Behind the Stories

Lights, Camera . . . Learning!

By Bruce Reichert
November 18, 2008

"Behind the Scenes at Idaho Public Television" with The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

When they started arriving 15 minutes early, we knew they weren't your ordinary "students." Indeed, most of them were older than us and had already received their college degrees. They also shared a common belief, that there were still things to learn in life, even if that meant going back to school.

Last week our Production team spent more than two hours with fifty members of Boise State University's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. The group's director, Ellie McKinnon, had asked if we would offer a two-hour "Behind the Scenes" class on how television is made. We were happy to oblige. In fact, we've put together a photo montage of that evening.

 Afterwards, Ellie wrote to thank us. "What a remarkable, rich learning experience you provided . . . What talent and experience, expertise and good humor you exhibited, and what respect you garnered."

We knew they weren't your ordinary students!

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Pathways of Pioneers: Idaho's Oregon Trail Legacy

By John Crancer
October 31, 2008

A program about the Oregon Trail in Idaho has been on our "idea" list for several years. It was a project we wanted to do at some point because other Oregon Trail documentaries have devoted minimal time to the Idaho section of the trail.

The impetus to get moving on the program was a phone call from the Oregon-California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho. They were hoping to work with us on a co-production on the Oregon Trail that would feature Big Hill, near the center and other notable landmarks along the trail in Idaho.

When we also learned that in the summer of 2008 the national meeting of the Oregon-California Trails Association would take place in Nampa, the decision to move ahead was finalized. A couple of other events during that same summer also perked our interest. There would be two "modern day" wagon trains travelling from the Montpelier area west. Most of these modern wagons have rubber wheels and contain all the conveniences of a small RV.

One modern wagon train would take the Hudspeth Cutoff and complete its trip near Burley in time for Snake River Heritage Days. The other would travel all the way across the state, first on the main Oregon Trail and then on the Jeffrey-Goodale Cutoff. That wagon train would finish their trip at the site of the national convention in Nampa. It appeared there would more than enough material for our program.

We decided the overarching theme of our production would be a "now and then" look at the Oregon Trail. We would contrast the landmarks the pioneers viewed with what travelers see today see when they retrace the same routes.

We thought weaving the two modern wagon trains into the program would help transport viewers across the state to many of the historical spots. The challenge was to document their journeys intermittently along the way without spending the weeks the actual trips would take. As in the 1800s though, our modern wagon trains weren't always on an exact schedule and finding them in the hinterlands of Idaho was often an adventure.

In addition to dealing with the modern wagon trains and other "present" scenes along the trail, we also wanted to give viewers a real taste of history. As in other historically focused productions, such as Lewis and Clark we opted for "reenactments." Of course, finding authentic-looking Oregon Trail style wagons along with teamsters willing to drive them was not an easy task.

With the help of the staff and volunteers at Montpelier's Oregon-California Trail Center we were able to find five wagons and drivers and a couple dozen "walkers" to recreate the descent down Big Hill. We were even lucky enough to find a team of oxen to pull one of the wagons. Organizing this large collection of people and animals wasn't easy. The team of oxen bolted when they smelled nearby irrigation water, fortunately stopping at a fence they easily could have plowed through. We also had two teams of horses take off with wagons, luckily to be recovered down the road with no major damages.

Big Hill itself was another challenge. It's so large that even with three cameras it was tough to cover all the angles. The other logistical problem was that once the wagons started down the hill there was no stopping. It was tough for our photographers to stay ahead of the group to set up for the next shot. Though it turned into a real "run and gun" shoot we think we captured some of the spirit of that notable landmark.

We also photographed two other reenactments for the program, one on the relatively pristine eastern side of the Fort Hall Reservation and another at the annual Three Island Crossing Event. We hope these scenes and those from Big Hill will give viewers a better appreciation of what the emigrants experienced. I know from my own personal experience and our photographers that riding in one of those old wagons is a lot rougher than you can imagine. It's easy to understand why most of the emigrants walked.

In addition to photographing the reenactments, we've interviewed a number of trail experts and historians to help bring the past alive. We needed their expertise to help us sort out the history. It's amazing how many different routes of the Oregon-California Trail there are in Idaho and how many significant sites are in our state. Between documenting the major landmarks, following the modern wagon trains, coordinating the reenactments and researching paintings and photographs, our summer calendar quickly filled with Oregon Trail assignments.

We now have much of the material "in the can" and are in the process of trying to figure out how to sum up decades of history, show viewers what they can still see, and explain why it all matters today. It may not be the extreme challenge faced by the pioneers, but from start to finish our Oregon Trail documentary will be one long journey.

To see how it all turns out tune in during our March Festival for "Pathways of Pioneers: Idaho's Oregon Trail Legacy."

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Going to the ends of the Earth

By Bruce Reichert
August 18, 2008

Remember the movie “Journey to the Center of the Earth”?  I thought about it the other day, when cameraman Al Moreno and I were 3,000 feet underground.

 

We were touring the Galena Mine in the fabled Silver Valley, outside Coeur d’ Alene, for an OUTDOOR IDAHO show called “Mining Idaho.”

 

It sure was a lot hotter and more humid than that 1959 movie said it would be!  But the 250 workers didn’t seem to mind. They were just happy to be making good money again, underground.

 

Both Al and I were impressed with the sights and sounds, and the size of the tunnels underground. Large vehicles operated with ease, and there was enough air pumped into the mine to make breathing easy, even with the diesel-operated machines.

 

And the people we met underground were hard-working and eager to tell their story. They were definitely proud to be miners.

 

Back in the 1980’s, when the price of silver dropped, and most of the mines closed, the Environmental Protection Agency declared the Silver Valley a giant SuperFund site.

 

It was a designation that stung. But, as retired state geologist Earl Bennett opined, “Superfund was yesterday’s story.”

