TERRITORY Summer 2017 issuu

SUMME R 2 017

Title

1

SENTINELS OF THE SKY – IDAHO’S BIRDS OF PREY TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

BOGUS BASIN TURNS 75

COMING TO AMERICA – BOISE’S CULTURAL TAPESTRY

ON BOARD WITH THE X GAMES

COOL WHEN IT’S HOT HOT WHEN IT’S COOL

LOCATED 35 MILES FROM BOISE, ALONG SCENIC HWY 21 NEAR IDAHO CITY.

Escape to the mountains and soak in our fresh hot spring waters.

Indulge yourself or treat your special someone to a therapeutic massage.

PLAN YOUR ESCAPE AT 208.392.9500 | THE SPRINGSID.COM

Come dream work and play Reward yourself at The Grove Hotel – Boise’s only AAA Four Diamond Hotel Emilio’s Restaurant – serving Fine Northwest Cuisine On-site spa, indoor pool, Jacuzzi and fitness facilities Complete wedding services including ceremony, reception space and guest rooms Earn Stash Hotel Rewards® with each stay – redeem at over 200+ hotels

208.333.8000 | grovehotelboise.com

That smile has plans.

With all that you’ve got to keep an eye on, fortunately her dental health needs are covered. Delta Dental of Idaho provides flexible Individual and Family plans to grow and change with you and your needs. And remember, a solid dental health plan provides powerful protection against disease, keeping your overall health covered as well. Visit deltadentalid.com for more info.

CONTENTS FEATURES

34

Metro

Sentinels of the Sky

Ensuring the survival of wild birds of prey

By Laurie Sammis

42

Coming to America

Refugees join Boise’s cultural tapestry

By Greg Stahl

10 Th e World in a Day 14 On Board with the X-Games 16 It’s an Eclipse!

Life

18 Social Change One Bike at a Time 22 Much More Than the ABCs 24 Spreading the Tennis Love Explore

48

A Mountain Playground 4

DEPARTMENTS

Bogus Basin Turns 75 with big plans

By Patti Murphy

26 Bird Bonanza 30 Big Plans Come in Small Packages at the Zoo

Arts

56 I nto the Wild with Shakespeare 60 Amplifying Voices – the Photography of Angie Smith Taste

66 C uisine from the Top of the World 68 A Beer Mecca In the Making

Habitat

54 Peaceful Belly Moves to Greener Pastures

52

Center Moment #BikeBoise

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 6 Editor's Letter 8 Contributors 64 Calendar 70 Dining Guide

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: Total eclipse of the sun, Stanley, Idaho ON THE COVER: Golden eagle photographed by Cordi Atkinson

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

609 W MAIN ST | BOISE ID

www.facebook.com/amsterdamlounge OPEN 4p-2am | MON-SAT Welcome to Amsterdam, a mixology lounge specializing in craft cocktails and small plates.

Enjoy local selections and fine spirits in a picturesque and vibrant atmosphere centrally located in Historic Downtown Boise.

Manilla ClaMs small plaTes Mon - Thurs | 5p - 10p Served until 11pm weekends

Happy Hour Mon -Sat | 4p - 7p

crAFt cocktAils

Try our signature espresso martinis

Host your next event in the Centre of it all!

Boise Centre, Idaho’s premier convention facility, is an ideal venue for meetings, conferences, tradeshows, receptions, trainings and so much more.

• A newly completed expansion offering many rooms with natural daylight and views of downtown and nearby Boise Foothills

Boise Centre offers:

• The meeting space, atmosphere and professional event staff to deliver unforgettable experiences

• A downtown location, surrounded by restaurants, shops, hotels, culture and entertainment • 92,000 sq. ft. of flexible/customizable event space for groups of all sizes • Exceptional culinary services and a diverse menu with many locally sourced ingredients

Visit boisecentre.com to view interactive floor plans or to submit an event inquiry.

EDITOR'S LETTER

I

once took a class from the poet Rita Dove in which the debate one day turned to whether fiction writers should write about “what they know” or what they imagine. After the debate played out for a bit, Dove suggested another approach: “Write out of what you know into what you don’t know.”

It is an aphorism that seems to ring true in both the fiction and nonfiction worlds. For the best stories often end up in an unanticipated place. Planning and structure is great, but often the story leads the writer into unknown terrain. Good writers trust those blind turns because beyond them is usually where a truth or two is found. And that’s, after all, what we’re after.

Magazines, like stories, can sometimes veer into unexpected themes. This issue of Territory has a decidedly international sense to it, though it wasn’t planned that way. Certainly, Greg Stahl’s feature, “Coming to America,” (page 42) anchored the issue in international terrain with the debate about refugees settling in U.S. cities such as Boise. While the city has, in general, been exceedingly welcoming to refugees, that sentiment is not universal here, nor across America. It is an issue that continues to stir debate here and abroad.

As stories came in, an international theme continued to emerge. Our look at the Capital City Market (“The World in a Day,” page 10) reveals how the former “Saturday Market” has grown into a true metropolitan street market with over 150 vendors from varying countries and cultures selling sundry items, including Nepalese momos, Madagascar teas, and Scottish breads.

6

When writer Kate Hull looked into a piece on Zoo Boise (“Big Plans Come in Small Packages,” page 30), it became clear that the organization has become much more than a zoo. It has grown into a leading force for conservation efforts here and around the world, in particular, in Mozambique at the Gorongosa National Park.

The Learning Lab (“Much More Than the ABCs,” page 22), is a nonprofit organization focusing on literacy, not only in the sense of reading and writing, but also in terms of basic math and computer skills that affect one’s ability to function in the community. The Lab helps kids from rural Idaho alongside refugees.

There’s more, of course—stories about birds of prey (“Sentinels of the Sky,” page 34), the Boise Bicycle Project (“Social Change One Bike at a Time,” page 18), ESPN’s X Games qualifier to be held in Boise (“On Board,” page 14) and Bogus Basin’s playground for Boiseans (“A Mountain Playground,” page 48). All are, at first glance, local or regional stories, yet clearly have implications—whether environmental, social or economic—that extend beyond those confines.

And so it is with Boise as a burgeoning city. On one level it is still the tightknit community with families traceable back to its origins in the middle of the 19th century. On another, the city is exploding with new faces and ideas, cultures and traditions. Where it’s going is hard to know. But that’s what makes it a good story.

Adam Tanous managing editor

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

The Play's the thing

and so much more…

The sweet savings of season ticket packages can’t be beat—a package for every budget—even The Student!

Shakespeare Layaway is our best kept secret—with no service fees or additional charges. Don’t delay! Schedule that “in-town summer escape” at fabulous savings.

Mini Concert Series The

is returning this season!

See calender for the full line-up. For 41 years, Idaho Shakespeare Festival has been creating memorable evenings under gorgeous Idaho skies.

It is a complete and unique adventure, a perfect summer evening, and a true escape without traveling far!

2017Plays Wait May Until Dark 26–July 30

By Frederick Knott

Directed by Joseph Hanreddy Sponsored by Hawley Troxell and Boise Weekly

Hamlet June 2– 25

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Charles Fee Sponsored by ArmgaSys Inc. and Boise State Public Radio

Hunchback Of Notre Dame June 30 –September 1

the

Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by Peter Parnelle Directed by Victoria Bussert Sponsored by Parsons Behle & Latimer and Scene/Treasure Magazines

A Midsummer Night s Dream August’4–September 3

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Joseph Hanreddy Sponsored by ArmgaSys Inc., and 107.1 KHits

Hound of the Baskervilles September 8–October 1

the

Layaway is Available Season tickets, gift certificates and more available online

IDAHOSHAKESPEARE.ORG or Call 208-336-9221 M–F, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Christopher Tocco*, Tom Ford*, Jillian Kates*, Robyn Kerr*. *Member, Actors’ Equity Association. DKM Photography and Roger Mastroianni : Photography.

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson.

Directed by Charles Fee Sponsored by Fidelity National Title and Idaho Public Television

Season Sponsor

Season Partners Albertsons Foerstel Design Hotel 43 Micron Foundation Scentsy Truckstop.com

Season Media Partners KTVB Channel 7 Idaho Statesman 94.9 The River

CONTRIBUTORS Kelcie Moseley, is a former Idaho journalist who now

works as a freelance writer and as a marketing and proposal coordinator for an electrical engineering firm in Boise. She has worked for several newspapers in Idaho, including the Lewiston Tribune in Lewiston and the Idaho Press-Tribune in Nampa. She is also working on a master’s degree in public administration from Boise State University. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking with her dog, Olive. (“Amplifying Voices,” page 60).

Karen Day, journalist, photographer and filmmaker,

makes a habit of ignoring the punitive warnings of military dictators, religious extremists, Oval Office pedagogues and her four children. She is the author of eight books, and her articles have appeared in Marie Claire, O, Mother Jones, and The Los Angeles Times.

Her 2015 film, “Girl from God’s Country” won the award for best documentary at the Cannes Independent Film Festival. Her film “Destination Idaho” premieres on NBC in 2017. (“The World in a Day,” page 10).

SUMMER 2017 publisher/editor in chief Laurie C. Sammis managing editor Adam C. Tanous creative director Roberta Morcone production director Val Thomson s ales & marketing associates Cheryl Glenn, Randy Schaeffer controller Linda Murphy circulation director Nancy Whitehead

Kate Hull, a Texas native, moved to Idaho’s Teton

Valley in 2012. She is a contributing writer and editorial assistant for Teton Valley Magazine and the marketing coordinator at Grand Targhee Resort. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines, including Texas Monthly, Texas Highways, Austin Monthly, Images West, and Teton Home and Living. When not writing, Kate can be found exploring Idaho with her husband, Kenny, and cattle dog, June. (“Big Plans Come in Small Packages,” page 30; “A Beer Mecca in the Making,” page 68).

8

Ray J. Gadd, paying homage to light, composition and

interaction, melds these detailed technical skills while stressing the importance of living in the moment. While the outdoors continues to be his muse, his photographic work is as diverse as the species of flies found in his fly-fishing box. From personalities to landscapes, Ray’s photographic spectrum is far and wide. You can find him navigating the gamut of nearby and far off fisheries, wandering endless single-track trails, and chasing the occasional surf swell. ("The World in a Day," page 10; "Cuisine from the Top of the World," page 66; "A Beer Mecca in the Making," page 68).

also in this issue... contributing writers

Amy Busek, Sharon Fisher, Matt Furber, Jill Kuraitis, Amy Story Larson, Patti Murphy, Ellie Rodgers, Laurie Sammis, and Greg Stahl.

contributing photographers

Cordi Atkinson, Chad Chase, Guy Hand, Kyle Morgan/DKM PhotographyGlenn Oakley, Angie Smith, and Cory Weaver.

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

Territory Magazine is the winner of the

Western Publisher's Association 2017 award for "Best New Publication, Trade or Consumer"

TERRITORY Magazine Online: www.territory-mag.com email: info@territory-mag.com TERRITORY Magazine® (ISSN 074470-29766) is published four times a year by Mandala Media LLC. Telephone: 208.788.0770; Fax: 208.788.3881. Mailing address: P.O. Box 272, Boise, ID 83701.

Copyright ©2017 by Mandala Media, LLC. Subscriptions: $22 per year, single copies $5.95.

The opinions expressed by authors and contributors to TERRITORY are not necessarily those of the editor and publisher.

Mandala Media LLC sets high standards to ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable manner. This issue was printed on recycled fibers containing 10% post consumer waste, with inks containing a blend of soy base. Our printer is a certified member of the Forestry Stewardship Council, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and additionally meets or exceeds all federal Resource Conservation Recovery Act standards. When you are finished with this issue, please pass it on to a friend or recycle it.

Postmaster: Please send address changes to: TERRITORY Magazine, P.O. Box 272, Boise, ID 83701.

Printed in the U.S.A.

ANNOUNCING THE 2017–2018 SEASON

“One Singular Sensation!”

TM ©

The Broa dway Musical

SPECIALS: Wild Kratts Live, The Price is Right Live, Jersey Boys Mannheim Steamroller Christmas, Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles.

MORRISONCENTER.COM – 208.426.1111 – MC BOX OFFICE

10

Metro

The World in a Day Boise’s Capital City Public Market

By Karen Day Photography by Ray J. Gadd "I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list." — Susan Sontag

W

e all have a dream destination—a Tahitian beach cabana, the wildebeest migration on the Maasai Mara. Unlike Susan Sontag, most of us won’t attempt to span the entire globe in our lifetime.

But what if you could experience the world in a day—in one place?

Imagine inhaling the smoky saffron of Darjeeling, the deep, dark sweetness of Madagascar vanilla melting on your tongue, the thrill of holding 200 years of French history in your hands—it’s seems more likely in an alien bar scene from “Rogue One” than reality.

Yet it happens, every Saturday, April through December, at Boise’s Capital City Public Market (CCPM).

The Saturday Market, as it was formerly named, originally sprouted in BoDo in 1994. Independently inspired by 12 vendors, the market modeled itself on the thriving Pike Street Market in Seattle. Twenty-three years and three moves later, the Capital City Market has settled on Eighth Street.

Today, this lively weekend event rivals

any metropolitan street market, merging commerce, entertainment, art, and community in a vibrant hub, spanning from the Idaho Capitol to the Grove Plaza. At the height of summer, 150 vendors and 15,000 attendees crowd 10 downtown blocks in a rollicking street party.

A ripping, banjo solo enlivens a corner of Main Street while Calypso blares on the next block. The air is warm, and white stalls burst with wares and color: purple lavender, gold sunflowers, dew-covered apples, and emerald zucchini. The lemonade is pink and always sweet and cold. Tacos, chow mein, and crepes compete for attention with hundreds of adorable babies and dogs on leashes. All dogs are required to be on leashes, kids are free-range. Best of all, there is only heavy foot traffic to negotiate when your arms are loaded with organic kale, carrots, elk steaks, and addictive caramel corn. Walking through the market is like taking a trip around the world, though everything is made in Idaho.

To really understand the cultural contribution of the open-air market to our Amazon-infused lives, one needs

a crash course in the world history of trade. Catapult back in time to Ancient Greece where agora (pronounced ‘Ahgo-RAH’) meant an “open place of assembly” for citizens to gather, discuss politics, and buy wares from merchants and craftsman. At the agora in Athens, Socrates asked shoppers about the meaning of life and inspired Plato to speak his vast mind. Fast-forward to the late 1500s and London’s bustling streets. “Ribs of Beef and many a pie!” calls an enterprising lad carrying a tray of gray soups; meanwhile a group of players clank swords. Amidst these shouting crowds and stray pigs, Shakespeare stood, reciting words that echo on today’s stages.

What does Ancient Greece have in common with Boise? One only needs to stop texting long enough to meet a few CCPM vendors to discover the answer.

A central market is the beating heart of a city, a source and inspiration for humanity to flourish. In other words, Boise’s market is a modern-day agora, a cultural incubator of global diversity, art, and commerce—on a full stomach.

As confirmation, consider the momo.

Momos, translated from Chinese as,

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

11

Metro

Experience...

FIRST CLASS TENNIS featuring • 12 Indoor Courts!

• Climate-Controlled All Year • Youth Tennis Programs • Clinics & Programs • Fitness • Courtside Food

“to touch your heart,” are ear-shaped ic foods. CCPM policy requires vendors dumplings that appeared during the to personally man/woman their stalls if Ming Dynasty in China and crossed they want to maintain membership in into Tibet and Nepal with Chinese inthis coveted, commercial community. vaders. In 2012, Ratna Subba, a trained The grower, artist, food vendor, or chef and refugee from Nepal, brought family member must be present, from his secret recipe for these delectables 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain, shine or snow, for to Boise. This year will be the second 35 consecutive Saturdays. year you can grab a bite of Katmandu “Half of what people are buying is at his Darjeeling Momo stall. you,” says Michael Sowers of Classic “We talk less in my culture,” Subba Lines Pottery. “I’ve only missed two says, offering me a steaming plate. “But days in the last 16 years. A lot of cusI try to make my tomers romanticize momos customerabout giving up friendly.” their day jobs for How can you ‘the street artist’s not befriend a life,’ but they have stranger who has no idea how much traveled 6,743 work it is. You have miles to touch your to be an artist, an heart? actor, an accounSofiya Abdi tant, and a salesalso traveled man to survive!” across continents Sowers has to arrive in Idaho. been throwing pots Born Somali and in Idaho for 30 — Mona Warchol, executive raised in DaDaab, years. His signadirector of CCPM Kenya, the second ture creation, a largest refugee unique version of camp in the world, the French Butter the 31-year-old mother of five never Dish, is adapted from a 200-year-old dreamed she would one day be known design invented before refrigeration. as “Boise’s Tomato Lady.” Mentored by An airtight water seal keeps butter a federally funded refugee self-sustainspreadable and fresh and decorative. ability program, Abdi’s Safari Farms It’s beautifully simple and ingenious, brings to market tomatoes from 6,000 molded by Sowers’ talented hands into plants tended on donated land all over a glistening piece of art, history, and the city called “Global Gardens.” In commerce. The best way to understand total, the market has six African, “agrithe concept is to taste the butter, perpreneurs,” supporting themselves fectly preserved, at Sowers’ stall, even from the ground up. on the hottest summer Saturday.

Buying goods directly from the Speaking of butter, let’s talk bread: source is an age-old open-market pracartisan and Italian from Zeppole tice and a new-age expectation with the Bakery, run by Alison and Charles Alpfocus on local sustainability and organers and their two sons, Ian and Ryan,

You’ll never see a “Made in China” label at CCPM. But you can experience a whole new world.”

we are here to serve you

(208) 938-3015 etc@eagletennisclub.com www.eagletennisclub.com 1650 E. Riverside Drive • Eagle, ID TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

since 1993. Ciabatta, village bread, and loaves of sourdough leavened from a guarded 20-year-old starter, pass through their ovens 24 hours a day. A native of Scotland, Alison incorporates authentic, old country taste with the new world. “Banana bread is definitely our best seller,” she says with a Scottish lilt. “Former Governor Kempthorne has it shipped wherever he is!”

Zeppolle is considered a “high-end stall.” Some vendors pay more because their products are also distributed through retail establishments. Good Vibes Kombucha is a newcomer in this category, serving organic, fermented, strawberry-basil or lemon-ginger tea on tap at the market. Ask five people where the ancient probiotic brew, kombucha, came from and you’ll get five different answers, including, “What’s kombucha?” Purported to be a magic elixir by health gurus through millennia, kombucha was reportedly a part of Genghis Khan’s daily regimen. Seek answers and samples at Good Vibes’ stall.

According to Mona Warchol, executive director of CCPM, the organization is focused on creating a mutually beneficial community service within a place of business. With 40 percent artists, 40 percent agriculture and 20 percent specialty foods, the market strives to provide economically viable opportunities for growers, food entrepreneurs and artisans from the Treasure Valley while educating and providing healthy local food and products to consumers.

“You’ll never see a “Made in China” label at CCPM,” says Warchol. “But you can experience a whole new world.”

Like Sontag, you may not have been everywhere, but now it’s on your shopping list.

