In a groundbreaking decision, the United States Supreme Court has handed down a monumental victory for property rights with its ruling in the … Read moreA win at the Supreme Court for property rights

The proposed “Jericho” development at the entrance to the Elkhorn Village pool, tennis courts, Wood River Jewish Community center, and the Sun… Read moreElkhorn Village project is a bad fit

Beginning with the Revolutionary War, almost 1.4 million Americans have died in our nation’s wars, including about 667,000 killed in combat. W… Read moreRemember and mourn our foreign partners on Memorial Day

In 1964, only 568 people lived in one legislative district in Nevada, while approximately 127,000 lived in another. Idaho had a similar gap in… Read more'One man, one vote' means each vote counts equally

Idaho and the Northern Rockies are facing an unprecedented wave of development that is fracturing wildlife habitat, threatening water quality,… Read moreThe Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act is the last best chance for the last best place

As someone who has worked in education for more than 25 years in Idaho, I have always looked forward to the high school graduation season and … Read moreIDeal’s May match offers a jumpstart to saving for college, training and apprenticeships

I learned to shoot on the family ranch, as ranch kids are wont to do. My gun education was furthered at a Catholic summer camp, and I still ha… Read moreGuns have changed everything. Especially childhood.

The first rule for any responsible government is that it must do the work of the people, for the people. That is the reason for any government… Read moreTransparency in numbers: a look into how your tax dollars are being spent

The prehistoric past can perk up the present. When woolly mammoth bones were found in my hometown in Wisconsin years ago, they became the cent… Read moreOld bones can be a small town's movie stars

Since I started my time as chairwoman of the Idaho Republican Party, I’ve put a lot of miles on my rig. I’ve crisscrossed the state to attend … Read moreMoon: RNC meeting was a source of surprising joy

A bright ray of love and compassion has just broken through the ugly cloud of misinformation about transgender kids that was created in the ju… Read moreA bright silver lining shines through an ugly cloud of misinformation

Human trafficking is a serious problem. Used and applied incorrectly, however, the term human trafficking can further stigmatize Latino commun… Read moreWhen is human trafficking not human trafficking?

For the last two weeks, I’ve crisscrossed Idaho with members of my team to visit school leaders all around the state. This is an annual State … Read morePost-legislative tour is about service and connecting with school leaders

In 2017, the public lost 1,470 acres of wilderness-quality land at the base of Mount Sopris near Aspen, Colorado. Read moreLand exchanges serve the wealthy

My name is Bob Buersmeyer. I’m the area market leader for Idaho First Bank in Ketchum, Idaho—a role I thoroughly enjoy for a community I know … Read moreSupport using LOT for housing and air service

Although I’ve lived in a small Western town for 30 years now, I have never known much about one of its fundamental institutions, the service c… Read moreSome people just like to get things done

Every summer, more than 2 million people visit Yellowstone National Park. Undoubtedly, a highlight of the trip for many of them is the chance … Read moreStop the buffalo slaughter

No doubt about it. A large swath of the Legislature is still honked off about the Idaho Supreme Court’s 2021 decision overturning a raw legisl… Read moreWill the Legislature be able to financially starve the courts into submission?

Sunday, April 2 will be a day I will never forget. I got to the mountain a little before 5 a.m. Riley Berman (Chief of Course for U.S. Alpine … Read moreWhat it takes: A thank you to our community

A deer stands paralyzed in the middle of a mountain highway, stunned by the lights and deafening roar of an 18-wheeler barreling toward it. At… Read moreNo one wants to collide with a deer

As many of the programs authorized in the 2018 Farm Bill expire this year, it is time to write a new Farm Bill. Throughout my time in Congress… Read moreCrafting new farm bill requires listening to Idaho farmers, ranchers

“God has cared for these trees …but he cannot save them from fools.”— John Muir

I first met Mary Austin Crofts in the fall of 1992. I knew of Mary, of course, and the incredible work she had achieved as executive director of the Blaine County Recreation District to create the Wood River Trail bike/pedestrian pathway. So, when I was approached by Andy Munter to join Bob …

Idaho libraries are currently fighting three bills recently presented in the House and Senate. We are fighting not because we don’t believe in protecting children from age inappropriate materials but because the bills are unnecessary and the consequences of any becoming law would radically a…

The return of wolves to the West has always been contentious, and the deaths last fall of more than 40 cattle in western Colorado alarmed ranchers. But here’s the true story: Wolves did not kill those cattle found dead near Meeker.