 

Earl was our tour guide. You may remember him from our 2005 program, “Silver Valley Rising,” where he walked us through “the sins of the fathers.” Today, he’s confident that those sins will not recur. For one thing, the Bunker Hill smelter, which poured lead and other toxins into the air, is gone.  And now there are stricter regulations in place. “This is not your father’s mining industry. They want to be good neighbors.”

 

Many of the residents of Boise, Idaho, are hoping that’s the case, because mining activity near Atlanta could impact the Boise River, says Idaho Conservation League spokesman John Robison. “There may be gold up in the mountains in Atlanta, but the real treasure is clean drinking water, and it’s certainly more precious than gold.”

 

With the price of metals now at historic levels, “Mining Idaho” will explore the changing face of mining in the West.

 

It’s a topic that may sound pretty boring. But tune in October 30th, because we’re also going to feature a gold prospector, who will tell you exactly where the gold is!

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A Tribute to Bill Studebaker

By Bruce Reichert
July 7, 2008

The East fork of the South fork of the Salmon River, near Yellow Pine, claimed a good man, and a good friend of Idaho Public Television and Outdoor Idaho.

Bill Studebaker died over the 4th of July holiday, doing something he truly loved to do, something most of us would never do: kayaking arguably the most dangerous river in Idaho.

Bill was made for television. Warm, intelligent, photogenic, he was the guy we went to when we needed excitement or analysis and reflection. In fact, Bill was probably in more Outdoor Idaho shows than anyone else!

He was around the campfire for our 25th Anniversary show. He was around the campfire for our 20th Anniversary show. (He drove my ATV up to Hard Butte Lake for that shoot, and had to go over some rough terrain. Said it scared him more than the river.)

He read a poem for our "City Made of Stone" program, in 1994, at the City of Rocks.

He jumped into the rapids where William Clark turned back, on the Salmon River, for our "Lewis & Clark in Idaho" program, just because we needed someone to look like he'd been thrown from a dugout canoe.

He was the heart and soul of "Extremely Idaho," our February '08 program, as he and his friend Mike Copeland performed a wild kayak ride down an icy waterfall at Thousand Springs. Not once, but twice, for the camera.

And for a show yet to air, Bill kayaked down a snowy mountain in the Sawtooths. A group of volunteers got to see that segment last month, for our Volunteer Appreciation Day. They found it delightful and crazy.

That was Spill. Delightful and crazy. Warm and generous. And really smart.

But my favorite segment with Bill Studebaker is featured in our "River of No Return" show, when he talked about the plight of the salmon and what it means to everyday Idahoans.

It combined so much of what, to me, was special about Bill. A man who could make poetry work for him, as he talked about the lifecycle of the salmon, dying in the very water that gave it life, so that the logger and the truck driver could understand what was being taken from them in the name of progress.

Come to think of it, Bill could have just as easily been talking about himself.

We'll miss you, Bill.

 

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A Busy Summer Ahead

By Bruce Reichert
July 3, 2008

This summer our small but mighty Production Team will be crisscrossing the state to bring you stories about wild fire and pioneers on the Oregon Trail; about underground mining and a 5th generation ranch family; about wildlife refuges and wooden boats. And even stories about dinosaurs.

Here's a thumbnail about some of them.

Wild Fire

On August 20th of last year, the state was primed for another calamitous fire season. Folks were worried that 2007 could be as bad as the historic Great Blowup of 1910. Luckily, we did not experience the two days of hurricane-force winds that made the 1910 fire the nation's largest and deadliest.

Still, almost 2 million acres burned in 2007. So, what's happening out there? Why have things gotten so bad?

Outdoor Idaho will explore the new face of "Wild Fire" on Thursday, July 24th.

Dude Ranch Family

How many ranches can trace their lineage back 130 years, through five generations? Butch Small, a former rodeo champ, runs the Small Cattle Company near Dubois, along the Continental Divide.

You'll meet this wonderful family, along with a couple of "dudes" who pay to work at the cow camp. This program will air in September.

Mining Idaho

Gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper – these have been the staples of Idaho's mining industry for 150 years. Add to that list molybdenum, cobalt, and phosphate, and you have a mining industry that is truly statewide.

We will explore the complexity of mining today, using real-life examples from Silver Valley, Atlanta, the Thompson Creek molybdenum mine, the Smoky Canyon phosphate mine, the Rock Creek silver and copper mine on the Idaho-Montana border, and others. This program will air in October.

The Oregon Trail

We'll relive that amazing period of America's push westward, as families risked everything to find the new promised land. Some of this has already been shot this summer, but many of the re-enactments have not, like bringing wagons down the steep hills outside of Montpelier.

We're hoping no one, including the animals, gets hurt. This program will air in March of 2009.

D4K

Continuing a tradition that spans a decade, this science-oriented program for school kids will revisit the popular topic of dinosaurs, this time by traveling to Dinosaur National Monument. Look for this program during the upcoming school year.

And be sure to check out the great website at http://idahoptv.org/dialogue4kids/.

 

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I Can't Help it, I Love Birds

By Dave Thomason
June 1, 2008

"Can you pick up some mice? I have to feed the hawks." This was a strange request to get over the phone, but I needed a close-up of a Ferruginous Hawk and a Wildlife Refuge outside McCall had one. If sharing a ride with some sacrificial mice was what it took to get the shot, I was willing. After a quick stop at a local pet shop I was on my way up Highway 55 with a box full of white mice.

It was a pleasant drive, and I was admiring the Payette River when just before Banks, I felt something crawl up my leg. The mice had made their escape by chewing a hole in their box and were now scampering wildly around the truck. I pulled to the side and furiously began grabbing at the little white fur balls. Soon both hands were full of mice, but what to do now? I had to let them go while I found something to hold them. I finally got all 12 excited rodents in a plastic box, made it to McCall, and got the shot.