IDAHO WINES

The brighter side of life

www.idahowines.org

#idahowines

Metro

On Board Rhodes Skate Park welcomes an X Games qualifier

Instead of running them off, we’re bringing them in.

T 14

his is a message the city of Boise might like to tell the late Glenn Rhodes, who, after hearing of business owners chasing Boise youth from its downtown concrete spaces, worked tirelessly for years to create a multiple use skate park in a previously undesirable part of town.

Wanting the youth to have a place of their own, the former Ada County highway commissioner began laboring with his own two hands on a 1.28-acre area, located at the 15th and 16th street underpass.

In 1995, the park was appropriately named after Rhodes, who convinced scores of people and organizations to get more involved in the upgrading of Boise youth’s recreational potential, raised tens of thousands of dollars toward the cause, and continuously championed the need for a skate park.

Unfortunately, the area became more liability than asset when the declining park became a magnet for the homeless.

However, for the desert oasis town that turned a hardto-access river into a centerpiece and built an enviable, beautiful building on a cringe-inducing site known as “The Hole,” the prospect of turning a problem into a citywide source of pride was a welcome challenge.

Idaho’s capital city wouldn’t allow Glenn Rhodes’ dream to fade. The Boise Skateboard Association partnered with the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation and the city, and in early August 2016, due to an immense amount of local passion and effort, the Rhodes Skate Park was reborn into what Element Brand founder Johnny Schillereff called “something out of a video game—one of those things that’s too good to be true”.

Receiving worldwide attention, Rhodes caught the eye of the ESPN-owned X Games, and was selected as the location for 2017’s only qualifier on June 10.

“They saw footage of the grand opening, viewed the facilities and thought it was a fit,” said Boise Skate Association’s Josh Davis. “We certainly anticipated the possibility.

It makes us feel good that we’ve accomplished something pretty amazing.”

“It’s neat, in a year, just to see what’s happened,” said Prestige Skateboards co-owner Paul Whitworth. “We’ve had so many pro skateboard teams come to town.”

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

Often constructing site-specific, semi-permanent facilities for events, X Games instead opted to use an existing facility and involve the local skate community, wisely ensuring long-lasting friendship towards the brand.

ESPN found the City of Trees and its skate park to be unique.

“It’s under the underpass, how great could it be, right?” said sports sales convention manager for the Boise Convention and Visitors Bureau, Taylor Williamson. “But they were super impressed with Rhodes, with downtown, with the breweries. These people have experienced a massive scale of excellence: Barcelona, L.A., Austin, Minneapolis. To hear them excited about Boise on a Tuesday night was awesome.”

“The city of Boise is a perfect fit for an X Games Qualifier,” said ESPN Sports and Competition Associate Director, Brian Kerr. “You have a thriving community that has invested in youth action sports with the opening of the world class Rhodes Skate Park. Couple that with the innovative culture of skateboarding and BMX, and you have exactly what the X Games are all about.”

“We’ve been kind of isolated,” Davis said. “There’s a good and unique Boise skateboard scene. Rhodes gave us the platform to speak to a larger audience about what we have. We can use this to bolster the positive aspects of skateboarding, continue to shape an impression that this is an activity to get kids out, engaged, learning, and pushing themselves. To us, that means the ability to build more facilities in neighborhood parks, where kids can go to get some exercise and be active.”

Prestige’s Whitworth offered his take on the sport and the event: “Skateboarding is different. It’s approachable.

We’ll be sharing the park with people we’d see on TV—it’s going to be really neat energy. X Games is going to bring in a lot of people, and get even more people interested in skateboarding.”

X Games recently released a list of the qualifier’s top-20 competitors that included Alex Sorgente, Ben Hatchell, Clay Kreiner, Allysha Le, Amelia Brodka, Hanna Zanzi, Kevin Peraza, Nick Bruce, and Larry Edgar.

“This is one of those signature events that will be great for the City. It will take us to the next level,” Williamson said.

“All the big name skateboarders will be there,” added Whitworth. “It should be rad.”

Photo: Tal Roberts

By Amy Story Larson

will host the world’s top athletes in an invite-only park qualifier event on June 10, 2017, at Rhodes Skatepark in Boise, Idaho. Three disciplines will be featured: Men’s Skateboard Park (SKB), Women’s Skateboard Park (SKB), and Bicycle Motocross Park (BMX).

The event is free and open to the public.

Road To X Games 2017 Boise Park Qualifier Invited Athletes Alex Sorgente Disciplines: Skateboard From: Lake Worth, FL USA Ben Hatchell Disciplines: Skateboard From: Manassas, VA USA

Hanna Zanzi Disciplines: Skateboard From: Huntington Beach, CA USA

Clay Kreiner Disciplines: Skateboard From: Simpsonville, SC USA

Kevin Peraza Disciplines: BMX Freestyle, BMX From: Tucson, AZ USA

Allysha Le Disciplines: Skateboard From: El Segundo, CA USA

Nick Bruce Disciplines: BMX Freestyle, BMX From: Youngstown, OH USA

Amelia Brodka Disciplines: Skateboard From: Nowa Sarzyna, POL

Larry Edgar Disciplines: BMX Freestyle, BMX From: Corona, Ca USA

*Automatically Invited to X Games Minneapolis 2017 SKB Men

SKB Women

BMX

Pedro Barros (Gold) Curren Caples (Silver) Chris Russell (Bronze)

Kisa Nakamura (Gold) Lizzie Armanto (Silver) Jordyn Barrat (Bronze)

Dennis Enarson (Gold) Logan Martin (Silver) Kyle Baldock (Bronze)

Metro

IT’S AN ECLIPSE! Don’t be left in the dark

By Sharon Fisher

I

daho will have a rare spot in the international limelight this summer when it becomes the place to go to view a total solar eclipse.

While the “path of totality” passes through several states, Idaho is projected to be one of the best viewing spots due to weather, said Dr. Brian Jackson, assistant professor of physics at Boise State University, who is holding infor-

mational meetings around the state to let people know about the event on August 21. The eclipse will start a little after 10 a.m. and reach “totality” at around 11:30 a.m., depending on one’s specific location.

“In a lot of states, particularly as you go east, there’s a good chance they won’t have clear skies,” he said, such as in his home state of Georgia. “The

odds that we’re going to have a big bank of clouds roll in is basically zero.”

An eclipse is caused by an odd coincidence. In the sky, the sun and the moon appear the same size. Though the sun is a lot bigger, it’s also further away. Every few years, the new moon passes in front of the sun and blocks out the disk of the sun. This darkens the sky and lowers the temperature for

16

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE: MONDAY • AUGUST 21, 2017

This will be the first total solar eclipse visible in the continental United States in 38 years.

PARTIAL ECLIPSE TOTAL ECLIPSE

SUN MOON

UMBRA Note regarding scale: If drawn to scale, the moon would be 30 Earth diameters away. The sun would be 400 times that distance.

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

PENUMBRA

EARTH

A map illustrating the moon’s umbral shadow, in which the sun will be completely obscured by the moon, during the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. The lunar shadow will enter the United States near Lincoln City, Oregon, and totality will begin at 10:16 a.m. PDT. The total eclipse will then end in Charleston, South Carolina, at 2:48 p.m. EDT and leave the United States at 4:09 p.m. EDT. Outside the path, a partial solar eclipse will be visible throughout the continental U.S., illustrated by the red line, which shows the fractions of the sun’s area covered by the moon outside the path of totality.

Map: Courtesy NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio

* Information courtesy NASA.gov

17 a few minutes. “Animals mistake this for nightfall,” Jackson said. “Cows go to their barns, birds go to their nests.”

If the moon blocks only some of the sun, it’s a partial eclipse, but if the moon blocks all of the sun, it’s a total eclipse, Jackson explained. In the latter case, one can see the sun’s chromosphere—a reddish layer of its atmosphere—as well as the corona, comprising pearly streams and plumes of ionized gases that create the appearance of a massive crown surrounding the sun.

The last total eclipse in Idaho was in 1979. “They’re not that rare, but they usually fall somewhere in the ocean or uninhabited terrain, not through such a densely populated area,” he said.

Where to see it? “Everybody in the state of Idaho will see an eclipse—it’s just a question of partial or total,” Jackson emphasized. In Boise, for example, the eclipse will be 99.6 percent total.

“It will be noticeably dark.” The path of totality goes north of Boise, from Weiser through Idaho Falls.

If you have your heart set on seeing

a total eclipse, and don’t already have a hotel room or campsite, you might be out of luck—nearly everything is booked. Jackson suggested couch surfing with friends or relatives. “Make plans ahead of time,” he warned. “Not

that morning, or odds are you’re not going to find a place to stop.”

Otherwise, you can wait for seven years for the next eclipse to go through the U.S., or until 2169, the next time one is slated to go through Idaho.

SAFETY FIRST:

If you’d like to be able to see when the eclipse is over, it’s important to follow safety standards. Your mom was right: if you stare at the sun, you can go blind, even if the sun is half blocked by the moon. “At the moment of totality, the moon will cover the sun, and you can look for that very short period,” said Dr. Brian Jackson, assistant professor in physics at Boise State University. “But on either side of that two-minute window, it’s dangerous to look at the sun.” There are several ways to indirectly look at an eclipse, such as through pinhole cameras. Some welding glasses are dark enough for a direct peek, but ones that aren’t can be more dangerous because you won’t notice the damage, Jackson said. Easiest and cheapest are cardboard-frame, certified “eclipse glasses,” available online for about $4.

They protect your eyes so you can safely stare at the eclipse to your heart’s content. Jackson will also be handing them out at events. BSU is running a crowd-funding campaign at ponyup.boisestate.edu/idahoeclipse A $10 donation makes available five pairs of glasses to be used at various outreach programs throughout the state. While the campaign was scheduled to end this spring, Jackson said it could run all summer.

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

Life

Social Change One Bike at a Time Boise Bicycle Project’s efforts to build community

By Ellie Rodgers

18

Photos and illustrations: Courtesy Boise Bicycle Project

J

immy Hallyburton believes bicycles can be life changing. Give a child from a low-income family a free bike and help her connect to other kids. Teach a female inmate to repair bikes and you empower her with new skills and open doors to a different community. And offer a safe space where refugees and the homeless can work on bikes alongside those more fortunate and help them all discover they have more in common than previously thought.

“If you didn’t come into our shop, your only experience with a refugee or homeless person may be seeing them walk down the street,” said Hallyburton, Boise Bicycle Project’s (BBP) executive director.

For nearly 10 years, the nonprofit bicycle cooperative has fostered Hallyburton’s vision of social change by taking donated bicycles, refurbishing them and either giving them to those in need or selling them at low cost.

BBP also provides mechanics and volunteers who teach classes and afterschool programs on safety, how to fix flats and how to keep gears and brakes running smoothly. But most importantly, BBP is a gathering place that welcomes, connects and helps all people, regardless of their background or beliefs, Hallyburton said. He jokes that although his mechanics are not trained social workers, they often seem cast in that role.

“We teach people to overcome obstacles,” he said, explaining that roadblocks include the lack of transportation and income, as well as the isolation that comes from not being able to move about your community.

In 2016, BBP gave away 370 bikes in its Christmas Kids Bike Giveaway and donated 60 more to nonprofit commu-

BBP offers after school programs, workspaces for repairing bikes, and a welcoming gathering spot.

Below: "dream bikes" as envisioned by kids who have received bikes from BBP.

nity partners. To date it has provided over 5,000 free bikes to children, many of whom have never had one. To get a bicycle, kids write letters and draw pictures of their dream bikes.

“When kids get on a bike, there’s a smile that comes from the sense of freedom you get from a bike,” Hallyburton said.

BBP also offers voucher programs where adults or kids can do community service to earn a bike.

Hallyburton says BBP wants to help create a unique sense of community, which makes Boise a great place to live. “When you teach someone to do something different, the world opens up for them,” he said.

One latest example is Shifting Gears, BBP’s collaboration with the

South Boise Women’s Correctional Facility. Two BBP staffers work with inmates each week teaching them to repair bikes. Each repaired bike goes to a child, and once each inmate has fixed 15 bikes, she gets a voucher for her own bicycle upon release.

Although the women leave the facility with skills that could get them jobs in bike shops, and their work helps BBP get bikes to those in need more quickly, Hallyburton said the program’s become much more than that.

When BBP first started Shifting Gears a little over a year ago, he expected the women would want to see a picture of what bike they’d get after release. Instead, they asked to see pictures of the kids who received the repaired bikes. Several of the women

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

19

Life

20

attended a BBP event where kids rode away with the bikes the women had repaired. They beamed with pride, knowing they’d been a part of it.

“It was if for the first time they felt a part of a community,” Hallyburtorn said. And their new skills gave them confidence, transportation, and freedom knowing they could fix their own kids’ bikes.

The nonprofit operates out of a bustling shop on Lusk Street near the Boise State University campus. There are 16 employees—six full time—and Hallyburton’s dog, Stanley, who works as a greeter, settling at your feet and leaning in for some serious petting.

Along with its afterschool programs and classes, BBP sells used parts and rents workstations for people to repair bikes. The group also organizes community events like the Bikin’ 4 Lovin Ride, Kids Bike-A-Thon, Pedal 4 the People and Refugee Women on Wheels.

BBP is finishing a $230,000 shop remodel paid for by a 90-day fundraiser, where most donations came in $10 to $100 amounts, and bolstered with many hours of volunteer labor.

The expansion adds an upstairs classroom and office, with meeting space to share with other nonprofits. That’s a long way from where the organization started in 2007, when Hallyburton and co-founder Brian Anderson began wrenching donated bikes in a studio apartment and an unheated Boise Rescue Mission space.

It was during those early days when BBP board member Nancy Papé dropped off her kids’ old bikes and fell in love with the group’s mission.

“So many organizations are TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

To date, the Boise Bicycle Project has given away more than 5,000 bikes to children.

singular-focused,” she said. “But while Boise Bicycle Project is focused on the bike, it’s like the spokes on a wheel in how it reaches out. There are the bike giveaways, but we also go out into the community. And the way we help refugees and women is amazing. Refugees sometimes have no identification. So how can they get drivers licenses or get to a job?”

Hallyburton said Boise Bicycle Project was inspired by his childhood bike experiences in Eagle and Cascade and his and Anderson’s travels as wildland firefighters. Driving to fires, they noticed the communities that had their

• Get bikes to 750 kids through free and earn-a-bike programs, and put 1,000 adults on bikes through programs that eliminate income barriers.

• Empower 3,000 adults with DIY bike repair skills.

• Reach 1,000 people by expanding outreach of Mobile Bike Repair stops, increasing partnership with Safe Routes to School, and modeling new innovative programs after Shifting Gears.

• Share conference/classroom space with other nonprofits to create a stronger collective vision for Boise.

• As BBP is one of the Top 10 Bicycle Friendly Businesses (BFB) in the U.S., help 10 other businesses per quarter become BFBs so that Boise can lead the country in the number of BFBs. • More classes, afterschool programs and membership nights based on expanded space.

• Collaborate with more bike shops and organizations and offer BBP’s model to other organizations and partnerships.

• Send BBP’s first Female Apprenticeship Program graduate to the United Bicycle Institute.

• Build volunteer programs.

• Work with government and community groups to make Boise a safer place to ride.

• Create a Bike-in-Artist Program to increase partnerships with the arts community. own identities, like Boise, always had people riding around on bikes.

“We want to make sure bicycling is part of Boise’s identity, like Treefort,” he said.

He focused a recent TEDx Boise talk on how bikes connect and build community.

“There’s this feeling of safety in numbers,” Hallyburton said. “That if a driver sees a person riding a bike it makes it safer for everyone riding that day. On days I go for a ride, I think about the 5,000 kids riding to school on our free bikes. Every one of those kids makes it safer for me, too.”

Photos: Courtesy Boise Bicycle Project

BOISE BICYCLE PROJECT GOALS 2017

Inspired living is here.

One block to an a ernoon ride.

Now taking reservations for Phase II.

Two blocks to red, white and rosĂŠ.

Three blocks to something new.

SCHEDULE

TOUR.

thea on.com/phase-two

Life

Much More Than the ABCs

22

Boise’s Learning Lab transforms lives through literacy

By Jill Kuraitis

I

magine that you are an immigrant to a very foreign land, say Mars. You’ve heard it’s a great place, but the alphabet has 124 different symbols. To learn to read and write will take years, especially since you never learned to read and write in your own language.

The Martian culture is confusing, and the natives move and talk so fast you can’t begin to understand. You are overwhelmed and frightened.

Now imagine that you grew up in rural Idaho and dropped out of school in sixth grade because you always had trouble with reading and were discouraged. Years later you find yourself in Boise but can’t find a job because filling out applications is virtually impossible. Homeless and hungry, you survive by stealing. Prospects beyond that are even less promising.

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

Similar scenarios, though all earthbound, are common among students at Boise’s nonprofit Learning Lab. Founded in 1991 as a project of the Junior League of Boise, the bustling nonprofit is now supported largely

by Idaho Power. From its start teaching adults in a conference room at the downtown Boise Public Library, the Learning Lab rapidly outgrew its bounds and, in 2006, moved into a second, new facility in Garden City. In 2014, classes were added at a second Boise Library location on the west side of town. Then, in 2016 an outreach program started classes in low-income neighborhood apartments.

With its 25-year track record of teaching literacy skills—now to both adults and children—Boise’s Learning Lab welcomes those for whom reading

has always been a problem: refugees from many different countries and those whose education was neglected or unsuccessful. The Lab works with numerous refugee women who were not allowed to go to school in their native countries. Some don’t even know how to hold a pencil or know what an alphabet is.

Boise is officially designated a Welcoming City, defined as a community of refuge for those fleeing violence and persecution from conflicts around the globe. Confirming its reputation as an exceptionally friendly town, Boise Mayor Dave Bieter’s office convened a committee of organizations who coordinate strategies for education, employment, health, housing, social integration and transportation for newcomers and future employees, according to Theresa

JUNE

CELEBRATE WITH US ALL SUMMER LONG! WEDNESDAY 7TH, 6:30 PM

John Mellencamp

THURSDAY 8TH, 6:30 PM

Smooth Avenue

SUNDAY 11TH, 10:00-5:00 PM

Private Gardens Tour

SUNDAY 11TH, 2:00-5:00 PM

Savor Idaho

THURSDAY 22ND, 6:30 PM

Hoochie Coochie Men

FRIDAY 23RD, 5:30-9:00 PM

Grow the Garden Party

TUESDAY 27TH, 7:30 PM

Santana

THURSDAY 29TH, 6:30 PM

JULY

Innocent Man

THURSDAY 6TH, 6:30 PM

Big Wow Band

THURSDAY 13TH, 6:30 PM

The Bret Welty Band

TUESDAY 17TH, 6:30 PM

Dashboard Confessional and All American Rejects THURSDAY 20TH, 6:30 PM

Hillfolk Noir

THURSDAY 27TH, 6:30 PM

Come Together Band

SATURDAY 29TH, 7:00 PM

Diana Krall

AUGUST

Illustration: Zack D. Brown

McLeod, the mayor’s assistant. The levels themselves. These children are Learning Lab is one of those strategies. more likely to get poor grades, disLiteracy is more than just reading play behavioral problems, have high and writing, said the Lab’s Executive absentee rates, repeat school years, or Director Ann Heilman. “The definidrop out. Low literacy is also tied to tion of literacy has changed. In the poverty, substance abuse, unemployWild West of the 19th century, knowment, and incarceration. “It also can ing how to sign an ‘X’ for your name lead to depression and social isolation, was usually enough to survive. By which makes it even harder for people the 1940s, eighth-grade graduation to seek help,” said Heilman. was considered literate. Now, reading The impact of illiteracy or even low and writing must be combined with literacy extends further into health computer skills. People who can’t use care issues. While Boise hospitals have the Internet can’t find jobs, complete interpreters who do a wonderful job applications, or deal with government being sensitive to language and culagencies,” she said. tural differences, Heilman said, “imagPeople at the lowest literacy and ine a visit to an emergency room if numeracy levels have a higher rate of you can’t read and write. You’re given unemployment and confusing papers earn lower wages to sign. You can’t than the national read aftercare or “The definition of literacy average, and low medication instrucliteracy costs the tions, or know if has changed. In the Wild U.S. at least $225 there are follow-up billion each year in visits required.”