It’s easy sport for politicians to complain about Washington, D.C. After all, D.C. is where so many ill-advised ideas are dreamt up and put into federal law, regulation or judicial opinion. It’s much more difficult to find examples of federal overreach that everyone can agree on. The Lava Ri…

Foresters and other proponents of logging assert that our forests are “unhealthy” and require active management to fix them.

Even from a distance it’s clear that an oil and gas well called “State Senate #2” in New Mexico has seen better days. The pumpjack sits idle, tumbleweeds surround the once-moving parts, and the earth smells of crude saturating the soil.

March 1 is the beginning of Women’s History Month. And it matters to me—a middle-aged, college-educated, white man, raised in upper middle-class suburbs, and thereby a possible card-carrying member of the privileged patriarchy. That means I shouldn’t tell you anything about Amelia Earhart or…

Last November, the Great Salt Lake, iconic landmark of the Great Basin Desert, fell to its lowest surface elevation ever recorded. The lake had lost 73% of its water and 60% of its area. More than 800 square miles of lakebed sediments were laid bare to become dust sources laden with heavy metals.

Each month, many contentious issues fill our Blaine County School District board meeting agenda. Few are as contentious as changing the school calendar. We are currently engaged in this process and have received hundreds of emails detailing the concerns of parents, many on the topic of a pot…

When I worked as a prosecutor handling domestic violence cases, I was often asked the same question: “Why does she stay with him?” The answers are as simple as they are complex. Imagine being hit or verbally assaulted on a first date. If that were the case, there would be no second date and …

Access to the courts and fair legal representation is the backbone of the American justice system. Unfortunately, as the legal community in Idaho well knows, our state is facing a federal judicial crisis caused by an overburdened court system that threatens access to justice.

People told me something I’ve never heard before as I was knocking on doors last year: “Stop the crazy!” Voters are concerned about increased extremism and inflammatory rhetoric in the Idaho Legislature: a fear-mongering alphabet soup of acronyms (CRT, SEL, DEI, ESG, etc.), witch hunt task f…

Recently, several Idaho legislators introduced bills that would protect Idaho children from adults bent on using our children as vehicles for a radical gender ideology.

Six people have died in avalanches in the United States since the snow started to fly this fall. Every year, an average of 27 people—skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers, snowshoers—die this way.

Small towns are an endangered species. As urban sprawl spreads, communities shift from a quaint home town into something that resembles a metropolis. In order to ensure our towns here in Blaine County are on the path towards sustainable growth, we must work together and communicate as a community.

High on a mesa where everyone can see it, a trophy house is going up in the northern Colorado valley where I live. Some of my neighbors hear that the house will be as big as 15,000 square feet. Others say it will take three years to complete. Whether that is valley gossip or truth, the house…

Weldon Angelos was a low-level pot dealer in Utah when he was arrested for selling marijuana while carrying (but not using) a firearm. The charges carried a heavy mandatory minimum sentence: 55 years. The federal judge who had to impose the sentence for two drug transactions called it “unjus…

Good news for taxpayers, or at least some of you: Statehouses across the country are continuing to cut taxes in a movement that shows no sign of slowing down. By year-end, nearly half of all states will have cut their income-tax rates within a three-year period. The good results so far confi…

The allegations made against school officials in the recent Richneck Elementary School shooting in Virginia are potentially, if proven to be true, simply outrageous. Yet a clear pattern has emerged in this and other recent school shootings. Simply put, the pattern is one of official incompet…

In Idaho, we value our quality of life. One way we maintain it is through local services, including public safety, emergency response, and parks. These services and more are funded by property taxes. Our challenge is that homeowners are shouldering an increasing, unsustainable share of the p…

We have a lot of reasons to be thankful right now if you rely on water for your livelihood, your community or for recreation in Idaho, no matter whether you’re a farmer, rancher, water manager, angler, river rafter, power boater and more.

The First Amendment says we have the right to free speech, right?

It will be up to the two special counsels to investigate and weigh the handling of secret documents by President Biden and former President Donald Trump. But the current questions should not obscure an enormous problem that has been festering for decades and threatens national security, demo…

Some people have become so alarmed by what children might read in school or in libraries that they want books they don’t like removed—immediately. The targeted books include scenes of sexual awakening, gender identity, racism or violence.

As the new year and a new Congress begin, we have an opportunity to set our nation on a course toward energy independence and future prosperity. During my time in Congress, I have grown deeply concerned about the fact that the United States is far too reliant on unfriendly foreign nations fo…