Who knew producing a bird show was so dangerous?

Surviving marauding mice was just one of the adventures I had while producing "Birders, Banders and Binoculars" for OUTDOOR IDAHO. It is a program about people who study, watch and - most of all - love birds. While making this program, I had the pleasure of meeting many people who have a passion for wildlife and the natural world. This program is my attempt to share that passion with a larger audience.

The Northern Saw Whet is not rare or particularly hard to catch except when OUTDOOR IDAHO cameras are around. Videographer Jay Krajic and I spent three nights in the Boise Foothills trying to get video of the capture and banding of an owl. The first two nights we stayed at the Idaho Bird Observatory until almost five in the morning, with no luck, just to be told that they caught one just after we left.

On the third night I was ready to give up, but Jay is a real trooper and wanted to give it one more chance. Sure enough, they caught one! If you listen closely to the audio during this segment you might hear me jumping up and down with excitement!

Idaho has lots of hummingbirds. I spent a day at the beautiful Rudeen ranch just south of American Falls and shot video of people banding the tiny birds. It was a special shoot with very friendly people, great lighting, and the largest number of hummingbirds I have ever seen in one place at one time.

Bird watching is said to be the most popular outdoor activity in the US. I was very fortunate to spend some of my summer bird-watching through the lens of a video camera, near the Foothills Center on 8th Street in Boise. It took a while for the birds to get used to me, but eventually they came around. A lot of those shots made it into the bird watching segment, and some of them have real meaning for me. You just had to be there!

Birds are in trouble across the globe, and I admit to an ulterior motive for making this program. Birds have meaning for us both spiritually and environmentally, and we should listen to what they have to say.

 

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Eastern Idaho Trying to be Powered by Nature

By Bruce Reichert
May 2, 2008

Wading into the energy debate is a scary proposition. It’s soooo confusing.

 

But there are some things we know. It’s better for a nation to be energy independent than to be beholden to others. And, America uses more energy than it produces.

 

There’s another thing I have learned in the past few weeks. Eastern Idaho is a great place for alternative energy!

 

Take wind power, for example. Idaho is ranked thirteenth in the nation for wind energy potential. And having just returned from a spring trip to Idaho Falls, it wouldn’t surprise me if that area were ranked in the top five! As Roger Christensen, a commissioner for Bannock County, pointed out, “we have a lot of bad hair days in this area.”

 

Drive twenty minutes south of Idaho Falls, and you’ll be in among em. More than forty huge wind propellers, towering overhead, each the height of a 25 story building, each producing enough energy to power 500 households.

 

I really thought I’d find them noisy and a distasteful blight on the environment. Instead, my cameraman Norm Nelson and I found them compelling and fascinating. We felt like we were looking at the future of energy in the West. Supposedly, there are plans to plant many more turbines in that area. I say Hurray!

 

Geothermal energy is also a big alternative energy source. But to see the plant, you have to drive about 50 miles off the interstate, into the Raft River area.

 

In the 1980’s the U.S. Department of Energy located 300 degree water under ground--more than a mile under ground. At that temperature, geothermal energy becomes a viable operation.

The 300 degree water flows through pipes, from the source to the site, where it heats isopentane, turning it from liquid to gas. Scientists discovered that isopentane, which is similar to butane in cigarette lighters, flashes to a gas at much lower temperatures than does water.

"We're able to superheat that gas and run it through a turbine at much lower temperatures than you would with steam, and so then we run the turbine, it drives the generator, that produces electricity," says Chris Harriman, plant manager for U.S. Geothermal.

If handled properly, this source of green energy could eventually generate forty, maybe even 100 megawatts of steady power, the kind engineers call base load power. That's power available 24 hours a day, regardless of whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing.

In our program “Powered by Nature,” we look at geothermal, as well as wind and solar. Unfortunately, solar energy is only now becoming commercially viable in Idaho. Maybe that will change with new products coming on-line.

But as Paul Kjellander, Idaho’s energy czar, warns, the West’s transmission lines are “at or near capacity, and that’s something that everybody needs to be concerned with.”

Kjellander says, “regardless of what generation resource you want to bring to market, you have to have the transmission capacity to move it.”

Right now that does seem to be the main drawback with alternative energy sources in Idaho. When and if that problem is solved, eastern Idaho is uniquely positioned to be a leader in alternative “green” energy.

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25th Anniversary Show a Hit With Viewers

By Bruce Reichert
March 17, 2008

The show aired. The phones rang, and the balloons popped. Another Pledge Drive has ended. OUTDOOR IDAHO's contribution this year was a 90 minute program, celebrating 25 years of service to the citizens of Idaho. It was a show that really seemed to connect with viewers.

"A great show. I love you guys. You make Idaho come alive," emailed John Freemuth.

Chris Harris wrote us: "I love Outdoor Idaho. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"What a great show! AND y'all obviously had fun putting it together," emailed Diane Ronayne. "Thanks for going through everything you had to go through to make that show happen. It's truly valuable in so many ways, and the documentary footage of both people and places will become even more valuable over time. P.S. The hat piece was priceless!"

"I don't know the composers or the artists that sing these songs on Outdoor Idaho," wrote Jim Weaver, "but they are the most beautiful songs I've heard. And, I dearly love Outdoor Idaho! It gets better every year."

Jim Weatherby wrote, "Dana and I really enjoyed your Outdoor Idaho special. What a rich and rewarding career doing those extraordinary shows. Congratulations and best wishes for the next 25!"

"When I was watching your show," wrote Curt Henson, "I started thinking, when do I feel the most joy and happiness in my life? It's when I'm in the great Idaho Outdoors! I would like to find out how to become a part of Outdoor Idaho in any capacity."

John Bertram wrote, "Idaho thanks you for 25 years of discovery and adventure. Thanks for giving Idahoans a lifetime of places to seek out and hopefully provide stewardship."