West of the 19th century, non-productivity Not understandknowing how to sign an ‘X’ in the workforce, ing numbers can crime, and loss of lead to disaster. for your name was usually tax revenue due “If a thermometer enough to survive. By to unemployment, says your child is according to Pro100.4 degrees and the 1940s, eighth-grade Literacy, a national you don’t know the program which difference between graduation was considered provides content that and 104.0, literate. Now, reading and and curriculum imagine what to programs like could happen.” writing must be combined Learning Lab. Misunderstandwith computer skills.”

Even for very ings like this not low literacy stuonly lead to poor

— Ann Heilman, executive director dents, the Learning outcomes, they of Learning Lab Lab helps set up have real effects email accounts, on the aggregate and teachers send economy. Studies students simple emails to which they have shown the economic cost of low must respond. They are often given health care literacy in the U.S. to be an assignment to be completed in upwards of $230 billion per year. class, such as telling a story about Clearly, addressing literacy prothemselves in English. Those skills are vides practical solutions to a numalso needed for help with successful ber of problems, many of which are parenting, Heilman added. “Schools invisible to the literate population. As use the Internet to communicate with Heilman put it: “Literacy is a forever parents about their kids’ grades and change.” Her organization’s mission is issues.” quite simple: “To help families disSoon after its successful start with cover the joy of learning so all children adult classes, the Lab launched a famstart kindergarten ready to read, creily literacy program to which adult ate hope for brighter futures and build students could bring their children a stronger, more self-sufficient, and along and learn together. According to engaged community for all of us.”

ProLiteracy, children of parents with Joy, hope, and community—with low literacy skills have a 72 percent some hard work thrown in. That’s chance of being at the lowest reading pure Boise.

THURSDAY 3RD, 5:30-9:30 PM

Diamond Empire Band

THURSDAY 10TH, 5:30-9:30 PM

Bread and Circus Band

SATURDAY 12TH, 4:00-9:00 PM

Tour De Fat

THURSDAY 17TH, 5:30-9:30 PM

Boise Straight Ahead

SATURDAY 19TH, 10:00-3:00 PM

Bug Day

THURSDAY 24TH 5:30-9:30 PM

Famous Undercover Band

SATURDAY 26TH, 10:00-4:00 PM

Koi Show

2355 Old Penitentiary Road | Boise, Idaho 83712

idahobotanicalgarden.org

(208) 343-8649

Life

Spreading the Tennis Love Eagle facility supports the new growth of an old sport

“T 24

he demand has gotten to be so great for tennis—everybody’s at capacity now,” said Greg Patton, men’s tennis coach at Boise State University. Patton noted that Boise has the second largest participation in team tennis in the U.S., after Atlanta.

But with outdoor courts, tennis is seasonal, and it’s difficult to play in the winter months as well as in the

heat of the summer. “Weather would determine whether they could play or not,” he said. “You’d lose people.”

Enter Eagle Tennis Club, the latest addition to the Treasure Valley’s flourishing tennis facility scene. Opened last fall, the new facility brings 12 new indoor tennis courts to the western side of the valley, as well as a pro shop, locker rooms, and food and bev-

erage service, according to Kara Hoge, owner and manager.

The new facility helps support the burgeoning growth of tennis in Idaho, Patton added. To wit, his team will be playing some of its matches at the new facility.

What makes the Eagle Tennis Club particularly noteworthy is its focus on community activities. For

A BSU men's doubles team takes on league opponents at the new Eagle facility. Phase II of the project will include outdoor courts and 12 more indoor courts, among other facilities.

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

Photo: Courtesy Greg Patton

By Sharon Fisher

Wellness

Medspa/ Day Spa

Men’s Lockers Women’s Lockers

Reception

Boutique

Physical Therapy Space

Off.

Basketball Court with Indoor Volley Ball

Women’s Men’s Lockers Lockers Outdoor Pool Patio Exercise Pool

t Equipmen

Court #3 Court #4

Court #5

Court #6

Ball Machine/ Hitting Room

Off. Off.

Storage/ Laundry Racket Men’s Racket Ball Women’s Ball #2 #1

Day Care

Schematic: Courtesy Eagle Tennis Club | Photo: Courtesy Greg Patton and Mountain West Conference

Off.

Court #2

Pro Off. Shop Off.

Kiosk Primary Building Entrance

Indoor Te nnis View ing

Hair Salon

Court #1

Storage

Mezzanin

e Above,

Kitchen, Restaurant and Bar Primary Building Entrance to Exterior Courts

Court #7

Court #8

Warm Up /L

ockers B

elow

Court #9 Court #10

Court #11

Outdoor Patio w/ Bar Restaurant

Court #12

Bldg.

Maint.

Recessed Championship Court

Refuse Competition Pool

Court #13 Court #14 Court #15 Court #16

Outdoor Pool Patio

example, in addition to having the BSU tennis teams play there, it is one of the biggest providers of junior programs for ages 4 to 18, which use bigger balls and smaller racquets and are held daily from 4 to 6 p.m. The club also offers a variety of classes, such as free classes for pop tennis— an indoor variation that’s similar to pickleball—and beginner classes for adults and for people who want to get back into playing tennis. While Hoge wouldn’t reveal membership numbers, she said the classes are “full and very successful.”

Hoge is a former Micron computer programmer and has since owned Earth Energy, a horizontal directional drilling company, with her husband.

She got interested in tennis after a bout of breast cancer. “I’d fallen in love with tennis eight years ago,” she said. “I’m a breast cancer survivor, and it was on my bucket list to play tennis. A tennis club was not ever anything I thought I’d be doing, but I enjoy it and I have a passion for it.”

Phase II of the club is intended to include outdoor tennis courts, an upper level of 12 more indoor tennis courts, swimming pools, basketball courts, and a permanent clubhouse to

Court #17

25 house businesses such as a physical therapist, doctor, day spa, boutique, and restaurants. “All of that is going to be open to the public,” Hoge explained. “The businesses will support everything else.”

Patton calls the Eagle Tennis Club “another feather in our hat” in terms of people understanding what a “viable, vibrant, vital cultural experience” tennis is for the people in the Treasure Valley community. His goal, he said, is to “make tennis a brand, a really important, critical, crucial part of the lifestyle and culture of Boise,” which he says has an expertise that exceeds any other community of its size in the world.

“The great thing about tennis is, a lot of kids maybe aren’t tall enough, big enough, or gifted enough for other sports,” Patton said. “But this is a sport that can take kids who want to be on teams, but they’ve been cut. This is an option for them to play a lifelong sport. All the journals on aging, there’s no argument: People who live longest are the ones who play tennis.”

Above: Schematic of the club's plans. Below: Greg Patton, men’s tennis coach at Boise State University, is committed to making tennis a critical element of the Boise culture.

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

Explore

Bird Bonanza Finding refuge in the Nelson Conservation Area

26

M

By Matt Furber

elon gravel, the heavy basalt boulders tossed along the Snake River like gigantic buckshot, is a wonder of the Gem State. Left over from the Bonneville flood 15,000 years ago, many of the massive rocks found on BLM land are 3 and 10 feet in diameter, some even etched with petroglyphs a century to 1,000 years old. They can be found via Canyon County’s Celebration Park south of Kuna. They are also a bonus for birders searching the skies for golden eagles that took up roost after the flood carved out the Snake River Canyon. Eventually, the feature became prime cliffside habitat the birds have enjoyed for thousands of years.

The cause of the epic flood, a mountain of water gushing at an estimated 15 million cubic feet per second that tumbled melon gravel downstream, was a massive ice dam burst at Lake Bonneville, the prehistoric water body left behind by the last ice age. It would absolutely swallow today’s TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

Great Salt Lake with fresh water.

Walt Disney made golden eagles famous in movies made with the late raptor expert, World War II hero, and federal hydrologist Morley Nelson, a Boise foothills original, who was also a featured guest on Marlin Perkins’ “Wild Kingdom.”

Today, at 480,000 acres of protected land, the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, known locally as the “NCA” or Snake River Birds of Prey, is popular for spring bird watching. It is also host to hiking, camping, shooting, fishing, boating, and windscreen tours. But Nelson’s passion, birds of prey, brought the NCA an international following in the raptor world. The canyon wall habitat got its first conservation designation in the 1970s, but the vast area that many access via Swan Falls Road out of Kuna (recently paved) received its current designation in 1993.

“Without Morley Nelson it wouldn’t exist,” said Marc Bechard, director of the Raptor Research Center at Boise

Photo: Glenn Oakley

27

State University (BSU), where he’s been a professor and raptor researcher since 1983, the same year Nelson convinced The Peregrine Fund to move to Idaho.

Nelson bent the ear of his Boise neighbor, Cecil Andrus, when he was U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Bechard, who used to collect casualty birds from Nelson’s freezer as part of his raptor research, said Andrus—doing his part to protect the bird habitat—was famous for saying, “You can protect the bedroom, but if you want the eagles to survive, you’ve got to save the kitchen.”

“I was hired to establish a birds of prey program. The graduate program got going in 1987,” Bechard said, adding that BSU insists on accepting only as many students as funding can support. Some 100 graduates of the program have gone on to take federal jobs or earn PhDs and become faculty at other universities. “I don’t know exactly why, but there are a lot of young people from around the world who find raptors intriguing.”

Kathy Barker McCoy, with the Golden Eagle Audubon

Society, leads regular birding hikes departing from Janjou Patisserie on State Street in Boise.

“It’s the Club Med for prairie falcons,” McCoy said referring to the NCA. “They come in the spring, lay their eggs, feed their babies on ground squirrels, then they all split.”

The sprint for the birds to reach adult size is a huge draw for birders from around the world. BLM estimates that the NCA accommodates 77,000 user-days in a given year. In the spring, falcon parents race after scores of squirrel babies to feed and fledge their own who reach adult size a month or so after hatching.

The NCA—located, as the bird flies, south of Boise and Mountain Home along the northwest flowing Snake River— is a massive swath of desert loneliness that is also home to bombing ranges for the Idaho Army National Guard. Called the Orchard Training Area, there’s hardly a tree in site. In addition to live-round rifle and small arms firing, there are 16 designated practice ranges for field artillery and mortar units, tank and helicopter gunnery and grenade launching.

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

Explore

Nampa

Marsing

69

BOISE KUNA-MORA

E

Celebration Park

ROAD

Halverson Lake

21

NORTH

SOU ROAD

84

Dedication Point

RO

AD

Orchard 20

RANGE

SIMCO

Crater Rings National Natural Landmark

MORLEY NELSON

Murphy

ROAD

Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area

30

R OAD

78

RIV

Mountain Home E R

67 30

Mountain Home AFB

IDAHO 28

TH

Mayfield

Initial Point

Swan Falls

Rabbit Creek

R

FORK

FALLS

Melba

AK

R

VALLEY

78

SN

E

P LEAS ANT

SWAN

95

Bowmont

ROAD

Kuna 45

IS

IV E

55

20

Lake Lowell

CLOVERDALE

95

BO

84

55

Grand View 78

CJ Strike Reservoir

84 78

Cove Recreation Site

84

51

Hammett

51

Bruneau 51

FIRE IN THE KITCHEN Golden eagle native vegetation in the NCA and black-tailed jackrabbits, its favored prey, is disappearing. Expansion of the conservation area happened as rangeland fires increased.

As a result, breeding pairs in the Snake River Canyon area have dwindled, albeit slowly, by about 30 percent from 35 pairs counted in 1971 when the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area became the first federal land management designation in the area, designed to protect the birds.

In the 1980s fires consumed vast swaths of sagebrush shrubs, approximately 99,000 acres of prime jackrabbit habitat, which adversely affected nesting golden eagle populations.

Today, cheatgrass-fueled fires have burned up about 75 percent of the NCA. The influx of cheatgrass is additionally problematic because it is easily ignited, even by hot engines.

According to a national fire occurrence data set published by the U.S. Forest Service, most fires are man-made: only about 1 percent are caused by lightning strikes. Today there are about 25 pairs of goldens and the food source has largely shifted. There is perfect habitat in the canyon, with flat land above to support thousands upon thousands of Paiute ground squirrels. Although ground squirrels are a food source for all kinds of raptors, especially prairie falcons, with the loss of jackrabbits, goldens have had to adapt to survive.

Sagebrush restoration, protecting the "kitchen," is a constant task for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with no apparent solution in sight.

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is one of the fastest moving animals on earth. In a full stoop while hunting, a golden eagle can reach speeds up to 200 mph.

Photo: Courtesy The Peregrine Fund

Morley Nelson, known as the most influential naturalist on raptor conservation in the American West.

The “central impact area” is approximately 65,300 acres inside the NCA, sizable enough for maximum range training, day and night.

The military reserve is actually a benefit for raptor habitat. It is a safe zone for Paiute ground squirrels, still numerous and favored by itinerant prairie falcons. Warning signs for possible “unexploded ordnance” serve as a deterrent to most human explorers, including ground squirrel “plinkers,” responsible for heavy ground squirrel casualties (legal and planned). Shooting is a sanctioned activity on much BLM land.

The local ground squirrel species estivate, the summer version of hibernate, a survival adaptation in a desolate landscape that becomes as hot as Hades in the summer. So, springtime in the NCA is, for prairie falcons, feeding their young a race against time.

The “kitchen” has been saved, but the food is only out for so long.

What’s more, the baby birds must learn to fly before they join a massive circular migration. Once their wings will carry them, the birds leave their birthplace in Idaho to hunt ground squirrels in distant lands: Saskatchewan in the summer and Texas in the winter. And every spring they return to what some would call a patch of Idaho desert, but others, like Morley Nelson, envisioned as home for these majestic birds.

THE BUDDY SYSTEM RETURNS! BUY YOUR 17|18 SEASON TICKETS TODAY. VISIT BCTHEATER.ORG

Explore

Big Plans Come in Small Packages Zoo Boise leads conservation efforts at home and abroad

By Kate Hull Photography by Chad Case

30

A

t Zoo Boise, watching a sloth bear vacuum up mealworms from your hand helps educate law enforcement officers and lawyers in India and Nepal on processing poachers. Feeding Jabari the giraffe a lettuce leaf snack or Dean the llama a handful of treats is a step toward rebuilding populations of African wildlife. For $3 or even 50 cents, respectively, Zoo Boise visitors TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

delight in up close encounters with some of the zoo’s favorite inhabitants.

It’s a fun activity no doubt, but these animals are part of a bigger mission: making a single visit to Zoo Boise a conservation action.

Tucked away southwest of downtown Boise, a wildlife oasis nestled off Myrtle Street is cementing itself as a global conservation leader. An 11acre facility now beginning its second

century of operation—it opened 101 years ago as a menagerie to house exotic birds and an escaped circus chimp—the zoo has sizable plans to keep the momentum going.

In 2014, the World Wildlife Fund released a wrenching statistic: between 1970 and 2010, the populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish around the globe dropped 52 percent. The numbers had been fall-

ing for quite some time, so in 2007, Zoo Boise Executive Director Steve Burns approached the cause from the lens of annual visitors to the zoo, over 340,000 each year, to be exact.

“We took this inventory of ourselves and realized we have two things to bring to the table: we have animals people want to see, and we have a lot of people who want to come see them,” he said.

Burns and staff decided that, if the simple act of just walking through the doors became a conservation act, they could make an impact. Zoo Boise became the first zoo to require a 50-cent conservation fee as part of the entrance price—$5 for annual passes. In addition, it offers an array of animal encounters for a small fee (like feeding the sloth bear) that hikes up their conservation contributions.

Burns recognized that people do love animals and want to see them succeed as populations, but they don’t always know how to make an impact.

“People don’t want to see species go extinct, but what are they supposed to do?” he said. “Just by visiting with your family you are helping; our exhibits become vehicles to protect animals.”

Zoo Boise is one of 2,800 wildlife exhibitors in the country, meaning a

In 2014, the World Wildlife Fund released a wrenching statistic: between 1970 and 2010, the populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish around the globe dropped 52 percent. facility with a license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But only 10 percent of those are recognized as an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)-accredited facility. The AZA is a global nonprofit that independently accredits facilities based on the highest industry standards in conservation and management. When Burns refers to a zoo, he only means the facilities in this 10 percent.

“There is a growing need to justify why we have zoos and aquariums,” said Liz Littman, the assistant director of the zoo. “But there is a new role zoos can play in raising funds, as well as continuing research and spreading knowledge.”

Now, each year Zoo Boise gives just over 10 percent of its operating budget to conservation efforts (that’s

between $200,000 and $300,000 every year and over $2 million during the past nine years). The business model has inspired 27 AZA-accredited zoos to do the same, including the Oregon and Oakland zoos, generating over $12.5 million to conservation efforts thanks to the small fee. Overall, the AZA-accredited zoos generate $188 million a year for conservation, but Burns wants that number to reach $500 million.

“That would make these institutes one of the biggest sources of conservation funding in the world, and we are creating a business model in order to do that,” he said. “We are pushing an envelope that needs to be pushed.

The world needs zoos and aquariums right now.”

Zoo Boise has used these funds to

The zoo's feeding program, and associated fees, enable the organization to dedicate 10 percent of its operating budget to conservation efforts.

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

31

Explore

A sloth bear is one of the animals at Zoo Boise that is part of a close encounters program. Here, one is being fed mealworms by a zoo visitor. The program has raised over $2 million over the last nine years.

32 provide grants to different causes, like the $24,000 given to the South Luangwa Conservation Society to fund anti-poaching patrols. Locally, Zoo Boise has helped to restore the habitats destroyed by Idaho’s Table Rock Fire. After getting feedback from the groups, the zoo shifted focus to giving more money to fewer causes.

“We heard feedback that if we want to be more effective, pick fewer projects and fund them in bigger amounts for longer terms,” Burns said. Now, the organization is doing just that.

Zoo Boise is working to contribute $2 million to help rebuild Gorongosa National Park and return it to its mantle as one of Africa’s greatest parks. The campaign will also remove current exhibits that do not meet modern zoo standards.

