’s really when I started to realize that I’m more Idahoan than I am Texan.

I was a young college student in a small college town. I still hadn’t experienced this controversy. No one was concerned with shaming people who weren’t born there because we had all moved there for the same reason. Very few people I met in Moscow were born or raised there, and the town was so small without the University that it actually felt like I was the same age as everyone else. I enlisted in the Marine Corps and left the state and the country for a few years. My unit, 1st Battalion 7th Marines, was based out of Twentynine Palms, California. The state that shall not be named here in Idaho! After years of training as an Infantryman and fighting in Afghanistan, I was overwhelmed with excitement to move back to Idaho and get started with my quiet life.

Once I finally made it back to Idaho, I was married… to a Californian! You know, I like to joke about wanting the Californians out of this state because many of the criticisms are true: the cost of living is skyrocketing, people who grew up here can’t afford to live here, traffic is bad, schools are packed… but the controversy goes beyond that criticism of the symptoms, it translates into real and actual hate from people who see themselves as locals and “native” Idahoan. It generates a division that translates into actual bullying and even commonly manifests into road rage. They’re developing a real hate for the individuals who move here rather than the actual problem. I don’t like everything going on with these changes, but we can’t try to solve this by making people feel unwelcome and hated.

A part of that is sharing the beauty of the Idaho Panhandle with everyone who wants to see it. I can’t take everyone on an overlanding trip through the National Forest, but I can show them photos and videos of it. More times than I can count, my social media posts have been met with locals who are infuriated that I shared a photo of their favorite park, their favorite small town, or their favorite trail. It’s not just the joking around that you see sometimes when someone winks and says “shhhh, don’t let the word get out about this place…” They tell me I should be taking the post down, they automatically (and incorrectly) assume my political affiliation, and they tell me to “GO BACK TO CALIFORNIA!” A place I’m not from.

Perhaps, if some people actually have to think twice before calling in a to-go order at a restaurant with an out of state area code, I should have been smart enough to know that I shouldn’t post photos of my favorite beach that isn’t as well known [sarcasm]. But, again, there is actually a problem. Some folks just focus on the wrong solution.

Does photography make it worse?

Or is it related at all? I suppose you could argue that people outside of the area could see a photo of this beautiful place and want to come here, but our local businesses recieve a lot of their business from tourism. The word is already out, and I’m not sure people can afford to buy a house here anyhow.

Is Idaho still friendly?

Well, yes. I will likely be given a stern talking to by a 3rd generation Idahoan on why I shouldn’t make people online think Idaho is friendly, but these grumpy haters are everywhere in this world. I still think of Idaho as the place where I was changing my tire in a parking lot and the guy who worked at Les Schwab Tires was drinking a beer at the restaurant I was parked at after his shift. He came out to change the tire (even though I was fully able), and took the tire in his work truck to the tire shop for me so that when I got there the next morning they alraedy had a fix.

I still think of Idaho as the place where the local community ran off hate groups and chased them out of the state. I still think of Idaho as the place where you pull your neighbor’s trash can up for them, and they bring you elk chili to say thanks. I think friendly jabs at your neigboring states are great rivalries when there is no real hate involved, but, admittedly, tolerance isn’t Idaho’s strong suit.