"Enjoyed it very much!! especially the scene with the nibbling horse!!!" emailed Beth Pederson, of the musical duo Beth & Cinde.

Ann Couch emailed, "This is SUCH a BEAUTIFULLY done program - you are the best! Have watched the 25th anniversary show twice."

Marty Peterson sent this note: "So Barb and I had settled in to watch the 25 years special on our new 42" HDTV and when you came on the screen, I said "You know, Swisher hates Bruce's hats" before anything was mentioned about your hats. And sometime later the Swisher video appears. Funniest moment of the week at our place."

And one more.

Musician Curtis Stigers, who wrote a song for our 25th show, sent us this note. "We were glued to every frame, every moment of the show. It was funny, charming, interesting, entertaining, and, most of all, emotionally moving. I must cop to having been moved to tears at least 5 times and choked up quite a few more. The editing, the new interviews and commentaries, the blasts from the past: all wonderful. My favorites: your hats and Jeff Tucker as a bright-eyed teenager. 

"What a terrific show. I couldn't be more proud to be part of it. Thank you so much for asking me to contribute my music. I consider myself very lucky to be a part of the anniversary of a show that is such an important part of Idaho. Vive le Outdoor Idaho! Here's to 25 more years! I hope you'll include me in the 50th anniversary."

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Barbara Morgan Comes Home

By Marcia Franklin
February 21, 2008

It was a moment unlike any videographer Jay Krajic and I had experienced during the past year of filming Barbara Morgan. Here she was, in a classroom, without any other cameras besides ours, and no NASA handlers to move her along. And most importantly, Barbara Morgan was at ease. She was at home.

Finally back in McCall, four months after finishing her 13-day journey into space, the former Idaho teacher had a full schedule of community events to attend in her honor. But before heading to a packed school assembly at McCall Elementary, she stopped off at a preschool classroom.

There, she found half a dozen children ready to entertain her as they danced to a song about astronauts called “Floatin’ in the Bathtub.” As they “floated” around the classroom, their arms held out by their sides like wings, Morgan laughed and clapped along.

Then a child told Morgan she wanted to show her a photo on the computer. It was a picture of Morgan in her spacesuit, during a launch practice. “You want to know something really funny?” she told the rapt children, who had crowded around the computer. “You know what I have inside my suit? You know what I’m wearing?” She whispered the answer.

“She said a diaper!” exclaimed the teacher.

“Pretty silly, huh?” said Morgan. You guys got rid of your diapers and I have to wear a diaper!”

The children giggled and looked up with a mixture of confusion and awe at this real life astronaut who all of the sudden was acting like she could have been one of their babysitters.

Then, just as quickly as she had entered the classroom, Morgan was on to her next appearance, which, like almost all of her prior ones, was in a cavernous, dark gymnasium ill-suited for filming. But Jay and I breathed a sigh of relief. We had video that was a “keeper,” a moment that not only showed Mission Specialist Barbara Morgan, but teacher and mom Barbara Morgan.

It was a moment a long time in coming. You see, I knew Barbara Morgan had a wry sense of humor. I’d seen it over the years in off-camera moments, and heard about it from her friends and colleagues. But the opportunities to film her had been so staged over the past few years it was hard to see the real Barbara.

From the beginning, she and her husband Clay kept their home life, including their children, off-limits to the press, for understandable reasons. So we were reliant on NASA to schedule time with her. That time, when granted, was heavily controlled. At least one of my interviews was conducted with a NASA employee holding a stopwatch behind me, allowing me six minutes and 30 seconds. The strain of preparing for a mission, and doing multiple interviews back-to-back, was often evident in Morgan’s face and voice. At times, her answers seemed rehearsed, without much emotion.

Morgan’s formal press events were a sea of reporters and flashing cameras. Occasionally she’d have a personal moment with a student, but it still seemed artificial with all the press crowded around her.

But in McCall, Morgan was free to allow more aspects of her personality to come alive. For instance, she’s known among her friends for running late, and she lived up to that reputation, staying long after events to chat with friends who had come from far and wide to see her. When she was given a key to the city of McCall, she joked that maybe it opened up a local bar. She invited us into the lunchroom at the elementary school as she and a few teachers munched on sandwiches. And she hammed it up with the preschoolers, who of course had no idea that astronaut diapers had been in the news lately.

In an hour-long documentary that has to span 22 years, Jay and I obviously can’t include all of those moments in our documentary, “Barbara Morgan: No Limits.” But we get a smile every time we see that footage of Barbara in the preschool--relaxed, happy, and best of all, safely back on earth, sharing a secret (giggle?) with some of her biggest four-year old fans.

 

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Wow, That's a Long Time!

By Bruce Reichert
January 14, 2008

You know you’re not a spring chicken anymore when you’re working on a show celebrating its 25th anniversary.

That’s right. A quarter of a century for OUTDOOR IDAHO. Not bad for a program that the show’s creators, Peter Morrill and Royce Williams, predicted would last maybe five years, if it was lucky.

Well, the show has been lucky. It started out in 1983 as a co-production of the Dept of Fish & Game, and IdahoPTV. Within five years, Peter and Royce had gone on to other things, but the show had found its niche.

My personal involvement in the show was completely accidental. The original host, Doug Copsey, had a commitment he couldn’t get out of, and they needed a fill-in host for one month. That was in 1985, and the stand-ups were shot at Bruneau Sand Dunes. I remember, because I wore my cowboy boots. Not my smartest move.

But by April of 1986, Peter and Royce had apparently forgotten that incident and gave me the job. The show was shot at Jump Creek, where I proceeded to get such a bad case of poison ivy in my eyes, that even my neighbors didn’t recognize me. (Contac lenses and poison ivy don’t go well together, I discovered.)