After 25 years of war in Mozambique, Africa, Gorongosa and its wildlife were devastated. Burns was inspired to focus funds on this major conservation effort after the zoo helped fund elephants and zebras moving back to the park. He worked TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

with Idaho philanthropist Greg Carr and, after visiting the park, had the idea to bring the efforts back to Idaho.

This year, Zoo Boise is slated to begin construction on a 2.5-acre Gorongosa National Park exhibit that brings their conservation efforts to life, as part of their $8.9 million “Zoo with a New View Capital Campaign.” The exhibit will be open to the public in 2018.

“If we are spending money on this national park, and if people are coming to see the zoo, wouldn’t it be great to then teach them and show them what their money is going toward?”

said Burns. “We wanted to change the reason why we build exhibits.”

The Gorongosa exhibit will give visitors an opportunity to see African dogs, baboons, hyenas, and a variety of animals that are currently being repopulated in the park some 10,000 miles away.

In the meantime, stop by and spend part of your day strolling the exhibits at Zoo Boise. You’ll find red pandas, bald eagles, lions, zebras, and over 100 other species. You’ll also find that you’re helping ensure they stick around for many years to come.

DI D YO U K N O W ?

• Zoo Boise hosts a number of kid- and adult-minded events throughout the year, like the kids’ fun run, Run Wild, coming up July 22. You can also rent the zoo for private parties and events.

• Beyond being home to over 100 species, Zoo Boise partners with various area theater arts groups to combine cultural components to the exhibits. Visit the sloth bears for a glance at Asian cultures and history.

is in good company.

The Western Publication Association awarded TERRITORY Magazine the 2017 Maggie Award for “Best New Publication.” Selected from competing magazines in 24 states west of the Mississippi, TERRITORY Magazine now joins the ranks of past Maggie winners such as Powder, Surfer, Sunset Magazine, Sierra, Sun Valley Magazine, Seattle Metropolitan and Portland Monthly.

7 SUM ME R 201

Pick up your copy today!

Available at fine hotels, retail stores and specialty grocers throughout the Treasure Valley, and beyond! Look for it on newsstands at Albertsons, Boise Co-Op, Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, Rosauers Food & Drug, Ridleys, Target, Walgreens, and Winco Foods, along with airport locations in Boise, Twin Falls, Hailey and Idaho Falls.

SENTINELS OF O’S THE SKY – IDAH BIRDS OF PREY

BOGUS BASIN TURNS 75

COMING TO ISE’S AMERICA – BO STRY CULTURAL TAPE

ON BOARD WITH THE X GAMES

SENTINELS O

ENSURING THE SURVIVAL OF WILD BIRDS OF PREY

By Laurie Sammis

34

On a warm and dry August day near Vale, Oregon, Joe Atkinson walks to the edge of a long ridge and casts Widow, a magnificent nearly 10-pound female golden eagle, off his fist into a light blue sky. With one step and an upward sweep of her wings, Widow is airborne, her wings stretched to over six feet and her shadow gliding low along the ridge.

She slides off, soaring along the ridgeline in search of a thermal to carry her up above the desert landscape that stretches from the western border of Idaho into Oregon.

This is prime raptor country, a sagebrush sea loaded with ground squirrels, marmots, grouse, prairie dogs and jackrabbits (primary golden eagle prey), as well as other small birds and mammals. As a golden eagle, Widow is perfectly adapted to thrive in this environment.

Birds of prey, or raptors (derived from the Latin "rapere," meaning “to seize” or “take by force”), include eagles, hawks, falcons, vultures and owls, and are defined by their keen vision, powerful talons and sharp, curved beaks. From her height of 1,200 feet, Widow can see vividly, and with exact precision, a rabbit that is over a mile away, which is approximately equivalent to our seeing a spider on the ground from the top of a 10-story building.

Equipped with broad, long wings with almost finger-like primary feathers at the tips, Widow is an expert flier capable of soaring 30 mph and gliding in a hunt at around 100 mph.

Golden eagles possess astonishing speed and maneuverability for their size and when in a full stoop (diving on prey), can reach speeds of up to 200 mph, making it one of the fastest moving animals on earth (behind the Peregrine falcon, another bird of prey that has been clocked diving at speeds over 225 mph).

The heat has been rising all afternoon and Widow has found a thermal (columns of hot rising air that create lift).

Within seconds she has climbed hundreds of feet, being pulled like Icarus towards the sun and gaining height with every turn. Soon, she is barely visible, a tiny speck above the desert, marked only by a flash of wing that catches the blaze of the sun for an instant and then, just as quickly, disappears.

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

Joe Atkinson has lost site of his bird. Atkinson, a master falconer based in Vale, Oregon, who has been working with eagles for over 40 years, is not worried. He and his wife Cordi, a master falconer and retired clinical scientist, have developed a flight training and conditioning program in conjunction with the California Foundation for Birds of Prey (CFBP), to help rehabilitate golden eagles—those abandoned, sick or injured—so that they are better equipped with the skills needed to be released in the wild. To date, the Atkinsons have reconditioned and released more than 30 birds into the wild, but it is a long and sometimes heartbreaking commitment.

There is movement in the sagebrush and moments later, as a jackrabbit begins darting between sage brush in a mad dash to its burrow, Widow drops like the blade of a knife from behind the sun. Her timing is perfect and her talons sharp. Even with the sagebrush cover, the jackrabbit doesn’t stand a chance.

OF THE SKY Photo: Cordi Atkinson

BIRDS OF PREY AS A SENTINEL SPECIES

Known as the “King of the Sky” or the “War Eagle,” golden eagles and other birds of prey have been both revered and feared for their great strength, size and power. In Greek mythology, a giant, golden eagle served as the personal messenger of Zeus and was placed among the stars as the constellation Aquila, alongside its consort, the heavenly vulture, Lyra. Ancient texts tell of how the eagle alone could look into the sun, and the North American legend of the “thunderbird” speaks of a mythical super eagle responsible for creating thunder and lightning. Golden eagles are also at the top in terms of biological dominance and have been known to attack other hawks and falcons, and even bald eagles that enter their territory.

Yet as powerful and adept as eagles and other birds of prey are in the animal kingdom, much of their survival depends in large part upon various human interactions. Many threats to raptors are human caused—including habitat loss, nest disturbance, environmental contaminants, persecution, electrocution, and collisions (with aircraft, automobiles and, the most recent potential danger, wind turbines).

As top predators, raptors are considered “sentinel species”—sensitive indicators of the health of our environment.

This is especially true for the larger raptors like eagles and vultures that reproduce more slowly and tend to be more sensitive to changes in the environment.

Boise-based USGS wildlife biologist Todd Katzner, who has collaborated on studies ranging from ecosystem balance and the effects of fire on sagebrush habitat for raptors to golden eagle mortality and the continental-scale consequenc-

35

CALIFORNIA CONDOR

GYRFALCON

36

BALD EAGLE

GOLDEN EAGLE

PHILIPPINE EAGLE

LITTLE OWL

WESTERN OSPREY

NORTHERN HARRIER

37

PEREGRINE FALCON

A bird of prey is a carnivorous bird that feeds on meat taken by hunting or from carrion. Most birds of prey share the defining characteristics of keen eyesight, strong talons and a sharp, hooked beak. All birds of prey belong to the scientific class Aves, which are often loosely grouped by diurnal raptors that hunt during the day— hawks, eagles, vultures, falcons, osprey, kestrels and condors (a type of vulture), along with kites, harriers, caracaras and secretary bird—and nocturnal raptors, such as owls, that hunt at night. Owls share similar characteristics of hooked beaks, keen eyesight and sharp, curved talons, but tend to have forward facing eyes that are set in the sockets and a facial disc to help collect sound waves. Many owls also tend to have feathered legs and a downy row of feathers along the leading edge of their wing that allow for silent flight (unlike the whistling air you might hear passing over the wing of a diving falcon or eagle).

All the birds of prey pictured on this page, with the exception of the Philippine eagle, California condor, and little owl, can be seen in Idaho. The Eurasian eagle owl pictured on the bottom right is not native to Idaho but can be seen, along with a dozen other birds of prey, at the World Center for Birds of Prey at The Peregrine Fund headquarters in Boise.

EURASIAN OWL

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

38

es of local wind-energy generation, calculates that at least 30 of the 75 currently recognized eagle species worldwide are of conservation concern. Vultures, in particular, are at high risk, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists 73 percent of the world’s 22 vulture species as being of significant conservation concern.

“Birds of prey are good indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem function and pollution,” explained Katzner. “Birds of prey often serve as umbrella species (species used in the stead of many species for the purposes of making decisions concerning conservation.) There are clear associations between things that are real problems for humans and things that are real problems for raptors.”

Take, for example, the history of the bald eagle. In the early 1900s, the bald eagle was considered a threat to human interests due to perceived predation on livestock and fisheries, and many states had established bounties that paid for their slaughter. After decades of suffering persecution through shooting, poisoning and trapping, our national symbol was protected under the Bald Eagle Protection Act in 1940, which also established protection for golden eagles whose plumage coloring is similar to that of immature bald eagles.

Unfortunately, bald eagle populations began declining again in the 50s and 60s due to widespread agricultural applications of the insecticide dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT). The effects of this environmental contaminant, which entered the food chain and caused avian reproductive failure, were so severe that there were only 487 nesting pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states in 1963, leading the bird chosen for the national seal of the United States, to become TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

one of the first species listed on the Endangered Species Preservation Act in 1967 (precursor to the Endangered Species Act of 1973).

Raptor issues with DDT also opened the eyes of the public to the adverse effects of mass applications of pesticides, as well as the concept of bioaccumulation (the build up of toxic substances in tissues, which is a phenomenon that tends to magnify at higher levels in organisms higher up the food chain, such as raptors or humans). As a result, in 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a ban on all agricultural uses of DDT.

CAPTIVE PROPAGATION AND FALCONRY

DDT also had a dramatic impact on the American peregrine falcon, which by 1964 had become extinct east of the Mississippi and had been reduced to 324 known nesting pairs in the Western U.S. “The peregrine falcon was one of the first animals put on the ESA,” said Erin Katzner, director of community engagement and curator of birds for The Peregrine Fund (TPF), which is located at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. (Katzner is married to Todd Katzer of the USGS.) “It was also one of the first (species), and one of the very few that has been taken off the endangered species list.”

In fact, the peregrine falcon was removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species effective August 25, 1999—just 29 years after it was first listed. And it was The Peregrine Fund that was largely responsible for their speedy recovery, along with a remarkable man by the name of Tom

Cade who brought the Peregrine Fund to Idaho.

Recognized worldwide for having developed captive breeding and release programs for birds of prey at Cornell University in the 1960s, Cade became the father of the Peregrine falcon’s recovery, first in the Eastern United States, and then across much of the species’ range in North America.

“I had a lifelong interest in birds of prey since the time I was about 9 years old,” said Cade last August. “Through falconry, initially, and then, later as a biologist in college and graduate school.”

Cade’s genius was in bringing that lifelong love of birds of prey and his experience with falconry to his raptor biology work. It is similar in concept to the rehabilitation work that Joe and Cordi Atkinson are now undertaking by using falconry techniques to provide eagles with the skills needed to survive in the wild; but at the time, it was groundbreaking.

“Tom Cade and his team were able to breed peregrine falcons in captivity, which now seems commonplace,” Erin Katzner reflected, “but at the time nobody had ever done it before, so it was quite a breakthrough in scientific methods.”

In typical fashion, Cade, who has won numerous awards for his work, credits the original idea to other team members: chiefly to Don Hunter, a lawyer from Cornell who was, according to Cade, also a topnotch falconer. The two established the Raptor Research Foundation in 1966 and decided to collaborate on the idea of captive propagation, which eventually led to the founding of The Peregrine Fund and the complete recovery of the peregrine falcon.

“Most people thought it would be impossible to bring peregrines back from extinction because they thought, first, you could never breed enough of them; and second, even if you

did, they would never survive on their own in the wild, or if they did survive in the wild, they wouldn’t be able to breed,” said Cade, who is now in his 80s.

“All of these different stages seemed impossible to overcome, but we just kept proving them wrong and eventually many of them joined us,” he added, “It was a lot of fun, actually.”

“We had the first successful breeding in 1973,” recalled Cade. “It took us three years and we still had a lot to learn, but we raised around 21 peregrines that year from four pairs and soon we were producing up to 100 birds per year, releasing them into the wild.”

RAPTOR RECOVERY AND THE PEREGRINE FUND

By 1985, Cade and his team had released more than 1,300 birds into the wild, and by 1999, the peregrine falcon had recovered enough to be removed from the ESA. It was a triumph for science—a breakthrough made possible by a man with a passion for these birds and the vision to bring falconry techniques and ideas to scientific efforts. And because Idaho is prime raptor country—home to 31 species of raptors, as well as North America’s highest density of nesting raptors— most of that work happened right in the center of Idaho, at The Peregrine Fund headquarters in Boise.

As the story is told, The Peregrine Fund was founded in 1970 by Cade after a couple of young boys read an article in Boys Life about his work trying to save the peregrine falcon.

The boys went door to door in their neighborhood raising money for Cade, then mailed it to him. It was only as he was SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

39

40

Photo: Cordi Atkinson

opening a bank account to deposit the funds and was asked to furnish a name that The Peregrine Fund was founded.

“Every time I hear that story, it gives me chills because it answers the question of ‘what can I do?’” said Erin Katzner.

“When you think that some small action like that can turn into a huge multi-national organization that has gone on to not only save the peregrine falcon in the United States, but also saved Mauritius kestrels and three species of Asian vultures from extinction, then you realize you have the potential to actually change the future of our planet by ensuring that these birds still exist.”

“The Peregrine Fund has always been grounded in both science and falconry,” said Erin Katzner, citing Cade as the impetus for that philosophy and adding that they have learned how important it is to understand the science of declining populations.

She cites multiple case studies as examples, starting with The Peregrine Fund’s work with the East Indian vulture and the California condor, the latter of which had declined to just 22 breeding pairs in the wild by 1982. Currently, The Peregrine Fund maintains the largest captive breeding program of California condors anywhere in the world—they had 13 eggs laid this past April, and those chicks will eventually be released back to the wild. But in the beginning, their conservation efforts were ineffective because even with newly released captive-bred condors, condor numbers continued to decline.

SCIENCE BEFORE CONSERVATION

“We had to determine why they were dying,” stated Katzner, “otherwise our conservation efforts were not having any quantifiable affect.”

The science had to come first, so the focus shifted.

As it turns out, California condors were dying from lead poisoning. In a scientific paper published by Cade in the Journal of Wildlife Management in 2007, he cites evidence of the exposure of free-flying California condors to lead from spent ammunition and the need, which continues today, for clinical intervention and chelation treatments (chemical removal of lead from the bloodstream).

“One of the things we didn’t realize was that these scavengers were coming down to feed on the leftovers from animals that had been shot with lead ammunition,” said The Peregrine Fund’s Katzner. “And not just condors, but anything that scavenges, which includes bald eagles and vultures, hawks and kestrels. (They) often feed on carrion in the winter when food is scarce or under the snow.”

The adverse effects of lead on human health have been known for millennia, and there are now restrictions on lead in paint, gasoline, pipes, and children’s toys. In addition, federal legislation in 1991 banned lead shot for all waterfowl hunting due to the well-documented lead poisoning of swans, ducks, loons, and other birds that ingest tiny lead shotgun pellets littering their habitat. And while waterfowl hunters are now required to use steel, copper or other non-lead shot, which is not harmful to wildlife if it is ingested, lead ammunition is still allowed for hunting of other animals.

“We are working with the hunting community to inform them about the other options and to help them understand that they don’t have to use lead ammunition to hunt,” Katzner said. “And many hunters have chosen to switch to copper ammunition so that they can carry on the environmental ethic that hunters have been known for forever in our country.”

Lead ammunition splinters upon impact, and x-ray studies of big game killed with lead ammunition reveal tiny, almost microscopic fragments of lead much farther away from the bullet hole than was initially known.

The consequences of this are not limited to raptors, but are relevant to human populations as well. The use of lead shot may mean that the families of hunters are unknowingly ingesting lead when eating wild game shot with lead ammunition.

“Often the problems that are facing these birds are human caused,” reflected Katzner. “But if humans caused them, that means we can fix them.”

Birds of prey like Widow, the female golden eagle flown

by Joe Atkinson, help provide inspiration, as well as scientific knowledge. And Widow has been doing her part. She has been asked to participate in a Smithsonian film project studying the amazing escape tactics of prey animals. She will help illustrate the incredible acrobatics of a breed of white-tailed jackrabbits in Wyoming when hunted by golden eagles. Widow has even been asked to test new laser flightdetection technology at renewable wind farms designed to shut down turbines when a raptor approaches. And this July, she is scheduled to be broadcast worldwide via live stream satellite for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) program “Planet Earth Live.” From a tiny camera mounted on her back, Widow will provide audiences all around the planet with a “bird’s eye view” of her world as she soars to 1,200 feet, or higher, and dives at speeds over 150 miles per hour with the rushing sound of a jet aircraft engine.

Perhaps it is the wonder of flight that has the power to captivate us when we see the dark form of a bird of prey taking shape along the horizon, but part of the draw for biologists and ecologists is that birds of prey are very visible indicators of ecosystem change. Or as USGS wildlife biologist Todd Katzner pointed out: because raptors are things that we can track more readily than other species.

“We can’t very easily count the number of mosquitos to track ecosystem function and pollution, but we can track the number, or ages and locations, of eagles and other raptors,” Katzner said, who used the California condor as an example.

“The California condor alerted us to the issue of lead poisoning in our ecosystem,” he added, “But we are now seeing that there are a host of other scavengers that have high levels of lead in their system as well.”

In this respect, the raptors’ overall health and sustainability in the wild can provide a window onto the health of the ecosystems in which they function. And since many are migratory species, this often has international and global implications, which means that the presence and understanding of raptors like Widow continue to provide strong indicators of the health and biodiversity of the environment on which both raptors and humans depend.

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

41

Iraqi-trained physician Marwan Sweedan

42

COMING TO AMERICA REFUGEES ADD COLOR TO BOISE’S GROWING CULTURAL TAPESTRY

43

By Greg Stahl Photography by Angie Smith

I

t was a stunning, sunny spring morning in Boise, Idaho’s Liberty Park near the St. Alphonsus medical campus, and two dozen people gathered with the promise of putting roots in the Earth.

A day and a half of rain had just concluded. Tilled soil was wet and stuck to shoes in big, muddy clumps. A group of women wearing bright blue, orange, yellow and purple headscarves sat on the dirt, basking in the strong spring sun and scent of a just-passed storm.

Mahamud Kuso wore a blue button-up shirt and sat near the edge of the field with some other men. He spoke some English, but after several probing questions from a reporter flagged down a friend to translate his native Swahili.

He waved an arm toward the 2 acres of tilled soil where refugees of various nationalities were poking around a grid delineated by orange-painted wood stakes. In his native Kenya, he said, one person would farm an entire area that size, and that would be their main source of income. In Boise, the 3 square-meters that will be allotted to his entire family is comparatively tiny.

“You don’t have time to farm that much anyway because you have to work,” he said.

