Boise News

From the Idaho Panhandle

An animal usually associated with the distant University of Michigan and a superhero movie has seemingly suddenly assumed popularity in the inland Northwest: Wolverines are medium-size mustelids that are furry and reputedly feisty, definitely not seekers of the limelight, but they appear to have captured it anyway.

These animals are not considered endangered, but conservation groups have petitioned for their listing three times, and the wolverine is now considered a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Several studies are underway that may help determine whether such a listing is justified.

The Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness spurred some of the local interest when they helped Idaho Fish and Game set up a monitoring site as part of a larger study of wolverines in the West Cabinets. 

Western Book Roundup

For some time I’ve noticed that the majority of the books submitted to me for review are written by men, a ratio I’d estimate at five books by men for every one book by a woman. I noticed this discrepancy particularly among the big six publishers—very few of the books set in the West produced by major publishers are written by women. I am more likely to find books written by women from small and academic presses. I wondered if this male dominance was just a Western thing.

As I read and enjoyed books regardless of the gender of their authors, I also noticed a disturbing trend, a formula that Western books by major publishers included again and again: a depiction of horses plus violence against women in books written by men. Usually these authors are compared to Cormac McCarthy, either in the blurbs or the jacket copy. I realize it weakens my argument not to mention these books by name, but I don’t want to single out anybody, because I think each writer chose to use these elements for personal, artistic reasons, and I don’t blame any of them for it. But I just may have been a wee bit crankier in my reviews of these books.

I began to dread reading books with horses on the cover. Sure, on the outside, it’s all the pretty horses, but on the inside it’s going to be all the beaten, cowering women.

Also in the Roundup: Denver Center Theatre Company to adapt Helen Thorpe’s Just Like Us, Books Editor Tom Walker leaves the Denver Post, David Abrams writes about the thriving Idaho literary scene, and Casper College hosts its Humanities Fest.

From the Idaho Panhandle

The glittering literati of the panhandle assembled last Friday night for their annual spelling showdown, which drew a passel of new and highly capable teams this year. The new talent proved to be the downfall of the two-time past winners from Keokee Publishing, last year competing as the Swine Fluezies and this year as Spelled Milk.

The ultimate winner was the Sophisticated Sesquipedalians, an elegantly outfitted trio sponsored by D.A. Davidson & Co. 

Bob Wire Has a Point (It's Under His Cowboy Hat)

There will be trash talking, heads butting, spittle and blood flying through the air, and the meaty thump of huge bodies colliding with savage force on Sunday. And that’s just me making guacamole.

Yes, Barb and I are having a Super Bowl get-together, like we do every year. If one of our teams, the Patriots or Dolphins, is actually in the game, then the get-together becomes a party. Now, as the big game approaches, I’m concentrating on a few issues surrounding the whole shebang, and being a shirttail member of the mass media, I’m compelled to share them with you.

Bob Wire Has a Point (It's Under His Cowboy Hat)

Here comes the introduction: “Mr. Speaker, live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

Is it in the Constitution that all female Congress members have to wear a scarlet dress?

Obama shook hands with Boehner, Boehner broke down crying. Not really.

Democrats and Republicans mixing it up, sitting on both sides of the aisle. Sheep, running with the wolves! Cats and dogs, living together! It’s madness!

Obama introduces Boehner. Boehner gets standing ovation, is required to act surprised.

New West Column

In logic akin to being caught in the act of shoplifting a television and then arguing that the shoplifter should be allowed to keep the TV until found guilty by a jury, Rammell has maintained that IDF&G had no right to confiscate the elk, since he has not yet been proven guilty (though he admits to having the elk in his possession and to not being properly licensed).

To date, Rammell has taken no personal responsibility for the incident, and he entered a not guilty plea to the charges at the end of December. He places the blame instead on the employee at Sportsman’s Warehouse in Idaho Falls who sold him the tag. Rammell claims the employee told him he was purchasing an elk tag that would allow him to hunt in any zone in the state that he wished. It is worth noting that no such elk tag exists – when hunters purchase elk tags in the state of Idaho, they must specify the zone they plan to hunt in, and are limited to that zone. This is not a recent change in the regulations, and the employee who sold Rammell the tag has been a licensing agent at the store for 10 years.

From the Panhandle: North Idaho Blog

Spokane’s weekly newspaper the Northwest Inlander reported toward the end of last year that neighboring Bonner County, Idaho, had had 740 more nuisance bear complaints for 2010 than any other county in Idaho. According to Sandpoint’s local paper, the Bonner County Bee, the county had a total for the year of 770 calls, while the three counties to the south—Kootenai, Shoshone, and Benewah—had just 27 combined.

We in the panhandle seem to be a perennial problem population with respect to large wild animals. Moose have been wandering into Sandpoint for the past three winters, and bears seem to visit rural dwellers frequently, with the rare foray into town. Fish & Game and law enforcement continuously try to educate the populace about how best to interact with these animals, and they have consistently decried homeowners’ efforts to feed the wild visitors. 

From the Idaho Panhandle

Sandpoint’s soggy winter carnival got a significant boost this year from the addition of skijoring to the annual festivities. Posters advertising the event were everywhere around town, and as the Pineapple Express approached along with the first day of competition, boosters reminded a skeptical public that the grandstand seats at the fairgrounds were all under a roof, so that watchers could be out of the rain even if competitors were not.

In skijoring, a horse and rider race around a U-shaped course while towing a skier; skiers have to negotiate gates and jumps while going as fast as the horse can tow them. In addition to the riding and skiing skills it requires, the event revives the archaic skill of holding a moving rope while skiing—one that many ancient skiers will remember from their experiences with rope tows.

Western Book Roundup

In this week’s Roundup I’ll take a look at some books of special interest to Western readers that will be published during the first half of this year:

January

• Kings of Colorado, the debut novel by Austin’s David E. Hilton is out this week.  To learn more about it, check out my interview with him or the review I wrote for the Dallas Morning News.

• Annie Proulx’s new memoir Bird Cloud is now in stores—it has been getting a strange mix of glowing and/or disapproving reviews.  Among the people who loved it are Tim Gautreaux, who covered it for the San Francisco Chronicle, and Donna Seaman, who gave it a starred review for Booklist.  Not as enamored were Alexandra Fuller and Dwight Garner, who both wrote about it for the New York Times—Garner’s review is really funny. 

Western Book Roundup

I like the funny ones best.  That statement applies to everything, really—people, bears, hats—but especially books.  Throughout the year, I try to make note of the funniest lines and passages I come across in my reading.  Sometimes this proves problematic, as with Brady Udall’s funny-all-the-way through book, The Lonely Polygamist.  When I was typing out my selections from that one, my husband asked, “Why are you retyping that entire novel?” So here’s my second annual list of funny passages from the western books I read this year.  This one goes out to everyone who proudly sports a blue smear of a tattoo that once read “Charlene.”

• From Kevin Canty’s Everything

“She came inside as ever with her basket and jar and several other bags and bundles.  She moved though life in the middle of her own rummage sale, surrounded by rummage.  Some of it was knitting, some of it was food.”

“RL used to love the hippie girls—yes, he did—before they all turned thirty and became strict and sour.”

“She was good for her age but it was not a good age.”