In 1990, Fish & Game decided to start its own program, “Incredible Idaho,”  and Idaho Public Television became the sole producer of OUTDOOR IDAHO.

Fast forward to 2008. We’ve seen a lot of territory, my colleagues and I. And now the task is to let the viewing public in on some of the behind-the-scenes antics of the past 25 years. Luckily, they’re giving us 90 minutes to tell our stories.

We're dividing the show into four distinct sections: History, Issues, Favorite Stories, and People.

I hope you can catch the show, Thursday, March 6th, at 7 p.m. Mtn. It’s not every day that a television program reaches the quarter century mark.

 

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Motorized Idaho

By John Crancer
November 28, 2007

Over the years we’ve produced dozens of programs that have involved hiking, rafting, horseback riding, cross country skiing and other types of non-motorized recreation. And while many people really enjoy those kinds of activities, a big slice of the population prefers the advantages a powerful machine can provide. This type of travel has been growing so rapidly we thought it was time to find out what’s fueling the popularity of motorized recreation in Idaho.

One thing motorized and non-motorized users seem to have in common is that they both love the Idaho landscape. Sure, there’s some controversy about where motorized use is appropriate and there’s an ongoing discussion about how to lessen the impacts of machines. But those discussions are happening both inside and outside of the motorized community. We found that in addition to regulations and educational campaigns by land managers, the various motorized clubs are also an important tool in helping to promote respect and responsible use of public lands.

For the program we decided to feature several different kinds of clubs and activities from around the state; jetboaters on the Main Salmon, snowmobilers in the Bear Lake area, dirt bikers in the forests north of Stanley, and sand rail drivers on the Saint Anthony Dunes. Each shoot had its own individual challenges and logistics.

On the dirt bike shoot we tried to follow our group along one of Idaho’s many back roads as much as we possibly could. This particular road was definitely better suited for dirt bikes and atvs because about half way through our shoot day we blew out a tire on a sharp downed tree along the edge of the road. Another tire change was nothing new for an Outdoor Idaho production, but instead of pressing our luck with no remaining spare tire we piled our equipment onto the back of a couple of atvs and were fortunately able to complete the segment. Later that evening we drove our vehicle back to the pavement without further incident.

There was no way to drive through the snow covered mountains near Bear Lake in winter, so getting our cameras into the forest for the snowmobile shoot required some special equipment. With the help of the Idaho State Parks department we were able to attach a sled to the back of one of the snowmobiles. The large sled made it possible to get our camera equipment into the backcountry to record some great winter scenes. The only glitch along the way was actually keeping the sled attached to the snowmobile. On a few of the rougher patches of trail our sled full of equipment worked it’s way loose and was left behind for a moment. A little baling wire and a few other adjustments over the course of the day put us back in business and it wasn’t long before we were able to complete our assignment.

The Saint Anthony Dunes were another location with tricky logistics for our crew and equipment. With most of the various sand machines assembled for the drive into the dunes, we were having a hard time figuring out where to put our large camera box and other assorted television equipment. There just isn’t a lot of room in most of those machines beyond the seats and the motors. Luckily the four seated sand car we had hoped for finally arrived. It had just enough space to squeeze in our two crew members and most of the equipment. Fastening and unfastening the elaborate seat belt system and keeping the swirling sand out of our eyes and cameras were among the other challenges of a day on the dunes.

The jet boats were probably the best machines for carrying our load of television equipment. These boats are used to hauling enormous amounts of supplies, so a couple more big boxes and a tripod weren’t much of a problem. There were, however, other challenges, like keeping a close eye on upcoming rapids. We wanted our photographer who was standing in the boat videotaping to stay in the boat during the jarring bounces. Getting steady shots of bighorn sheep on shore while rocking in the river wasn’t easy either. Yet aside from the jolts in the rougher water, it was a pretty smooth way to journey along the Main Salmon River.

While motorized might not be everyone’s ideal way to travel into the backcountry, we could see some of the advantages these machines can provide. If all motorized users emphasized safety and responsible stewardship as much as the groups we encountered, some of the controversy surrounding these kinds of activities might be reduced.

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Bringing Back the Past

By Bruce Reichert
October 29, 2007

Clarence Darrow joined us. So did James Hawley and William Borah, along with labor leader "Big Bill" Haywood and dynamiter Harry Orchard.

Trying to resurrect the past can be a fool's game. But it's what we tried to do with our new production, "Assassination: Idaho's Trial of the Century."

Perhaps you've heard of the story. Briefly put, class warfare had raised its ugly head more than 100 years ago. Mine owners vs. mine workers. A former governor was murdered, blown apart, when he opened the gate to his home one cold December evening.

A trial ensued. The star witness was the man who set the dynamite, Harry Orchard. He had repented of his evil ways and pinned the blame on the leaders of a violent labor organization.

The state kidnapped "Big Bill" Haywood from Denver and brought him to Idaho to stand trial for the murder of former governor Frank Steunenberg. That's where Clarence Darrow comes in. He defended Haywood. The prosecutors were the two best attorneys in Idaho, James Hawley and William Borah.

For five days in May of 2007, our actors brought the past to life, in a way you'll have to see to believe. Our show airs statewide Thursday, November 15th and Sunday, December 2nd.

There's a lot that has improved in 100 years, no question about that. But one thing that has not improved is the oratory. They knew how to talk back then! And you'll get to hear Clarence Darrow and William Borah deliver their powerful lines, because we went back to the original transcripts of the trial.

Darrow pleading, "These men and these women and these little children, the poor, the weak and the suffering of the world, will stretch out their hands to this jury and implore you to save Bill Haywood's life."

And Borah, in his closing argument: "I saw Idaho dishonored and disgraced. I saw murder. No, not murder. A thousand times worse than murder. I saw anarchy wave its first bloody triumph in Idaho."

