Behind the Stories
Idaho Fairways
By Sauni SymondsAugust 27, 2010
“Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening - and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented. ”
Arnold Palmer
When I pitched the idea of doing an “Outdoor Idaho” about golf, I was practically booed out of the room. Ok, maybe not booed, but there were definitely some raised eyebrows. Golf? On “Outdoor Idaho”? My response: Yes! Why not? The game is an outdoor experience usually played in a very scenic location. And I knew that a large majority of Idahoans golf; so I felt that a huge portion of our audience would enjoy the show. I wanted to focus on the small town golf course, off the beaten path, rather than the larger well known links in the state. A golfer myself, I had played some very sweet little courses in rural towns.
Since Idaho is home to so many beautiful links, it was hard to narrow the field; but I ultimately decided to showcase courses in different regions of the state. I picked them not only based on the location, but because each one had its own unique characteristics. I stayed away from private clubs and looked for family- owned or community-operated courses. My quest led me to some not-so-typical links in the hinterlands of Idaho. And, of course, photographer Chuck Cathcart and I took our clubs along.
What we discovered, for the most part, were some of the friendliest people in some of the most scenic corners of Idaho. We visited Canyon Springs, set deep in the Snake River Canyon near Twin Falls; Aspen Acres, nestled within a grove of aspen at the base of the Tetons in eastern Idaho; River Bend in Wilder, carved out of farmland near the Snake River; the Emmett City Golf Course, which shares space with an airstrip; the Orofino golf course, near the Clearwater River, home to some of the most gorgeous fairways I’ve even seen; and beautiful Mirror Lake in Bonners Ferry, where the community has pulled together to keep the golf course in the black.
These are Idaho Fairways. You won’t find them anywhere but here. They’re definitely worthy of being in “Outdoor Idaho”!
Planes & Pack Trains Converge
By Bruce ReichertJuly 22, 2010
“On Wilderness” airs October 21st & 24th
“Flying Idaho” airs December 5th
It’s not often that two OUTDOOR IDAHO stories we’re working on converge so nicely. But it’s happening this summer with “Flying Idaho” and “On Wilderness,” two programs currently in production. That’s because there are two things Idaho has in abundance: airstrips and wilderness.
Idaho is one of the most pro-aviation states in the union. In fact, we have more airports and airstrips per capita than any state in the lower 48. And many of those airstrips are in the backcountry.
One of them, Indian Creek airstrip, is sometimes busier than the Boise airport, hauling in rafts and tourists who can’t wait to float the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. 
Bart Welch, the former director of aeronautics, told me that he used to spend a high percentage of his time keeping the 50 or so backcountry airstrips open. “Years ago, Montana had almost the same number of airstrips that Idaho has,” he noted. “Today, they have four open to the public.”
His point is that it’s a constant struggle, a constant fight to remind folks that pilots and airplanes have a place in the wilderness, too. It’s one of the reasons that Idaho pilots volunteer to work on backcountry airstrips, clearing brush and filling gopher holes. And it’s why the Idaho Aviation Foundation hosts “Wilderness Within Reach,” a program that flies the handicapped into places like Sulphur Creek Ranch, free of charge, for a weekend in July.
Craig Gehrke of the Wilderness Society told us that airplane noise is the #1 complaint he hears from his constituents. But in 1980 the only way to win enough votes in Congress to create the River of No Return wilderness was to ‘grandfather’ in the many airstrips. That happened also in 1964, with the creation of the Selway-Bitterroot wilderness. The beautiful airstrip at Moose Creek ranger station was part of the deal.
Our Wilderness show will feature a segment on the iconic Moose Creek ranger station. But earlier this summer, we weren’t sure we’d be able to show you this special place. We were told that wilderness precluded cameras. It wasn’t until the Chief of the Forest Service reversed that decision that our cameraman, Jay Krajic, got the go-ahead to land on the Moose Creek airstrip in an airplane, with his camera.
Pack trains and small planes seem to co-exist well at Moose Creek. And that’s part of the story we’ll be telling.