“Back home there is less work, so you have to focus on farming for your daily bread.”

The community garden is an opportunity for refugees from diverse cultures and backgrounds to come together and nurture a sense of place, pride and fraternity. It’s also a great way to produce local food. On another level, though, it’s a fitting metaphor for refugee resettlement in the Treasure Valley. Families and people of various ethnicities were forced from their homelands and are looking for a place to put roots in the earth.

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

WHO ARE REFUGEES IN IDAHO? A plurality of current refugees in Boise (49 percent) are from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country that has been decimated by civil war and political corruption. Other large contingents include those from Syria and Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, all three war-torn areas.

Most of the refugees arriving in Idaho are women or children.

Congo 49%

Syria 12%

Ukraine 3%

Iraq 10% Iran 2%

Central African Rep. <1%

Mexico <1% Cuba <1%

Sudan 3% Burundi 1%

A HISTORY OF RESETTLEMENT

44

By definition a refugee is someone forced to flee their country because of persecution, war or violence. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, a refugee has “well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.” Ethnic, tribal and religious violence and war are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries.

Idaho has been a center for refugee resettlement since 1975 when Gov. John Evans established a program to resettle people fleeing Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The program was formalized in 1980 when Congress enacted the Refugee Resettlement Act. Since then, Idaho has been part of the Federal Refugee Resettlement Program and has provided a new home for people from distraught nations all over the world.

In the 1980s refugees came to Idaho from Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, Idaho became home to more than 5,000 refugees, more than half of them from Bosnia where civil war and ethnic cleansing forced people to flee. In the 2000s, Idaho has resettled large numbers of people from Iraq, Congo, Burma, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Somalia. All told, people from more than 60 countries have moved to Idaho as part of the refugee resettlement program. They are store clerks, taxi drivers, and engineers; parents, children, and cousins; and they’re increasingly woven into the fabric of Idaho’s community.

"Boise is a great location for refugee resettlement for several reasons," said Kara Fink, the outreach and partnership manager for the Idaho Office for Refugees. One is its size. It’s a comfortable place to learn to get around and find the resources people need for day-to-day living. It’s also very safe, which is probably the most important quality people seek when fleeing persecution or war.

“And people in Boise are just really welcoming and friendly,” Fink said. “The outpouring of support for refugee resettlement has grown a lot.”

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

Kenya <1%

While support may be on the rise in Boise and Twin Falls, the two Idaho cities where refugees are placed, attitudes statewide are divided. According to a January 2017 public policy survey by Boise State University (BSU), Idahoans are almost evenly split about refugee resettlement. Of the 1,000 Idahoans who participated, 51.1 percent favor the program while 43.8 percent oppose it. Those who oppose it, however, “feel very strongly about the matter.”

In general, younger Idahoans view resettlement more favorably. However, across all age groups of Idahoans, 48.8 percent believe refugees are a burden on Idaho’s economy, while 38.8 percent view them as a benefit. The survey also reported that a vast majority of Idahoans who have actually met refugees—for the most part people who live in Boise and Twin Falls—had more favorable views.

“In sum, there appears to be slightly more support for refugee resettlement in Idaho than opposition, but a good deal of nuance lies beneath the surface of this attitude,” according to the report.

THE PATH TO BOISE Fleeing one’s homeland and suddenly arriving in the United States can be challenging for a number of reasons.

Many refugees don’t speak English. Most experience culture shock. All are looking for jobs, and all are fleeing circumstances that have caused a certain degree of unease, if not outright fear and panic.

“The United States is one of the places we don’t have a clear picture about because in Iraq during Sadaam Hussein’s time it was kind of taboo to talk about the Unites States,” said Marwan Sweedan, an Iraqi doctor who fled his country after assisting Coalition forces in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq war. “The only thing we know about the United States is through Hollywood, the movies, and TV shows. And, to be honest, they don’t do a great job of promoting American views, values, and lifestyle. And, of course, the Iraqi media was telling us what they wanted us to hear.”

Sweedan relayed the story of his arrival in the United

Ethiopia 1%

Afghanistan 7%

Pakistan 1%

with that person,’ because you can’t physically and mentally imagine what that person has been through.”

Sweedan’s fear of authorities was well founded. In 2006, his father was kidnapped, tortured, and killed by the Iraqi Minister of Interior Affairs, which he said was run by an Iranian militia.

“I worked (as a surgeon) west of Baghdad in Ramadi, which for a time was considered the most dangerous place on Earth,” he said. “Al Qaida, Iraqi army, American army, Iraqi resistance, militia—everybody was there. Finally Al Qaida was able to take over the city, so I had to leave. That was 2006. At that point, I hadn’t thought about going to the United States at all.”

Two years later, after finding asylum in a refugee camp in Jordan and a lengthy vetting process, he landed in California.

Bhutan 6%

Burma 3%

Eritrea 1%

MAKING A NEW LIFE Somalia 3%

States. His plane landed on August 12, 2008, around 10 p.m. in San Jose, California. He thought somebody from the local resettlement agency would pick him up, but he was left loitering in the airport wondering what to do—and wondering to some extent how Americans perceived him.

“The airport was closing. It was starting to get toward midnight, and a policeman approached me, and I was kind of frightened,” he said. “You’re in a new country, and you have these images of police in Iraq. I tried to run some English in my mind, and I was reviewing my sentences: ‘good evening,’ ‘how are you,’ and that type of thing. He looked at me, and he started speaking Spanish.”

“We all came on a promise, the same promise: that we’re going to find a great opportunity and if we take it and invest in that opportunity, we can make a great living in the United States.”

– Marwan Sweedan While amusing, Sweedan’s story keys directly into a truth that refugees of many nationalities and backgrounds face when they arrive, and that is that police in the U.S. aren’t agents of power for a dictator. In general, American police aren’t corrupt, and they don’t take bribes. Boise, in fact, has a police officer whose job it is to help refugees acclimatize to this new reality.

“You meet people who have seen and been through such horrific experiences that no one can even imagine,” said Judi Brawer, who works for a program called Global Talent Idaho, which helps highly-educated refugees like Sweedan land jobs in the U.S. “You can’t sit back and say ‘I empathize

Refugees arriving in the United States aspire to many things. They want to find peace, community and support. But Brawer said the most common aspiration among refugees is to learn English because that is the single most important key to landing a job and earning independence.

“Whether they come here with no education or a bachelor’s degree and a career, the industriousness of refugees is amazing,” Brawer said. “They start businesses, they feed people, have gardens. They want to get back on a career track. I really want to dispel that myth that a refugee comes here and wants to get on welfare. These are the least lazy people I have ever met. They’re working the overnight shift, have families, working two or three jobs.”

Kibrom Milash, a refugee from Eritrea, embodies this notion. When he and his wife arrived in Boise on May 2, 2013, they received help from the local resettlement agency.

“They paid our rent for a few months,” he said. “We got food stamps, Medicaid and everything. After a month and two weeks I found a job—three jobs, actually, but I only took two of them. I can’t work three jobs.”

In his first year and a half in Boise, Milash landed jobs as a janitor, summer camp instructor, taxi driver and cook.

Then in the fall of 2014 he opened his own restaurant at Boise’s International Market where 16 vendors from around the world sold ethnically diverse food and wares. The market was gutted by fire in September 2015, and Milash moved his business, Kibrom’s Ethiopian and Eritrean Restaurant, to the corner of State and 35th streets. What’s obvious is that it’s become a popular Boise eatery. What’s not so obvious is that Milash got his start by opening a restaurant in a refugee camp called Shimelba in Ethiopia where about 10,000 people, mostly Eritreans, received asylum.

Like other refugees in Boise, Milash’s homeland was torn by war and corruption. He was put in jail for starting a business and forced to go to work for the Eritrean government for six months without pay. Before that, the government had paid him about $5 per month to work as a math teacher.

“I didn’t have a choice. I had to leave the country,” he said. “So I went back to Ethiopia again, and the government put me in the refugee camp, and I lived there for five years.”

He started filling out paperwork to be resettled in the United States in 2010, a process that took three years to complete.

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

45

46

Restaurant owner Kibrom Milash and family

Milash said he’s grateful to be where he is and finds the people of Boise very supportive and welcoming. While he’s happy, he can’t help but look back sometimes.

“There is no one who I grew up with who is in the United States,” he said. “I call them sometimes. They’re everywhere.

Some of them Israel. Some of them Europe. Some of them Canada or Sudan. When you talk with them you feel bad. We wish we could be together again.”

Like Milash, Sweedan has an enterprising spirit. He graduated from Baghdad Medical School in 2003, and upon arriving in the United States in 2008 found himself selling hot dogs at a California mall to earn a living. Six years later, after working a variety of odd jobs and three years serving the United States Army as a combat medic, he moved to Boise where he’s studying, once again, to become a doctor.

“After a month and two weeks I found a job—three jobs, actually, but I only took two of them.”

– Kibrom Milash The United States is perhaps the only country that doesn’t have an easy path for foreign-trained medical doctors to become certified. Sweedan has devoted himself to figuring out the process and has built a support group for other doctors who came to Idaho as refugees. In 2015, he was recognized by the White House with an award called “Champions of Change” for his influence.

“I worked as an interpreter, I worked as an EMT, but the need of going back to get my license and become a doctor and start all over is something that haunts you,” he said.

“So I wondered how many refugees have the same problem.

I reached out to doctors, and we contacted refugees here, and we gathered people from all different countries: from Africa, from Iraq, from Jordan, Somalia, East Europe, from Russia. We started something called Global Talent IdahoDoc, GTI-Doc.” So far, of the 12 participants, one has found his way into residency and many others into medical-related jobs or paths toward graduate degrees. More success stories are sure to follow. In Iraq, Sweedan worked as a surgeon; he’s interested now in infectious diseases and genetics and works as an infection preventionist in the Quality and Safety Department at Saint Alphonsus in Boise.

“You have people coming here who are doctors, engineers, accountants,” Brawer said. “They studied and had a successful career. They come here, and they’re stocking shelves at Walmart. They’re not giving back to the community as much as they would like, or as much as they are able.”

A CITY’S COMMITMENT In January, the Boise City Council made clear the city’s commitment to refugees from around the planet when it unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming that the city’s welcome mat is out for those fleeing violence and persecution in global conflicts.

“Our city is known as a leader for welcoming all people.

We have a responsibility to welcome, speak up for, and stand with all of our residents regardless of where they are from,” said Council President Pro Tem Lauren McLean.

“Boise is a special place and that is because we strive to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to share their unique contributions within our community.”

Boise’s resolution—a restatement of a longstanding position—wasn’t adopted in a vacuum. It was passed Feb. 1, just a week and a half after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who on January 27 enacted the first of two executive orders targeting immigration processes and procedures and seeking to ban resettlement from seven predominantly Muslim countries (later reduced to six). It’s policy-making that has created worldwide furor.

The politics seem both far away and omnipresent. Life is moving on for Boise’s refugees, but the rhetoric from political pundits hovers like a haze over day-to-day life. “I think before the election the stereotypes weren’t as prevalent,” Brawer said. “I think they’ve come out of the woodwork since the election. You have such vitriol coming out of people that’s completely unfounded. People say things without having ever met a refugee.”

The politicization is something new, said Fink, adding that refugee resettlement has had bipartisan support for decades. “We try really hard to stay out of the political side of it,” she said. “We just create a more welcoming community and do what we do,” which is to provide assistance and support to refugees who are primarily relocated to Boise and Twin Falls in Idaho.

The mixed American perceptions of refugee resettlement are something Sweedan and other refugees acknowledged.

“One of the things I’m helping with: If I can reflect a good picture for the Americans to see I am a good man, they will be more interested to work with a farmer, with an engineer, with a taxi driver, and that will give the refugees the opportunity to flourish,” Sweedan said.

THE PROMISE Four-term Boise Mayor Dave Bieter is the longest serving mayor in the city’s 150-year history. He often touts his Basque heritage and Boise’s position as one of the most significant centers of Basque people on the planet outside the Basque country of Europe.

“Boise was built by immigrants,” he wrote in a recent column. “As the most remote metropolitan area in the lower 48 states, our city has long been a place where people came from around the world to find economic opportunity and build a better life.”

This, said Sweedan, holds true for refugees today.

Regardless of where they came from or what they’re backgrounds are, there’s a tie that binds them.

“We all came on a promise, the same promise: that we’re going to find a great opportunity and if we take it and invest in that opportunity, we can make a great living in the United States, and our children will have a great future,” Sweedan said. “So it doesn’t matter if you’re a doctor, a farmer, a taxi driver. If you’re a refugee here, you came on that promise.”

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

47

A MOUNTAIN PLAYGROUND BOGUS BASIN TURNS 75 WITH BIG PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

48

L

ong before Bogus Basin became Boise’s backyard winter playground, the rugged wilderness area was home to a small group of swindlers who used the remote basin as a hideout to manufacture fake gold, which they would bring into Boise and sell to unsuspecting buyers.

It was from this sketchy past that the area earned its “Bogus” moniker from the locals, an unusual designation that often causes a bit of head scratching among visitors and newcomers when they realize it refers to Boise’s beloved ski mountain.

But to locals, Bogus is a term of endearment, as reflected in the bold bumper stickers seen on vehicles around town that simply proclaim, BOGUS. Sitting just 19 miles north of Boise, the 2,600-acre Bogus Basin Recreation Area has been described as close enough to downtown that you can sneak up to the mountain during lunch, get in a couple of ski runs, and be back at your desk in less than two hours. Some locals brag of skiing in the morning and returning to town in the afternoon for a round of golf.

Hard to believe, but Boise’s backyard playground has turned 75 years young this year and, fittingly, has opened an impressive number of new TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

activities geared toward gaining summer visitors, which will ultimately benefit winter users as well.

Coasters and Tubing and Bungees, Oh My! One can hear the anticipation and enthusiasm in the voice of General Manager Brad Wilson as he ticks off the new summer activities, beginning with the big one, a mountain coaster, the first one in Idaho. Scheduled for completion around August 1, the gravity-driven coaster will pull riders up 1,000 feet of track and then allow them to descend 2,400 feet of track that will thrill riders with curves, corkscrews, and downhill stretches.

“The cars have seat belts and are locked onto the rails,” Wilson said.

“The driver also has a braking system, so the speed you go is completely up to you. What’s also fun is that the mountain coaster will operate in the winter too, which gives people more reason to come up, even if they’re not skiers.

We’d love to introduce non-skiers to what a beautiful place this is in both the summer and wintertime.”

Leading up to the coaster are several other activities that await summer recreationists, Wilson explained. “By

the first of July we expect to have the whole base area reconfigured, including a much larger grassy area, an expansion of the patio pavers at the Simplot Lodge, the addition of about 200 outdoor seats and tables on the patio, a new food and beverage outlet, and a couple of fire rings, which will create a casual place to relax before, during or after other activities.”

Other additions include a 300-footlong summer tubing lane, which is much like a winter tubing operation but with an artificial sliding surface.

There is also a new 32-foot climbing tower, a four-trampoline bungee jump, two new conveyor-style lifts in the beginning ski area and gold panning, all of which are designed to engage kids and families. Finally, there will be new mountain bike trails, a bike skills and pump track, and some dedicated hiking trails going in as well. And, of course, the chairlift will be operating for hikers, mountain bikers and sightseers.

Bogus Beginnings In her book, “Building Bogus,” Bogus Basin historian Eve Chandler writes about how a diverse group of local volunteers came together to create the mountain recreation area in the 1930s.

Photo: Chad Case

By Patti Murphy

49

National Forset Boundry (SUP)

r Po Dee

Aerial Adventure Course

Deer Point Trail (#91)

Lif int

BOGUS BASIN MOUNTAIN RECREATION AREA MASTER PLAN Base Area Fun Zone

Coac

4 5

3

Eating Terrace/ Snowfront Plaza

Event Area

Adventure Tower

h Li ft

Meadow

Mountain Bike Pump and Skills Park

New

r

Bus/Transit Station Arrival/ Bus Drop

veyo

Con

2

Outdoor Food/Beverage Satations

1

Patrol

Employee Building

Embassadors/ Transportation Center

Rentals Expanded Simplot Lodge

tai nC

oas

te r

Mountain Tree House

un Mo

p Of

f/A

Reconfigured Service Area

New Mo

Parking

Lift Ops

Dro

ng

arki

le P

sib cces

rningsta

r Lift

) 143 l (# kT rai ree sC gu Bo

50

To Boise

t

Education/ Interpretive Center

Maintenance

Summer additions planned for Bogus Basin are many and are geared toward engaging the entire family. What's on tap: • The Alpine Coaster is scheduled for completion around August 1. The gravity-driven coaster will pull riders up 1,000 feet of track and then allow them to descend 2,400 feet of track that will thrill riders with curves, corkscrews, and downhill stretches.

• New mountain bike trails will be built, as will a bike skills and pump track. There will be new hiking trails added, too.

• A potential new amphitheater—a 200-seat facility—in front of the Simplot Lodge.

“It was the middle of the Great Depression,” she writes. “Kids and adults were looking for ways to entertain themselves during the winter months.

There were few winter activities competing for their attention and boredom was rampant.”

When the Sun Valley Ski Resort opened in 1936, with the world’s first chairlift, Boiseans got their first taste of alpine skiing. They were hooked, and they began to make plans to build a mountain recreation area close to Boise.

But first, they needed to find the perfect site.

Chandler writes how, in 1938, volunteers skied and hiked over 150 miles of terrain looking for the right spot to build on, and eventually settled on Bogus Basin at the base of Shafer Butte.

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

• Simplot Lodge may also be the future hub of expanded outdoor activities—a "fun zone" that would include a 300-foot-long summer tubing lane, which is much like a winter tubing operation but with an artificial sliding surface. There is also a new 32-foot climbing tower, a four-trampoline bungee jump, two new conveyor-style lifts in the beginning ski area and gold panning, all of which are designed to engage kids and families.

But getting to the new ski area was another issue. In 1938, a groundbreaking was held to begin construction of the rugged, one lane road that, once completed, stretched 19 miles from downtown Boise and had 172 turns. The narrow, unpaved road was often muddy, icy and slippery and only allowed for one-way traffic, with cars heading up the mountain in the morning and coming back downhill in the afternoon.

The day Bogus opened in 1942, more than 200 valley skiers came out, many of whom brought homemade skies made from pine boards. The first rope tow was powered by a Model “A” motor.

“Community leaders gathered in the late 1930s to create a recreational area for the Treasure Valley,” said Chandler.

“The single rope tow that opened the

mountain to skiing in 1942 has developed into a four-season playground for the Treasure Valley.”

Growing to Meet Community Needs Both summer and winter users of the mountain are enthusiastic about the changes coming to Bogus. Tom Patek, owner of World Cycle and longtime user of the Bogus mountain bike trails, said the new activities will “make the mountain healthy and fortify everything for the future.