Even today, the closing arguments of the four main attorneys - Hawley, Richardson, Darrow, Borah - leave you with a profound respect for the passion and the power they evoked, here in Idaho, 100 years ago this year.

 

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Extremely Idaho

By Jim Peck
October 1, 2007

I had crawled and slithered through tight passages, through rat droppings, through bat droppings and I was sitting in a small, dark, cold spot, about a mile and a half into a cave under Idaho thinking, "This is why I got into television?"

We're working on an Outdoor Idaho program called "Extremely Idaho." The idea is to check out some of the so-called "extreme" sports in Idaho. First up; spelunking.

In Twin Falls, videographer Jay Krajic and I met the guys from the Silver Sage Grotto, part of the College of Southern Idaho's Outdoor program. We followed them about an hour out of town to a hole in the middle of the sage brush. And then we followed them into the hole. And then we got down on our hands and knees and crawled after them deeper into the hole. And then we were following them on our bellies slithering through dust and the excrement of various cave-dwellers even deeper into the hole. The things I do for our viewers.

Once we got in a ways things opened up. They really opened up. You could have driven a train through some of the passages. But then we'd wind our way along for awhile and be back on our knees . . . then back on our stomachs sucking dust and . . . well . . . you know.

Chris Anderson, a die-hard caver who was leading our group talked about how this cave is the second longest lava tube in the lower 48. "And see the bats? That means it's a healthy cave." The fact that bats are thriving means that people aren't wrecking the place. When too many people visit a cave the bats are disturbed, sometimes can't hibernate, and die off. So it's good to know that we were in a healthy, bat-rich environment. You should actually be able to see them in the show when it airs this winter.

It was an interesting experience, although I can't say I was bitten by the caving bug. It's a very different experience from the other crazy things I've done while working on Outdoor Idaho. For one thing, it is a true wilderness experience. I mean this in the sense that there is no evidence of human presence. Even in the deepest jungles and forests, even on the highest mountain peaks you find trash, you see the contrails of jetliners. But here, underground, there's just dust and rock and . . . droppings. All things that have been here since the lava roared through and carved the tubes ages ago.

One note to potential spelunkers: do not over-hydrate yourself while caving. Chris politely explained to us to do whatever we needed to do before entering the cave because all kinds of waste, especially human waste, are forbidden in the caves. Now, we were in there for over six hours. Toward the end some of our group was gettin' pretty anxious to get back out into the daylight and find a quiet place for a comfort stop. That's all I'll say.

The next shoot for this program was the Snake River, just outside of Glenns Ferry. Videographer Alberto Moreno and I hooked up with the guys from Banshee Riverboards). You can see in the pictures that it's kinda like surfing, but on a river. The small surfboard-like boards are connected to a bungee cord. The rider moves out into the current and floats downstream. The bungee stretches as the rider is pushed downstream by the current. Then, when the bungee is stretched to its limit, he lets his board come up on top of the water. This is when the action starts. The cord means a zippy ride upstream and a chance to do some cool tricks and enjoy a fast cruise. The rider shoots along, skimming the top of the river.

This system was invented by the folks at Banshee Riverboards and they're hoping it'll catch on as a major sport. I didn't get wet for this one, but it looked pretty cool.

We've got some other great shoots coming up from around the state. I'll be keeping you up to date as we get "extreme" all over Idaho.

Later.

Jim

 

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The Idaho Homefront: Of Camps and Combat

By Jim Peck
September 13, 2007

Last year I put together a show called The Idaho Homefront: "World War II." While I was doing research, people kept telling me about the old relocation center out near Twin Falls called Minidoka. It was known as the Hunt Camp and housed more than 9,000 Japanese men, women and children who were moved from their homes along the Pacific Coast. The US Government thought those people might pose a threat to our country, thought they might be sympathetic to the Japanese. I also heard about and met men who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This unit was put together later in the war. The Army needed more troops and the idea of an all Japanese-American fighting team appealed to the government.

I included a bit on the camp and the 442nd in the first program, but it was clear that this was something that deserved its own show. The station came up with the resources and production began. Read more

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The Fires of 2007

By Bruce Reichert
September 4, 2007

Videographer Norm Nelson was depressed. He had just watched our 1995 OUTDOOR IDAHO program on wildfire, the one we were planning to retire in the fall. "That was a great show! How can we replace it? We don't even have shots of flames!"

But the show had aired for twelve consecutive years, and, as good as it was, our show needed to reflect the changing nature of wildfires. It was up to us to find those flames.

So we journeyed into the Clearwater and Nez Perce National Forests, where cell phones were useless. We got great interviews with the Supervisors of both forests -- Tom Reilly and Jane Cottrell -- and with fire manager Jim Gray. But the rain a few days earlier had meant no flames. Not even smoke.

We visited the villages of Orogrande and Dixie, where old structures were wrapped in sheets of foil. Each roll cost more than $500, and a roll was only 30 feet long by 5 feet wide. We saw how some people had worked hard to make their structures "fire defensible," by removing the brush and thinning the nearby trees. And other people hadn't done much at all.

Off the record, one of the Forest Service officers expressed doubt that Orogrande could even be saved. The hamlet is in a small valley completely surrounded by thick conifers. There seemed no escape if the fire came over the nearby ridge, which it was threatening to do.

As a last resort, the Forest Service put sprinklers on the rooftops. The thinking was, as the last fire fighter hurried out of harm's way, he'd turn on the water, and hope for the best.

Officials were comparing this year to 1910, when more than three million acres of forest burned in the largest wildfire in US history. The only thing missing this year were the winds. They didn't materialize, so "only" a million acres will likely burn.

We also visited Clarence Chapman, on the Pittsburgh Landing road outside Whitebird. When a July wildfire threatened to engulf him and his home, he had saved himself with a garden hose over his head. Actually, he had done a lot of work before the fire arrived, thinning trees and planting a 50 foot expanse of grass around his house that he kept watered. He's convinced that's the only thing that saved him and his house. His neighbors weren't so lucky.

We had admittedly gotten a late start on our fire story. So, to make up for lost time, we put two crews on the wildfire beat. While Norm and I were in northern Idaho, Jody Lee and Dave Butler headed for Ketchum, which was quickly becoming the nation's priority wildfire.

As fire threatened homes near the ski hill, fire officials started an evening back burn. Dave and Jody got the action on tape.

The next week, Norm and I headed to Ketchum, and were allowed to venture up to the top of Baldy, where fire fighters were trying to corral the fire. A few hours earlier the fire had raced up the mountain, scaring the townspeople with its fierceness and resolve. But then the winds changed, and the danger passed.

Near the top of the mountain, the air was thick with smoke, and there was nothing glamorous to us about the work the young firefighters were engaged in. They were trying to walk the fire down the hill. Nothing glamorous, but it was working. To date, no lives lost; no homes destroyed.

Our half hour OUTDOOR IDAHO program will air in 2008. The thrust of the show is simple. Since the mid 1980's, the fire season has expanded, by more than two months, allowing fires to burn bigger and burn hotter.

It seems that we will have to change our tactics, to deal with this new reality.

 

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Launch Diary

By Marcia Franklin
August 16, 2007

Going to a space shuttle launch is always a risky travel proposition, whether you're a reporter or a spectator. Launches are often delayed, either by weather or by last-minute technical concerns. So it's a gamble deciding which days to fly there and back without incurring too many change fees and hotel nights. You can even end up returning empty-handed. So, hardly any media from Idaho are going . . . . Read more.

 

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What D4K Does on its Summer Vacation

By Joan Cartan-Hansen
August 7, 2007

Summer break isn't just for kids. D4K: Dialogue for Kids, our science program for elementary age school children takes the summer off too, sort of. We don't have any live broadcasts over the summer, but we are still producing new content for our Emmy award winning Website. Check out my blog each week for the latest science news for kids.

We are also working on all of the broadcast shows for the next school year. Here are some of the topics you can expect starting next fall: Flight, Endangered Species, Owls, Force and Motion, Teeth, Amphibians, Green Energy, Rocks and Minerals and a very special program with Idaho Astronaut Barbara Morgan.

We put together three to four minute videos on each of our season's scientific topics that are used to start our broadcast show. They are also available for streaming on the Web. I've started writing those scripts and right now I am trying to explain how cavities are formed, why airplanes can fly, and how physics is a big part of a rollercoaster. I'll work on defining green energy and rocks later this summer.

But don't you wait for September. There's lots of web-exclusive content on the D4K web site to check out right now. If you want to learn more about animals, the environment, technology, archaeology, and lots of other scientific topics, click here http://idahoptv.org/D4K/ and explore. You won't be alone. The D4K Web site had more than two million hits in the first part of last season and more than 30 percent of the traffic came from outside North America. Eleven percent of the site's traffic comes from China. Cool huh? So, if you've never surfed over to the D4K site, now is a great time to look it over, and be sure to check out my blog!

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Lights, Camera, Action!

By Bruce Reichert
May 22, 2007

"Call Harry Orchard!" bellowed James Hawley, from the prosecutor’s desk in the court room. Seated next to him, William Borah winced, then managed a one-liner that brought down the house. "Where the hell is he, in Kuna?!"

It was just one of the special moments our Production team was laughing about Friday evening, after five hectic days of prep work and shooting for "Assassination: Idaho’s Trial of the Century."

We had taken over the court room in Boise’s ancient Borah Building, intent upon re-enacting the pivotal moments in a trial that put Idaho on the map 100 years ago this month.

The actors played their parts to perfection. James Hawley and William Borah for the prosecution. Clarence Darrow and Edmund Richardson for the defense. Harry Orchard as the dynamiter who found religion. And Big Bill Haywood, on trial for his life, for supposedly paying Orchard to assassinate former Governor Frank Steunenberg.

While the actors were all professionals, our audience consisted of folks from the community willing to dress up in costumes, put on make-up, and have someone mess with their hair. Every day  different people sat in the benches, happy to play a small role in this big story.

"I can’t tell you what this has meant to me," said one woman who had answered our call for audience members. "It was wonderful! I thank you so much for giving me this experience."

Our jury was a collection of some of the best beards in the state. They were the first ones you saw upon entering the court room, and right away you knew this was going to be a wild week!

Television is a collaborative effort and reenacting a 100 year old trial could not have happened without the efforts of folks like Joan Yost, who handled all our costuming; Judy Austin and Byron Johnson, who provided invaluable assistance on the script; Frances Alves, our make-up person; Rex Morris, our "resident skeptic" and gaffer; Pat Metzler and Jeff Tucker, our experts behind the camera; Ric Ochoa, our audio guy; Morgan Dethman, our artistic counsel; Johnnie Whitby, our hair stylist; Pat Cosgrove, our handyman extraordinaire. And there are literally dozens of others who deserve to be upset because I haven’t mentioned them here.

We still have a few more scenes to shoot outside the court room, before we can begin editing the hour-long program that will air statewide in November.

But I know, in my heart, that this past week will be the highlight of our efforts. There are just some events that have "magic" written all over them.

We may have begun as strangers, but for one shining week in May, we were all family.

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Idaho's Trial of the Century

By Bruce Reichert
May 1, 2007

On May 15th, this empty court room in Boise’s Old Post Office building will be transported back in time.

Clarence Darrow, William Borah and James Hawley will all be there, along with a judge and jury, ready to convict Big Bill Haywood of the murder of former Governor Frank Steunenberg.

Thanks to the testimony of "born again" Harry Orchard, it was a foregone conclusion what the verdict would be: Guilty!