“We’re used to riding down in the foothills where it’s dusty, sandy and hot in the summer, but you go up to Bogus and its 20 degrees cooler, and you have this mountain terrain and environ-

Coaster photo: Wiegand Sports GmbH; Biking and chairlift photo: Courtesy Bogus Basin Recreation Area

Clockwise from top left: Proposed alpine coaster; epanded mountain biking trails; chairlift to singletrack biking; aerial adventure course.

ment,” he said. “I think most people feel like this is our mountain, our local playground, and not only for the winter, but for its fantastic biking and hiking experiences too. When you’re up there it feels like you’re on vacation.

It’s just a really unique local gem.”Boise resident Georgia Marshall has skied Bogus Basin for the past 40 years.

As a former mountain Ambassador, member of the Bogus Basin Recreation Association and mom of three children who went through the racing program, Marshall sees the new summer activities as another positive change to the ever-evolving operation.

“Bogus is an incredible asset to the Treasure Valley, and they should do whatever it takes to make it a place to visit for people who are not skiers,” she said, adding that she hopes the new activities will help Bogus make enough money to run the recreation area without having to rely totally on winter activities.

Added Chandler, “For 75 years, Bogus Basin has improved the quality of life of Treasure Valley residents. From age 2 to 92, our community gathers on the mountain to alpine and Nordic ski, snowboard, fly down the tubing hill,

ride fat tire bikes, and snowshoe,” she said. “Valley residents return to Bogus Basin in the summer to hike, mountain bike, and attend summer concerts and school children attend Snow School to learn about the winter habitat of animals, how to recreate safely in winter, and apply science concepts in nature.

Bogus Basin provides a healthy outdoor lifestyle for the people who live in the Treasure Valley.”

An Industry-Wide Trend Bogus joins an industry-wide trend of expanding the mountain to multi-season activities. “Most of these activities were created in Europe where they’ve been doing this for quite a while, but it didn’t catch on in the U.S. until Congress allowed the U.S. Forest Service to change the language on their permits,” said Wilson. “Until that point there was very little you could do as a winter permit holder.”

The cost to create this new hub of activity is $4.3 million, which Wilson noted is about what it costs to replace one of the smaller sized chair lifts. “So we’re getting this whole palette of activity that will generate more revenue in

the summer and will allow us to employ people who we’d normally have to lay off. Plus, it will give us additional money as we go into the less reliable winter seasons.”

The Future of Bogus Basin Wilson said that even more activities are planned for Bogus Basin in 2018, including a zip line canopy tour, giant aerial adventure ropes course and more biking improvements. “All these activities are designed to keep you in the alpine environment so you really feel like you are in the woods,” he said.

“We see a multigenerational use now, where you have grandma, grandpa, and parents and kids all coming up to Bogus, and it’s neat to see how people introduce their kids then their grandkids, and continue to perpetuate it, generation after generation.

“We’re called Bogus Basin Recreation Area, not winter recreation area, so even when the area was built 75 years ago they fully expected to use it year round,” he noted. “We’re just updating the activities that weren’t available before, so we are truly a yearround mountain recreation area.”

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

51

district.boise

vandalcycling

territorymagidaho

starrynightmedia_Chad Estes

52

briecoronado

territorymagidaho

jesswesling

chadneyartsdesign

niclaskrake

through the lens of instagram

territorymagidaho

teamupcyclewomen

# bikeboise tmeierphoto

worldcycleboise

territorymagidaho

territorymagidaho

rachelevarose

rustyridergirl

territorymagidaho

thedirtking2

territorymagidaho

chiquelixo

georgescyclesboise

53

territorymagidaho

recreation_achieved

rachaelbazzett

team_mercedesbenz_pb_thrivent

dykewithabike

krishollingsworth

Habitat

Moving to Greener Pastures Peaceful Belly Farm to leave its Dry Creek Valley roots

By Ellie Rodgers

T 54

he Dry Creek Valley north of Boise is magical: rolling, golden hills dotted with farms, ranches, sage and rabbitbrush, and laced with trails for hikers, horses, and mountain bikers.

Barn owls and great horns nest along the seasonal Dry Creek. Deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, coyotes, and the occasional cougar roam the undulating terrain.

And for 10 years, Peaceful Belly Farm has called this valley home. Owners Josie and Clay Erskine have grown certified organic produce, flowers, and berries on 60 acres of prime Dry Creek topsoil. Their farm is about 20 minutes from downtown Boise on Broken Horn Road, just northwest of the Hidden Springs subdivision.

But the Erskine’s are turning a bittersweet page. They’re moving the farm to Sunnyslope, a wine and agricultural area near Caldwell. They’re buying 13 acres off Highway 55 and Hoskins Road, where they’ll grow crops for grocery, restaurant, and community-supported agriculture (CSA) customers and the Boise Farmers Market. And they’ll plant an orchard to supply Clay Erskine’s new Stack Rock Cidery.

Plans also include partnering with Snake River Winery to plant grapevines and host a wine and cider tasting room.

As she helped customers at a recent Boise Farmers’ Market, Josie Erskine said she’s excited about their new Vine and Branch Ranch. But her eyes reflected sadness, too. She feels Peaceful Belly had to relocate because of Ada County’s recent approval of the 1,800-home Dry Creek Ranch subdivision right along the edge of their farm.

The Boise Hunter Homes development will take groundwater from the same source as Peaceful Belly, unlike neighboring planned communities Hidden Springs and Avimor.

Those communities pipe in city water from Boise and treat their own wastewater.

And although the farm has senior water rights, Erskine, who is also the district manager for the Ada County Soil and Water Conservation District, sees trouble ahead. She predicts that future drought years, combined with the huge numbers of homes, will force battles over water.

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

“I’m not going to tell people they can’t have drinking water so I can water my kale.”

Erskine said she’s not against development but would love to see the area grow in a way that benefits everyone, not just developers, who she feels are gobbling up farmland and spitting out homes all over the valley.

“It could be a local food corridor with orchards and wineries you could ride your bike through and visit hot springs.

That little valley could be a gem.”

She and other Dry Creek Valley residents have joined forces as savedrycreek.org. They want to preserve the agricultural and cultural heritage of the area and fight what they believe was a flawed approval process for Dry Creek Ranch and a lack of concern for eco-friendly design.

Peaceful Belly will leave a legacy of sustainability that’s grown into much more than just planting and harvesting organic food and improving the soil. For example, this winter they fed leftover sweet corn and hay to a herd of starving elk on their property.

Peaceful Belly has been a teaching farm that gives back to the community, growing pumpkins to raise money for schools, inviting kids on field trips, and growing food for the Idaho Foodbank.

It’s been a gathering place for families and where the Erskine’s daughters Daisy and Tilly have helped with planting, splashed in mud puddles, and swung on rope swings with friends.

They held cooking classes and prepared just-picked farmhand meals prepared in an open-air kitchen. They had CSA-member potlucks and gorgeous multi-course, farm-totable dinners under late-summer stars.

For several years, the Erskines also have run a Victory Garden farm class, where members learn irrigation and organic weed and pest control, as well as how to plant and harvest their bounty together. And each spring, hundreds flock to the farm’s greenhouse for the legendary plant sale, which became the subject of a viral YouTube video.

Heidi Wagner, a four-year farm class veteran and Hidden

Photo: Guy Hand

55

The Peacefull Belly crew takes a break at its Dry Creek Valley location. Their new farm will be at Sunnyslope near Caldwell.

Springs resident is sad to see Peaceful Belly move.

“It was always such a joy to be out there with other people,” she said. “I learned to be more connected to the food I was eating and how to make the ground better and also to make it beautiful. The fact that we had that farm so close to an urban area was unusual.”

And Wagner is paying forward what she learned from the Erskines. She’s co-chair of Hidden Springs’ Community Farm, and she and her husband, Tim, now run a 72-acre certified organic farm in Weiser, growing grains, alfalfa, beans, and vegetables.

Wagner and Erskine see the benefits, however, of Peaceful Belly’s move to Sunnyslope with its agricultural roots and farm families, where it will continue to teach, honor the environment, and supply the valley with healthy organic food.

PEACEFUL BELLY PLANS FOR VINE AND BRANCH RANCH • Capitalize on their prime location: the Sunnyslope Wine Trail and Snake River Valley American Viticultural Area, and growing and tasting operations for Bitner, Koenig and other wineries, and the site of future amphitheater.

• Build a commercial kitchen, serve small plates and make and sell cheese from goats on the ranch.

• Operate a produce stand.

• Plant rare apple varieties for the cidery.

• Host school field trips and continue Victory Garden course.

• Offer classes such as fermenting foods, making pickles and chees-making.

• Offer you-pick flowers and berries.

• Continue farm-to-table dinners.

• Offer bed-and-breakfast lodging.

• Build a small apartment above the barn, which will be moved from the Dry Creek location.

• Offer an electric car charging station.

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

Arts

INTO THE WILD Summer at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival

56

Photos: Courtesy Idaho Shakespeare Festival/DKM Photography

T

By Jill Kuraitis

he calls of eagles and owls in the riverbank trees and the hush of warm summer nights are the soundtrack for performances where “hearts love and souls suffer,” and the Bard is honored at Boise’s Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Add the champagne glow of the setting sun on the foothills that are the permanent backdrop for the stage, and magic is in the air.

Known and respected for its Broadway-quality productions and repertoire that includes plays and musicals other than Shakespeare, the Festival is a treat that draw thousands every summer.

In close-knit, friendly Boise, the theater is a treasure lovingly built, equipped and maintained with individual donations, corporate sponsors and funding by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and others. Volunteers proudly staff audience services in an idyllic outdoor amphitheater with a tiered, grass picnic area where it’s okay to bring (or rent) short lawn chairs, another level with small tables and chairs, and another with traditional seats. Playgoers on picnic blankets come early and party with food and drink they have brought themselves or purchased at Café Shakespeare.

The play’s the thing, of course, but festival audiences may also see some of the wild animals who wander through town. Deer may greet you near the ticket office, and regularly “enter stage right, cross the stage behind the actors, and exit stage left,” says Managing Director Mark Hofflund; actors have even ad-libbed to include the sudden presence of wildlife.

It isn’t easy, or cheap, to stage complex musicals and plays to fill a season, but the Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s

Producing Artistic Director Charlie Fee, together with Managing Director Mark Hofflund, have managed to do it, winning awards and delighting audiences with performances that are almost always sold out.

In a tour-de-force of artistry and organization, in 2011 they formed an alliance between the now 40-year-old festival, the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival in Incline, Nevada.

Staging a production at one of the three classical repertory companies, then moving the actors, production staff, sets, props, costumes, and everything else across the country or up the mountains to Tahoe is a formidable, some say crazy, feat worthy of Caesar’s army. But it works, and audiences in all three locations are treated to more theater than they would be otherwise

because of the cost savings. And dear to both Fee’s and Hofflund’s hearts is the chance to provide year-round employment for theater people, a rare guarantee for a profession which is usually vagabond. The loyalty of employees grateful for the setup is part of what makes all three theaters more stable.

The Festival’s 2017 summer season includes Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” along with the horror thriller “Wait Until Dark,” “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame," which according to Hofflund is a “big, stagey” musical. It’s a musical version of the Disney film.

A highlight of the season is sure to be “Hamlet,” regarded as the most famous play ever written, with the greatest role an actor can take on.

Because it’s so difficult, it’s not often performed—a company must have ac-

Part of the joy of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival is sharing food and drink with friends in a gorgeous setting.

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

57

Arts

58

tors worthy of the role, for one thing, and a season appropriate to the task.

This season, Fee has cast two Hamlets to play in rotation: Jon Dyrud and Laura Berg. What led him to cast two actors in the coveted role? “Laura is an actress whose work I love; she’s extremely skillful,” Fee said. Dyrud is also a respected veteran of the Festival; Fee cast him without audition.

“Laura is 5 feet 6 inches and Jon is 6 feet 3 inches, so there’s one difference.

But it’s their interpretations and styles that are such an interesting contrast; one is more emotional and the other is more intellectual. I won’t give away which is which.”

“Usually, only a single actor would get an opportunity to play the role,” Fee added. “Hamlet is a broad character who could be male or female.

This year audiences will be able to compare and see what they think.”

The festival website displays who is playing Hamlet on a particular night so playgoers may choose which performance they see.

Asked how she reacted to being cast, Berg said, “Hamlet is the role for young men. They grow up in the theater wanting to play him. I didn’t feel that; it wasn’t on my radar. I came at it with fresh eyes; I hadn’t even read the

A packed house enjoys a 2014 summer performance of Shakespeare's comedy "As You Like It." TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

whole thing until I was cast.”

Festival company actor Nick Steen Fee decided that pronouns would offered, “The first time I worked at not be changed when Berg plays the the festival, what surprised me about role. She added, “I’m not a girl or a Idaho is just how much like home it boy—I’m just Hamlet. Most audiences already felt like from the moment I are willing to go with that.” The play arrived. The whole community seemed opened in Cleveland several months so physically active and friendly. The ago, and rotates to day after I arrived, Boise on June 2.

I went for a walk Another unique around a small “In Shakespeare the birds feature of the 2017 lake right off of season will be a Parkcenter, and sing, the bushes are chorus made up of it took all of five clothed with green, hearts volunteer commuminutes before a nity members for stranger kindly love, souls suffer, the cloud “The Hunchback of greeted me wanders, it is hot, it is cold, Notre Dame.” Since on the path.” hiring union acTo Hofflund’s night falls, time passes, tors for the chorus point Berg added: forests and multitudes would be cost-pro“A director I know hibitive—“about wrote about the speak, the vast eternal $40,000 a week,” need for ‘artistic said Tom Ford, muhomes.’ It’s what dream hovers over all.” sical director for I love most about

— Victor Hugo the production—a Boise. Theater special deal was people hunger made with Actor’s for a community Equity. that makes us feel engaged, and even Festival actors and technical and though we’re only there four or five production staff love to spend a summonths a year, we love it because of mer in Boise, Hofflund said. “They take the people. I have always told people advantage of Idaho’s great outdoors there is no better place to do theater while they’re here than Boise, Idaho.”

IDAHO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 2017 CALENDAR 'Wait Until Dark'

by Frederick Knott A 1960s Greenwich Village apartment is the scene for a deadly game of cat and mouse when a group of con-men manipulate and terrorize an unsuspecting blind woman to reclaim a mysterious doll. Recommended for ages 14 and up due to adult themes and violence.

May 26 – July 30, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.

'Hamlet'

Photos: Courtesy Idaho Shakespeare Festival/DKM Photography

by William Shakespeare Forced by circumstance into a world turned upside down by betrayal, distrust and madness, Hamlet spirals through a torrent of erratic emotion and bizarre behavior in a relentless pursuit of truth. Torn between duty and doubt, he wrestles tenaciously with the profound question “to be or not to be,” until fate exacts its final answer.

Suitable for all ages.

June 2 – June 25, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.

'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'

Based on the Victor Hugo novel with songs from the Disney film This sweeping and unforgettable musical begins as the bells of Notre Dame resound through Paris.

Be captivated by this powerful story and beautiful music! Suitable for all ages.

June 30 – Sept. 1, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.

2016 performances, from top: "Love's Labor's Lost," "Forever Plaid," and "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'

by William Shakespeare An exhilarating night of midsummer madness, this magical comedy brims with mistaken identity, mismatched lovers, and mischief-making fairies. Shakespeare’s comic masterpiece ensnares two pairs of lovers and a rustic troupe of wouldbe actors in a forest full of comedic adventure.

Suitable for all ages.

Aug. 4 – Sept. 3, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.

'The Hound of the Baskervilles'

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on his estate, terror etched on his face and the paw prints of a gigantic hound beside his body, the great detective Sherlock Holmes is summoned to unravel the mystery and investigate the ancient curse of the Hound of the Baskervilles. Suitable for all ages.

Sept. 8 - Oct. 1, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.

* Information courtesy Idaho Shakespeare Festival

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

59

Arts

Amplifying Voices Photographer Angie documents the stories of refugees

By Kelcie Moseley Photography by Angie Smith

A 60

s photographer Angie Smith stood on stage at the Treefort Music Festival in March discussing the interview she had had with a refugee named Memo from Iraq, her voice began to shake with emotion. Memo, she said, now lives in Boise and no longer hides the fact that he is gay. He told Smith he feels more open to people and himself, and feels accepted for who he is. He walks now, she said, with a big smile—proud of being gay in Idaho.

Memo’s story is one of many stories of refugees that Smith has documented through her photography for more than two years. Her images, combined with writing by Hanne Steen, culminated in a multi-disciplinary project titled, “Stronger Shines the Light Inside,” which tells the stories of refugees resettling in Idaho.

Smith started taking photos when she was 11 years old, growing up in Eugene. She took an adult photography class at a local community college when she was just 12, and her passion grew from there.

“I just fell in love with it,” she said.

After high school, Smith studied photography at Bard College in New York, then moved to New York City and worked for several magazines, including Life and Men’s Journal.

Eventually, she decided she wanted to live in a city that was a little less metropolitan, and made the move to L.A. Smith’s dad and stepmother TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

moved to Boise after she left home.

About five years ago, she got the idea for a photo project about the city’s refugee population. Smith visits often and has a deep love for the community. She was struck by the number of refugees she saw coming and going in various areas of Boise and decided it would make for an interesting project, particularly since most people wouldn’t expect to see such a sizable population of refugees in a state like Idaho. While the refugees were open and willing to talk, Smith's project faltered at first due to resistance from one or two individuals at social service agencies who were very protective of the refugees.

The following summer, however, she met Rita (last name witheld), a Democratic Republic of Congo refugee who came to Boise in 2012.

“She was introduced to me by my dad and stepmom; they were already friends with her,” Smith said. “I was really lucky to begin with her as my first subject because she was also an immediate friend.”

Rita is a seamstress who designs and makes her own clothing line.

Smith said they connected on a personal level as well as an artistic one.

Her very first portrait of the project featured Rita in clothing she made for herself. In the photo, Rita is stepping out of her car in a patterned dress and a large, tight bun on top of her head.

Her African style is juxtaposed against

Sonia, a refugee from Togo, stands in front of her home.

the American-looking vehicle and a substation in the background. “(It was) this interesting sort of industrial, strange backdrop you’d see in a lot of American cities, but it’s very clearly an American environment,” Smith said. “As I was taking the picture, I felt choked up with emotion because I knew what an incredible

61

project it could be. I had this sense of just how big and important it could be, but I didn’t know how I was going to get there. I didn’t know what the journey was going to be like.”

Rita introduced Smith to her neighbors, friends and family, which opened up possibilities for photography subjects. Smith offered, in exchange, formal family portraits to

those who were willing to participate and built a network of people she interviewed and photographed.

Another subject of her work was Baraka Gracien, an 18-year-old refugee from Kenya. Gracien participated with Smith on a panel during the Treefort Music Festival in March. “’Stronger Shines the Light Inside’ was a project that was very much

needed, and now that it’s done I can see the impact that it’s made to me, the people involved in the project, and the people who saw it,” Gracien said. “I really think the route she took with interviewing the youth more instead of the parents—the youth have a much bigger story just because their future is just starting now. For the parents, it’s just like this is part of SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

Arts

Angie Smith: “I’m really interested to know how moving to a country like the U.S., and after coming from a life experience of a lot of difficulty and struggle, and coming into his new life, how does that change your identity, how does that shift your ideas for the future and goals for the future?”

their life; for the youth it’s like, ‘Wow I’m starting a whole new thing.’”

Smith said speaking with so many refugees didn’t necessarily change her perspective, but it deepened the compassion she already felt for them.

“It’s more that I just have so much more detail to pull from,” she said.

“Everyone has a unique way that they found out about the refugee program, and everyone has a different story about their experience. …

(It deepened) that desire to get these voices amplified.”

Moving forward, Smith is shifting her approach somewhat. First, she’s looking at putting her focus on middle school and high school aged refugees — a project she did for the New York Times once already, but she’d like to do more. In July, Smith is headed to Salt Lake City to photograph refugees there in collaboration with the nonprofit Welcoming America.

“I think there are so many interesting topics to discuss around the idea of coming to America when

62

Rocky, 18, who grew up in a Tanzanian refugee camp, sits in his bedroom in 2015.

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

you’re a young person, and then as you grow up you’re sort of taking in a whole other culture,” she said.

“You’re working in between these cultures and trying to weave in and out of different worlds, and there’s so many different influences that are really shaping your identity. I’m really interested to know how moving to a country like the U.S., and after coming from a life experience of a lot of difficulty and struggle, and coming into this new life, how does that change your identity, how does that shift your ideas for the future and goals for the future?”

She also plans to keep the current political climate at the front of her mind while interviewing refugees.

“I’m just going to ask more specific questions,” Smith said. She wants to know what kind of harsh words are said to people. “I think that’s important to talk about and hear … what kind of impact that has on another person.”

A group of women work in the kitchen during a 2015 graduation party.

63

Belma, and her mother, Emira, relax near the Boise River in 2016.

Grace, 18, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, at Borah High School in 2015.

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORYâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;MAG.COM

20 JUN • J UL • AUG

17

64

CA LENDA R

Arts & Culture

Uda City Park, 204 E. Idaho Ave., Homedale.

9 a.m. – 5 p.m. homedaleartinthepark.com/photos

MAY 26-JUN. 10 — ‘9-5’ Nominated for 15 Drama Desk Awards and four Tony Awards, this musical is based on the hit 1980 movie featuring Violet, Judy and Doralee. They live out their wildest fantasy - kidnapping their sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigoted boss! While Hart remains "otherwise engaged," the women give their workplace a dream makeover taking control of the company. Stage Coach Theatre, 4802 Emerald St. Every week on Thursday, Friday, Saturday until June 10, 2017. boisepubliclibrary.org

JUN. 16–AUG. 25 — Movie Night in Meridian Grab your family, friends, and neighbors this summer and join Meridian Parks and Recreation for CableONE Movie Night in Meridian! Every Friday in June, July, and August we inflate our giant outdoor movie screen in Settlers Park for a family-friendly movie. Settlers Park, Meridian. Movies start at dusk. meridiancityspecialevents.org

JUN. 5-11 — Eagle Plein Air Festival The 2017 Eagle Plein Air Festival & Competition is a festival, exhibition, and competition open to professional and non-professional artists of all skill levels. More than 50 artists are expected to paint, draw, and sketch the natural landscape. Watch a demonstration, take a painting lesson and talk with the artists. eaglepleinairfestival.com JUN. 8 — Art in the Vines Join us for our outdoor jazz concert by the Van Paepeghem Sextet surrounded by dozens of artists painting in the vineyards. The concert takes place in the beautiful vineyards at 3 Horse Ranch in the Eagle Foothills district of the Snake River Valley Appellation. Watch dozens of painters as they compete in a 2-hour quick draw event. Three Horse Ranch Vineyards, 5900 Pearl Rd., Eagle. 7 p.m. eaglepleinairfestival.com/art-in-the-vines JUN. 10 — Homedale Art in the Park Homedale's Art in the Park is a one-day event during which local artists and crafters can display their wares and handiwork. Betty

JUN. 17 — World Refugee Day Celebration & Soccer Friendly Boise honors the internationally celebrated World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 17th! Start the day off at the Grove Plaza with refugee performances, a citizenship ceremony, and ethnic food and art vendors. Afterward, stop by Ann Morrison Park for a refugee soccer tournament, youth clinics, and more entertainment at the second annual World Refugee Day Soccer Friendly! Grove Plaza Celebration: 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Soccer Friendly: Ann Morrison Park, 12:30 – 5 p.m. idahorefugees.org/worldrefugeeday JUL. 6 — First Thursday in Downtown Boise First Thursday takes place from 5 – 9 p.m. and focuses on providing downtown visitors the chance to stroll through the unique shops and galleries in downtown while enjoying in-store entertainment and special events. Art shows, live music, wine and beer tastings, performances, sales, and great food!

Throughout downtown Boise. downtownboise.org JUL. 7–22 – ‘The Star Spangled Girl’ A comedy by Neil Simon. Directed by Shelby DeatonRun. This fast moving, hilarious comedy, deals with two earnest young men struggling to put out a "protest" magazine, and the all-

American girl who moves in next door and manages to send both of them into a romantic tail spin. Love and politics blend delightfully in a bubbling series of funny happenings, set forth with the masterly skill and inventiveness that are the hallmarks of Neil Simon. Stage Coach Theatre, 4802 Emerald St., Boise. July 7-8, July 13-16, July 20-22, 8 – 10 p.m. stagecoachtheatre.com

Festivals & Events MAY 26-OCT. 1 — Idaho Shakespeare Festival Enjoy Shakespeare under the stars at this celebrated festival, featuring a full season of plays and Broadway-quality productions.

The 2017 season includes 'Wait Until Dark'

by Frederick Knott from May 26 – July 30, 'Hamlet' from June 2 – 25, 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' from June 30 – Sept. 1, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' from Aug 4 – Sept 3, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Hound of Baskervilles' from Sept. 8 – Oct. 1. Idaho Shakespeare Festival Amphitheater & Reserve, 5657 Warm Springs Ave., Boise. 8 p.m. idahoshakespeare.org JUN. 10 — Idaho Nature Conservation Book release and fashion show. When natural scenery meets talented models, absolute beauty pours out. Virginia Treat of Treats Photography and her team of creatives conducted a nature conservation initiative with a series of photo shoots throughout 2016. Studio Boise Photography Center. 4619 Emerald St. #106, Boise. 7 – 11 p.m. studioboise.org JUN. 24 — 16th Annual Kruz In Car Show The 16th Annual Kruz In Car Show is an event for those who want to show their hot rod,

Music JUN. 10 — Black Stone Cherry Also playing: Letters From The Fire, Citizen Zero. 7 p.m.

Knitting Factory Concert House, 416 S. 9th St., Boise. bo.knittingfactory.com

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

Carlos Santana

JUN. 27 — Carlos Santana Part of the Outlaw Field Summer Concert Series, Idaho Botanical Garden, 2355 N. Penitentiary Rd., Boise. idahobotanicalgarden.org

JUL. 11 — An Evening

with Cowboy Junkies

The Egyptian Theatre, 700 W. Main St., Boise. 8 p.m. bo.knittingfactory.com

JUL. 14 — Blondie & Garbage The Rage and Rapture Tour. Ford Idaho Center Amphitheatre, 16200 Idaho Center Blvd., Nampa. bo.knittingfactory.com

Calendar

custom car, muscle car and special interest cars. Open to the general public to view as well. Eagle Christian Church, 100 Short Rd., Eagle. Registration starts at 7 a.m.

of coffee, breakfast or lunch and help us celebrate our Birthday! 10th and Grove streets, Boise. 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. theboisefarmersmarket.com

mountain alpine riding, the Sun Valley stages will test even the most conditioned riders. Sun Valley Resort, Sun Valley. 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. ridesunvalley.com

JUL. 7–9 — Treasure Valley Comic Con The Nampa Civic Center launches a premier event for comic and pop culture fans: Treasure Valley Comic Con. The Con has a variety of actors, comic artists, book authors, gaming and cosplay celebrities attending the show. Nampa Civic Center, 311 3rd St., Nampa. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. treasurevalleycomiccon.com

JUN. 11 — Savor Idaho In its ninth year, the Idaho Grape Growers and Wine Producers Commission will be hosting Savor Idaho, Idaho’s premier wine and food event at the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise. The event features a vast array of Idaho wineries and restaurants.

Savor Idaho gives consumers a unique opportunity to savor the best Idaho has to offer in wine and food. Idaho Botanical Garden, 2355 Old Penitentiary Rd., Boise. 2 – 5 p.m. savoridaho.org

JUL. 15 — Boise Women’s Classic The annual 5K, 10K and half marathon. 2017’s theme is “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Julia Davis Park at the Band Shell. 7:30 a.m. – noon. verticalendurance.com

JUL. 15 — BabyPalooza Join us for Boise's premier event for expectant and new parents!

Interact with over 50 companies, all offering top products and services for maternity, baby and toddler, along with a full menu of speakers.

Expo Idaho, 5610 N Glenwood St., Garden City. ibleventsinc.com Western Idaho Fair

AUG. 18-27 — Western Idaho Fair The Western Idaho Fair Grounds, 5610 Glenwood Rd., Garden City. Noon – 11 p.m. idahofair.com

Food & Drink JUN. 10–OCT. 28 — Boise Farmers Market The 2017 Boise Farmers Market season is right around the corner! Join us opening day and catch up with all of your favorite farmers and producers. Get your bedding plants and vegetable starts and stock up on the freshest, locally grown food available! Grab a cup

JUL. 29 – Diana Krall Part of the Outlaw Field Summer Concert Series, Idaho Botanical Garden, Outlaw Field, 2355 Old Penitentiary Rd., Boise.

7:30 p.m. idahobotanicalgarden.org

Sports & Outdoors JUN. 10 — X Games Qualifier Some of the country’s best skateboard and park BMX riders will descend on Boise this June for a spectatorfriendly qualifier. Boise’s Rhodes Skateboard Park, in the heart of downtown, will host an X Games qualifier as athletes compete to secure their invitation to X Games Minneapolis.

Streamed live on ESPN from Rhodes Skatepark, the Park Qualifier will feature three disciplines: Men’s Skateboard Park, Women’s Skateboard Park and BMX Park. In addition to the live stream, fans can catch the Boise Park Qualifier coverage on ABC as part of the World of X Games content on June 17, as well as coverage across X Games digital and social platforms. Rhodes Skatepark, Boise. xgames.com JUL. 1 — SCOTT Enduro Cup As part of the Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival, this two-day enduro race will be the highlight of the four day festival filled with live music, races, clinics, demos and beer. Back by popular demand, Enduro Cup will host one day of racing on the area's pristine backcountry trail system, and one day of racing on over 3,200 feet of vertical at Sun Valley Ski Resort. With miles of ridgelines, stream crossings, rocky descents and high-

AUG. 8 – Melissa Etheridge Live Egyptian Theatre, 700 W. Main St., Boise. 8 p.m. egyptiantheatre.net

AUG. 11 – The Head and the Heart Also featuring Gregory Alan Isakov and Blind Pilot.

Ford Idaho Center Amphitheatre, 16200 N. Idaho Center Blvd., Nampa. 7 p.m. bo.knittingfactory.com

JUL. 15 — Boise Twilight Criterium The Inaugurated in 1987, the Downtown Boise Twilight Criterium is a fast-paced, high stakes cycling race in the heart of downtown Boise.

The electric atmosphere of the event attracts over 20,000 spectators to downtown streets to see cyclists from around the world compete for cash, naming rights and ego! This is one of Boise’s favorite summer attractions and one of the best criteriums on the USA Cycling racing calendar. North Capitol Blvd. and W. Jefferson St., Boise. 12 – 10 p.m. boisetwilightcriterium.com JUL. 30 — Amazing Scavenger Hunt Adventure Turn downtown Boise into a giant game board with this fun scavenger hunt adventure. Combine the excitement of the Amazing Race with a three-hour city tour.

Guided from any smart phone, teams make their way among well known and overlooked gems of the city, solving clues and completing challenges while learning local history. Available 365 days a year, sunrise to sunset. Start when you want and play at your own pace. Idaho State Capitol Building, 700 W. Jefferson St., Boise. urbanadventurequest.com AUG. 26 — Color Run 5k The Color Run, also known as the Happiest 5k on the Planet, is a unique paint race that celebrates healthiness, happiness, and individuality. Now the largest running series in the world, The Color Run has been experienced by over 6 million runners worldwide in more than 35 countries.

The Atrium at Albertsons/SUPERVALU Headquarters, 250 Park Center Blvd., Boise. thecolorrun.com/locations/boise

AUG. 13 – Rancid

& Dropkick Murphys

Ford Idaho Center Amphitheatre, 16200 N. Idaho Center Blvd., Nampa. 5:30 p.m. bo.knittingfactory.com

AUG. 19 – The Piano Guys Ford Idaho Center Amphitheatre, 16200 N. Idaho Center Blvd., Nampa. 5:30 p.m. bo.knittingfactory.com

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

65

Taste

Cuisine from the Top of the World Mount Everest Momo Café brings the flavors of Nepal to Boise

66

Raj Shrestha, owner of the Mt. Everest Momo Café, is a former travel agent from Nepal who holds an engineering degree from BSU.

R

By Ellie Rodgers

aj Shrestha can attest: running a family restaurant can be challenging. First, a November 2014 fire closed his Mount Everest Momo Café for six months. And just as he was reopening the following April, an earthquake near Kathmandu, Nepal, destroyed his parents’ and other family members’ homes. At first he couldn’t TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

reach them, and it was devastating to be so far away.

Then last fall, he closed again for a month to be with his sick father in Kathmandu. After Shrestha returned to Boise, his father passed away on Christmas day.

But through it all, his customers have remained loyal. They’ve kept track of re-openings on the restaurant’s Facebook page and donated

money to help his family rebuild. They posted condolences and sent cards after his father died.

Now the restaurant is steaming ahead, and Shrestha said it’s finally operating in the black, serving its mix of Tibetan noodles, Himalayan momo dumplings, spicy soups, Indian curries and vegetarian, yak and lamb dishes.

A former travel agent in Nepal, Shrestha hadn’t planned to be a restau-

Photos: Ray J. Gadd

rant owner. But after moving to Boise in 2002 for a relationship, he discovered there were no Himalayan restaurants. That forced him to learn to cook, since in Kathmandu, he always went out to eat.

After getting a civil engineering degree from Boise State in 2010 and management training from the University of Phoenix, Shrestha realized he preferred business to engineering.

He went to Grand Junction, Colorado, to learn the restaurant business from a friend who owns the Nepal Restaurant.

“I worked for him for three months for no charge,” he said. “I learned his recipes, and he let me copy his menu.”

Shrestha opened Mount Everest Momo Café in 2013 at 2144 S. Broadway Avenue. The cozy dining room is decorated with pictures of the Himalayas and Kathmandu. His former home in Nepal is remarkably like Boise in size, geography and outdoor activities, he said.

Shrestha, visibly tired after closing recently for lunch, not only runs the restaurant but also waits tables. He’s open for lunch and dinner six days a week and Sundays by reservation.

Dinners are busiest, he said.

“Most people like to come here with their families,” he said. “It’s more of a dinner gathering place.”

His wife Raji helps in the restaurant at night and works as a preschool teacher by day. They have a daughter, Luniba, and Shrestha has two daughters—Jyoti and Aslan—from a previous marriage.

Besides bringing his country’s cuisine to Boise, Shrestha indulges his love for Nepal by helping customers arrange trips there and introducing them to his travel agent brother. And he hopes in two to three years to have his own travel business up and running to take people to Nepal, India and Tibet, and perhaps arrange mountain climbing trips.

As part of Boise’s growing international community, Shrestha also works as a translator for St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center. He mostly helps with a small Bhutanese refugee population living in Boise. He employs three Bhutanese refugees in his kitchen, who on a recent blustery spring day are responsible for the aromas of delicious Indian spices—cumin and curries—

Top: Lamb Chau Chau, Tibetian style noodles with lamb and vegetables. Middle: Chicken Vindaloo, boneless chicken cooked in a spicy sauce with potatoes.

Bottom: Mix Momo, vegetables/chicken/pork/yak, steamed dumplings served with a mild or spicy tomato sauce.

news profiles arts music business events outdoors getaways dining fitness family wafting into the dining room.

Shrestha’s Momo café, with its mix of cuisines, is an example of how Boise continues to benefit as more people from other countries move here, share their food and culture and invite the community to know them and help them succeed.

Explore the Treasure Valley

territory-mag.com SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

Taste

A Beer Mecca In the Making Local brewers make a mark

By Kate Hull

68

Why Boise Beer?

The beer market is packed with IPAs, lagers, and ports to fill your glass and quench your thirst. The $100-billion-a-year industry ships out 206 million barrels of beer each year, according to the National Beer Wholesalers Association. That’s a lot of tall boys from which to choose. But Boise is staking its claim as a celebrated Northwest IPA producer, and its other varieties are worth a toast, too.

“We have a lot of brewers putting in a heck load of hops. That hasn’t been very common in other parts of TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

the country until recently,” said Sheila Francis, the executive director of Idaho Brewers United. “An IPA has been a pretty general category, but now it has become a little bit more specialty and regionally specific.”

A Northwest India pale ale, or IPA, gives a nod to the area where it is brewed, with influences trickling down from Oregon and Washington.

“You taste influences from the Cascade and Centennial Mountains with the pine flavor, mixed with a brightness and citrus finish. That to me is a Northwest IPA,” offered Jerry Larson, the owner and head brewer of Mad Swede.

You might notice a bit more citrus as opposed to aromatics, and most importantly, the hops are the star.

“Some brewers are getting their hops from the bine to the kettle as quickly as thirty minutes after they are picked,” Francis said.

But whether you’re looking for a hops-forward IPA or an amber lager, Boise probably has it fermenting in the barrels or on tap ready to poor. The biggest decision to make is, “Where-to?”

Photos: Ray J. Gadd

I

daho has positioned itself as the top barley producer in the country and the number three hops producer.

These two crops may not be as celebrated as our homegrown potatoes, but the humble grains and flowers are essential to producing cold, crisp brews loved across the globe. It’s no wonder that Idaho ranks tenth nationally for breweries per capita. And, here in the state’s capital, craft breweries are popping up on every corner.

“It would be like Washington not making wine,” said Mark Breske, the marketing guru at Sockeye Brewing.

“Idaho has all the ingredients at our disposal to make top beers: great natural waters, orchards, hops. Everything is here, might as well use it.”

And use it, they are. Boise is now home to some 18 craft breweries in the city and surrounding area, ranging from long-time favorites, like Sockeye that first started pouring in 1996 and newcomers Mad Swede Brewing Company.

Sockeye Brewing, maker of Dagger Falls IPA, is celebrating two decades of brewing in Boise.

The Granddaddy of Boise Beers For over 20 years, Sockeye Brewing has held the title as one of Boise’s oldest and most-awarded breweries. Their hoppy Dagger Falls IPA and Woolybugger Wheat to name a few can be found throughout the country, but to really experience the best of this Idaho staple, there’s nothing like sampling a flight of the brewery’s ‘big six’ yourself.

“The quality and consistency have been arguably the single most im-

The Edge Brewing Company offers quality brews alongside their famous "snakebites."

Photos: Tana Photography

portant factor in our longevity,” said Sockeye Brewing's Breske. “For a long time, that was hard to find before there was a boom in craft breweries.”

From sour beers to barrel-aged seasonal brews, Sockeye is celebrating two decades of brewing by ramping up what Breske called “the fun stuff.” With two breweries and restaurants on Cole Road and Fairview, stop by for a plate of Sockeye salmon bread and wash it down with a Hell-Diver Pale Ale.

The Newcomer Husband and wife duo Jerry and Susie Larson turned a passionate hobby into a new career when they opened Mad Swede Brewing Company last October. Jerry retired from engineering, but crafting beer is not that different for him.

“Making beer is a mix of art and science,” he said.

Inside the Cole Road tasting room, the Larsons have created a spot they’d want to come hang out at, with ample beers to try, board games, and usually a food truck outside.

Jerry calls himself a classic IPA guy, so it’s no surprise their Longship IPA is a crowd favorite. But on any given day the scotch ale—playfully named the ‘Caber Toss This, Ye Wee Lad’—might lead the pack. Stop by with the family for board games, and try your luck at bar billiards. Not sure what that is?

Jerry teaches the pool variation weekly.

The Happening Spot

Photos : Ray J. Gadd

The Mad Swede Brewing Company's Longship IPA is a crowd favorite.

At Edge Brewing Co., general manager and chef Tony Knipe knows the food is just as important as the beer.

“We are becoming known as a place that has great food and the beers to match,” said Steve Koonce, the marketing and sales director at the pub. The brewery and restaurant on Steelhead Way offers a comfortable, family-friendly environment featuring locally sourced pub grub with a twist and craft brews.

“Our menu is built around the beers,” Koonce said. The popular Edge IPA is floral with a malt backbone, and their Odelay Vienna Lager is gaining recognition after winning a gold medal at the North American Brewer’s Association.

Try them all or sip a stout with a round of snakebites, their take on jalapeño poppers.

SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

69

Taste

Dining Out A Brief Guide to the Valley’s Best Eateries

Fork With ingredients sourced from local Boise and Northwest farmers, ranchers, bakers, distillers, brewers and cheese makers, Fork’s seasonal menu is fresh and innovative—perfect comfort food for lunch or dinner. Crafted cocktails and a full wine list complement the menu.

199 N. 8th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 287-1700

great classic cocktails, sake and draught beers. Happy Hour is available Mon.-Sat. Brunch is served on Sundays from an a la carte menu, from 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Our tables range from higher tables in the bar area with a more energetic atmosphere, or booths or a quieter area with lower tables. Have a large party or banquet? We can accommodate your party or catering needs..

3111 S Bown Way, East Boise, (208) 345-2277

Goodwood Barbecue Company

american/regional NW Angell’s Bar & Grill Renato Angell's is an iconic family-owned, managed, and operated restaurant in downtown Boise that opened in 1981. If you have not visited recently, head downtown and see what you have been missing!

999 W Main Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 342-4900

Berryhill Restaurant Bar Celebrated chef John Berryhill presents his energetic and Slightly Southern dining, in the heart of downtown Boise, featuring 28 wines by the glass, an extensive wine list and full bar.

Don’t miss the leather lounge and fireplace.

121 N. 9th Street B, Downtown Boise, (208) 387-3553

70

Bleubird Serving quality specialty sandwiches, hearty soups, artisan salads, and fresh-squeezed juices and sodas. Don't miss it for lunch.

224 N. 10th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 345-1055

Boise Fry Company Named the Best Fries in America by the Food Network, Yahoo!, Travel & Leisure and MSN, this local hot spot is a must visit! They strive to keep all ingredients (and the process) green, natural and sustainable, and each signature item has been meticulously researched and made by hand.

204 N. Capital Blvd., Downtown Boise, (208) 949-7523

7849 W. Spectrum Street., West Boise, (208) 658-7173 1140 N. Eagle Road, Meridian, (208) 884-1021

Juniper Locally imagined and seasonally inspired cuisine served in a funky modern-rustic space anchored by a turn-of-the-century brick-wall.

A full offering of classically crafted cocktails complements an eclectic wine list.

211 N. 8th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 342-1142

Red Feather Lounge Red Feather has been celebrating the modern American lounge since its opening in 2002. Enjoy seasonal American cuisine, fresh interpretations of the classic cocktail, and an atmosphere inspired by a vibe of eternal swank.

246 N. 8th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 345-1813

Reel Foods Fish Market & Oyster Bar Providing the Boise area with a fine-dining restaurant, quality seafood and other gourmet treasures—soups, sauces, spices, condiments and sides. Real Foods serves soups and oysters to eat in on the covered patio or for take away from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Soups include clam chowder, fisherman’s stew and seasonal specialties such as blue crab bisque and cioppino.

611 S. Capitol Blvd. (at W River St.), Boise, (208) 342-2727

Capital Cellars Awarded the Wine Spectator "Award of Excellence" in 2016, Capital Cellars serves Boise’s best business breakfast and lunch, as well as featuring an elegant dinner menu that changes seasonally.

110 S. 5th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 344-9463

Cottonwood Grille Seasonal Northwest fare, farm-fresh wild game, fine wines and classic cocktails served in a rustic setting along the greenbelt.

913 W. River St, Boise, (208) 333-9800

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

Focused on fresh food made from scratch daily and centered around the unique style of closed-pit cooking, Goodwood Barbecue Company gets rave reviews and is fun for the whole family!

SUMMER 2017

State & Lemp State & Lemp offers a dynamic, prix fixe menu in a contemporary atmosphere Wednesday through Saturday.

Relationships built with local farmers, ranchers and artisans lead to thoughtful, creative dishes that showcase the highest quality productions that Idaho and the Pacific Northwest have to offer.

2870 W. State Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 429-6735

The Tavern at Bown Crossing A unique dining experience offering sushi, USDA prime grade steaks, daily seafood specials, burgers, sandwiches and salads. We have a full bar with an extensive wine list,

asain/sushi Mai Thai Unique and authentic dishes from the four regional cuisines of Thailand are complemented by an exceptional wine list and handcrafted cocktails. It is like stepping into a slice of Thailand, right here in the heart of downtown Boise.

1759 W. Idaho Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 344-8424

Mount Everest Momo Café A unique dining experience that brings diners a taste of the rich culinary heritage of the Himalayas. A delicious variety of recipes, painstakingly gathered from the royal kitchens of Nepal to the swept shores of South India, offer a truly delightful Nepali experience.

Himalayan, Nepali, Tibetan and Indian food is carefully prepared from scratch.

2144 S. Broadway Ave., Downtown Boise, (208) 342-1268

Pho Nouveau Bistro Contemporary Vietnamese comfort food featuring spring rolls, green papaya salad, rice plates, summer noodle bowls (bun) and the always-popular pho.

780 W. Idaho Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 367-1111

Shige Japanese Cuisine Celebrating over 20 years downtown, Shige Japanese Cuisine is still a local favorite serving up sushi and Japanese specialties at three locations in the same complex—Shige Express, Shige Steakhouse and Shige Japanese Cuisine.

100 N. 8th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 338-8423

Superb Sushi After a successful launch in the Crane Creek Market on Bogus Basin Road, Superb Sushi opened a downtown location serving the “most

Taste

unique sushi in Boise” to loyal customers who return time after time.

280 N. 8th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 385-0123

basque Bar Gernika Traditional Basque dishes, pub fare and an extensive beer selection served in a laid-back space that has become a local institution.

202 S. Capitol Blvd, Downtown Boise, (208) 344-2175

The Basque Market Tapas, paella and specialties such as bocadillos, plus cooking classes, wine tastings and a full Basque food market.

608 W. Grove Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 433-1208

Barrelhouse Pub and Grill A unique and casual dining experience, Barrelhouse offers a relaxed environment with delicious pub-fare. Serving more than 22 rotating taps of handcrafted beers and hard ciders, with a special emphasis given to Treasure Valley breweries.

5181 N. Glenwood Street, Garden City, (208) 376-4200

Bittercreek Alehouse The Bittercreek Alehouse serves exceptional beers, ciders and ales on tap, alongside tasty bites. Don't miss the Low Power Happy Hour— every weekday from 3-5:30 p.m., when the management unplugs and turns down the lights to reduce their energy footprint, serving and drinking by candlelight in honor of the planet.

Romantic and earth-friendly.

Epi's A Basque Restaurant

246 N. 8th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 345-1813

Chris and Gina opened Epi’s in memory of their grandmother, Epi Inchausti. This quaint dinner house features food reminiscent of the Basque Country, giving you a delightful experience for your evening.

Reef

1115 N. Main Street, Meridian, (208) 884-0142

bars, pubs & distillery Amsterdam Lounge Welcome to Amsterdam, a mixology lounge specializing in craft cocktails and small plates. Discover a unique experience, centrally located in historic downtown Boise, where great conversation is the priority. Be sure not to miss Women & Whiskey every Wednesday night—ladies receive halfprice whiskey all night and featured whiskey is half price for everyone. Free tastings of our featured whiskey from 8–11 p.m. You can't beat Amsterdam Lounge's Friday Happy Hour, with half-priced food and drinks from 4-7 p.m!

609 W. Main Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 345-9515

Bardenay The perfect place to meet friends or colleagues for drinks and appetizers. Stop in for lunch or dinner and enjoy Bardenay’s casual Northwestern style cuisine with cocktails handcrafted with freshly squeezed juices and their signature distilled spirits—currently vodka, rum and gin, with whiskey in the barrel.

610 W. Grove Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 426-0538 155 E. Riverside Dr., Eagle, (208) 938-5093

A tropical escape in the heart of downtown, featuring the city’s best rooftop patio, live music and exotic food and drink.

105 S 6TH Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 287-9200

cafés, delis & coffee Bacon What could be better than a restaurant named Bacon? … One that serves five kinds of bacon. Welcome to BACON, a Southern breakfast and lunch bistro conceived by celebrity chef and restaurateur John Berryhill that features coffee, a full bar and the awesome Bacon Bloody Mary!

121 N. 9th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 387-3553

Big City Coffee & Café Serving breakfast and lunch all day, along with espresso, coffees and in-house baked goods.

Try the pumpkin chai muffin, cherry pie scone, or homemade biscuits and gravy with fresh buttermilk biscuits.

1416 Grove Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 345-3145

District Coffeehouse A non-profit created to support an orphanage network called Send Hope, District Coffeehouse focuses on freshly roasted, carefully crafted coffee with a mission. Each batch is roasted in micro-batches twice a week using 100% Arabica beans.

219 N. 10th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 343-1089

Express Cafe If it's breakfast food you want, Express Cafe has it. It's always busy, but worth the wait, and feels like going home for breakfast with

family—with large portions, friendly cooks and wait staff. You won't be disappointed with the great tasting, fresh, plentiful and reasonably priced menu items, and the place offers a small town diner feel that is cozy and welcoming.

400 E. Fairview Ave., Meridian, (208) 888-3745

Flying M Coffeehouse Flying M roasts its own beans, using a small batch drum roaster, so coffee is always fresh and delicious. A full complement of madefrom-scratch baked items are handcrafted each morning by master bakers and served with a smile in this bustling downtown coffeehouse that has become a local favorite.

500 W. Idaho Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 345-4320

Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro Goldy’s opened in 1999 in the heart of downtown Boise. Quality made-to-order breakfast has made Goldy’s one of the best restaurants in the Treasure Valley—Voted Best Local Breakfast for 18 years!

108 S. Capitol Blvd., Downtown Boise, (208) 345-4100

JanJou Patisserie Founded by husband and wife team Moshit Mizrachi-Gabbitas and Chuck Gabbitas, JanJou was opened in 2008 as a wholesale bakery selling mostly cookies to local shops.

A retail bakery and full cafe was opened in 2013—with the name as homage to Moshit's mother, whose nickname was Janjou.

1754 W. State Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 297-5853

Wild Root Café and Market Husband and wife team, chef Michael Trebbi and his wife, Anne-Marie, serve up breakfast and lunch fare with artistic flare and a local, seasonal farm-to-table focus. The presentation is elegant and the food is fresh, delicious and artfully prepared by hand.

276 N. 8th Street,, Downtown Boise, (208) 856-8956

italian & mediterranean Alavita Fresh seasonal ingredients inform the locally inspired Italian cuisine at this traditional Italian osteria (an Italian Joint). Creative craft cocktails and an extensive wine list complement dishes inspired by regional ingredients, making Alavita a great place for celebrating life with good friends, business associates or family.

807 W. Idaho Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 780-1100

Luciano’s Italian Restaurant Authentic Italian food in a casual, familyfriendly atmosphere that features classic Tuscan-inspired cuisine, with a few surprises— SUMMER 2017

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

71

Taste

all made from scratch with only the freshest ingredients. Boise’s favorite hole-in-the-wall local Italian is open for lunch and dinner daily.

11 N. Orchard Street, Boise Bench, (208) 577-6415

Le Coq d’Or An unforgettable and artistic dining experience inspired by authentic European countryside cuisine and farm-to-table French cuisine and modern European dishes. Open for dinner only, nightly, from Tuesday through Saturday.

4903 Overland Road, Boise Bench, (208) 344-1234

Chapala Traditional Mexican food in a family-friendly atmosphere offering choices for every taste, and with multiple locations throughout Boise.

176 S. Rosebud Lane, Eagle, (208) 947-2840

1201 S. Vista Ave., Boise Bench, (208) 429-1155

Richard’s Café Vicino

Matador

Vicino is Italian for neighborhood. Seasonal menus take advantage of locally sourced produce, fresh fish, meat and game. Chef Richard Langston and his staff share a culinary philosophy that celebrates the integrity of ingredients and prepares simply to showcase the natural flavors of the products. The end result is delicious and tantalizing cuisine that continues to win awards and rave reviews.

Popular Mexican cuisine in an old-world atmosphere of dark walnut, intricate ironwork and deep, roomy booths. Matador features the city’s widest selection of tequila and a spacious outdoor patio during the summer months.

808 W. Fort Street, North End, (208) 472-1463

72

Offering great food, great service and great value, Andrade's is known as a local's favorite.

Owner Javier Andrade offers a glimpse into the cuisine of a pueblo rich in history, culture, and traditions—with pride in every dish.

215 N. 8th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 342-9988

steak & seafood

Pie Hole

Barbacoa

Late night dining in a funky space, serving thin crust New York-style pizza. Pie Hole has become a local institution. Open all day and late night.

Upscale South American steakhouse featuring table side guacamole, fresh seafood, chicken mole and certified angus beef steak served on Argentina ironwood. Specialty crafted cocktails, from margaritas to mojitos, and an extensive wine list complement every meal.

276 Bobwhite Court, East Boise, (208) 338-5000

205 N. 8th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 344-7783 1016 Broadway Avenue, Boise Bench, (208) 424-2225

Wiseguy Pizza Pie Wiseguy prides itself on using local and fresh ingredients. It serves New York style, hand tossed pizzas topped with wholemilk mozzarella, and baked to perfection in stone deck ovens. Wiseguy makes its sauce from scratch and dough fresh daily, using Shepherds Grain Flour, a company that uses mostly Northern Idaho farmers to produce their grains. The downtown eatery also crafts delicious sandwiches, salads, and calzones.

570 Main St, Boise, (208) 336-7777

Bonefish Grill Full of fresh and innovative dishes, the Bonefish Grill crafts a complete dining experience— from customized pairings and craft cocktails, daily specials and a menu that specializes in seasonal fresh fish prepared with elegant simplicity over a wood-burning grill. Taste today's fresh catch and try something new for dinner tonight.

855 W. Broad St., Downtown Boise, (208) 433-1234

Chandlers Steakhouse Top-shelf steaks and seafood served in a swanky, hip setting. The Lounge at Chandlers features live jazz nightly and a martini bar— home to the Ten Minute Martini™.

mexican

981 W. Grove Street, Boise, (208) 383-4300

Andrade’s An eclectic atmosphere that features more than 100 menu items from the heart of Mexico.

TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017

Fresh Off the Hook Come enjoy a little slice of Seattle mixed with a dash of San Francisco, add a pinch of

Alaska and toss it together with the flavors of Key West and you’ll enjoy an incredible seafood experience—right here in Boise.

Bright and cheery, soaked in the colors of the ocean, Fresh Off the Hook owner David Bassiri is committed to delivering service and freshness. Guaranteed!

507 N. Milwaukee Street, West Boise, (208) 322-9224 401 S. 8th Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 343-0220

Lucky Fins Seafood Grill Welcome to a new way to experience seafood—where great quality and affordability come together! Daily chalkboard specials are innovative and creative, complemented by a menu of diverse flavors influenced by Asian, Mexican and Northwest cuisines. And don’t miss sushi prepared by one of the best sushi chefs in the Treasure Valley!

801 W. Main Street, Boise, (208) 888-3467 1441 N. Eagle Road, Meridian, (208) 888-3467

Owyhee Tavern

Owyhee Tavern opened in October 2016 bringing a new vibe to the downtown area.

Located in the historic Owyhee building, this steakhouse offers American Wagyu, USDA Prime Grade steaks, organic salmon, fresh ahi, and oysters on the half shell. Specialties also include kung pao calamari, Kobe fondue and ahi poke salad—and don’t forget to ask for a side of cheddar tots or Brussels sprouts. $5 Happy Hour, Monday-Friday from 3-6 p.m.

1109 Main Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 639-0440

Stagecoach Inn Stagecoach Inn opened in 1959. A Treasure Valley favorite dinner restaurant and bar famous for its hand-breaded bar prawns, prime rib and banana cream pie. Folks near and far make the historic Stagecoach their favorite destination restaurant.

3132 Chinden Blvd., Garden City, (208) 342-4161

Ruth’s Chris Steak House Featuring Ruth’s special 500˚ sizzling plates and an award-winning wine list perfect for a romantic dinner, business meeting or private party.

800 W. Main Street, Downtown Boise, (208) 426-8000

Title

1

A second home should be a sanctuary for peace and authenticity, not a place of pretense and pose. At Whitetail Club, the premier private community in the Pacific Northwest, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find just that: a natural haven for your family to retreat to when searching for both adventure and serenity alike.

Where conquering our championship golf course, tearing up our mountain bike trails and dining at our lakefront clubhouse are everyday occurrences.

Left Elevation

Located in spectacular McCall, Idaho, just two hours north of Boise, this is the mountain-lake community that you have been dreaming of. An authentic, luxurious life brimming with endless adventures, only at Whitetail Club.

Explore more at WhitetailClub.com/Discover or call 877.634.1725.

Homes starting from $995,000. | Homesites starting from the mid $200s.

Obtain a Property Report required by Federal Law and read it before signing anything. No Federal agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property.

Whitetail Club is represented by Whitetail Club Realty LLC. We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the nation. Scenes and views may be of a location not on or related to the property.

SUMMER 2017 TERRITORYâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;MAG.COM

Title

IT’S YOUR ADVENTURE.

1

DISCOVER THE NEW NORTHWEST. DISTRICTPARKCENTER.COM 501 E. PARKCENTER BLVD. BOISE, IDAHO TERRITORY–MAG.COM

SUMMER 2017