But a jury of Idaho farmers surprised the world back in 1907, when they found Haywood innocent of the murder.

In the 20th century, there have been more than 30 Trials of the Century, including OJ and the Scopes monkey trial. But the Haywood trial was definitely Idaho’s version, and a memorable version it was! We intend to celebrate the event by re-enacting key moments, with some of Idaho’s finest actors.

In May of 1907, the eyes of the world were on the frontier town of Boise. Darrow referred to it as the Athens of the Sagebrush. Others were not so kind. To many observers, it was a battle between Capital and Labor, between the mine owners and the mine workers.

We will be re-enacting scenes from the trial for four days, from May 15 through May 18. If you would like to be in that audience please contact the station. But you have to be in the correct attire. Fortunately, we have some detailed advice for how you can do that.

The trial re-enactments will comprise about half of our hour-long program, "Assassination: Idaho's Trial of the Century," which is scheduled to air in the fall of 2007.

Idaho was a young state, Boise a small town. But the events that transpired in the courtroom 100 years ago this summer put us on the map, like nothing before or since.

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Sine Die

By Bruce Reichert
April 2, 2007

 

It’s a Latin phrase -- without day -- that, loosely translated, means “the Idaho Legislature has gone home for the year and will be back in January of 2008.”

 

When they return, things will be very different! For one thing, lawmakers will not be at the Capitol. The Capitol will be a mess. It will be a mess for two years, as workers add “wings” to the east and west sides and other workers renovate the inside of our beautiful building.

 

So, where will lawmakers do the people’s business? Across the street, in a dump called the Ada County Court House. As you can see from these photos, the old court house could use some TLC.

 

And that’s where we come in. Because of space limitations, our cameras will be the “link” to the outside world. And luckily, we’ve had this past year to experiment with that link.

 

If you are one of those who has a digital television set, you probably already watched the three cameras in the House and the three cameras in the Senate give you a ringside seat to legislative proceedings this past session. If you don’t have digital TV, perhaps you watched the same show on your computer. Pretty impressive, really, and it took about three Idahoptv techies, working each of the 82 days, to keep the show on the road.

 

Near the end of the session, when debate tends to get fast and furious, enough viewers had tuned in to completely use up our entire bandwidth. Again, pretty impressive.

 

We’ve been promised a more robust “pipe” for the coming year, so more folks can tune in to the action.

 

It’s a good thing because, given the tiny size of the old court house, our cameras will be – literally -- the only way you’ll be able to watch lawmakers in action.

 

 

 

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Wanna Getaway?

By Bruce Reichert
February 23, 2007

"Idaho Getaways" airs Thursday, March 8 at 8:30 p.m. Repeats Sunday March 11 at 7:30 p.m.

We've never produced a show like this before, where our reporters were all asked to bring back -- in a 10 minute package -- their favorite Idaho Getaway.

We've put them all together, in an OUTDOOR IDAHO special, set to air March 8th & 11th during our annual pledge drive.

          

John Crancer decided to heed his inner cowboy, and headed for a dude ranch in eastern Idaho.

Joan Cartan-Hansen figured there was a great children's adventure around Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Jim Peck tackled the difficult Lewis & Clark Trail along the Idaho-Montana border.

Marcia Franklin zeroed in on the "heart" of Idaho, in the Stanley basin.

And I got out my old blue raft for a trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

         

Obviously, when you and a cameraman are trying to produce a video story, it's hard work and no rest for the wicked. But the goal is to make the story look like you're having fun, while trying to say something brilliant and insightful.

Can't say John looked too insightful trying to shoe an unwilling horse, or that I looked brilliant stuck on a rock in the Middle Fork. Jim hit the Lewis & Clark trail on the hottest day of the year and was praying for one of those snow storms that frequently bedeviled the Corps of Discovery.

The women had a better time of it, although Joan was literally dragged along the ground when her hot air balloon tried to land in a wind storm. And Marcia stayed upright in a kayak through a Class III rapid, only to get punctured by a nail in a home-made hot tub.

Still, the hour-long program is an enjoyable view of what Idaho has to offer. Five different Getaways, in a state that has a million of em!

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History In the Making

By Bruce Reichert
January 8, 2007

We made history today.

For the first time ever, you could watch the Speaker of the House conduct the people’s business… on television. Or, if you preferred, you could change the channel and catch the Senate.

Perhaps you’re wondering how this is possible. Or maybe you’re asking yourself, why did it take so long?

It's the nature of digital television. Digital bandwidth can be split into several channels, in our case, four. During the day, when the Legislature is in session, we're devoting one of those channels to the Idaho House of Representatives, and one to the Idaho Senate. At night, all our channels that share bandwidth during the day come together to give us that High Definition quality everyone crows about. HD TV allows folks to watch Nature, Nova, Masterpiece Theater, Outdoor Idaho in all their true glory.

But back to the historic stuff.

Last year Idaho lawmakers appropriated approximately $350,000 to purchase three new cameras for both House and Senate. The quality of the cameras is outstanding! IdahoPTV staff run the cameras during the day, so you're not forced to watch a static wide shot of the Legislature. Better than C-Span!

Of course, all this means nothing to you…unless you have one of those new-fangled digital TV sets. But by February 2009, we're all supposed to have digital television, because the federal government is shutting off analog television transmitters. I can already hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth!

Luckily, the video from those very same cameras is available for viewing on your computer at www.idahoptv.org. Just go to our award-winning Idaho Reports Web site where you’ll see all the work our crew is doing to make this legislative session as accessible as possible for you, including archived video of key events, editorials from around the state, and much more.

This is all possible because of a great partnership with legislative services and the department of Administration.

And don’t forget to watch our award-winning weekly program, Idaho Reports, with host Jim Peck and his eclectic pundits. They cover all the bases each Friday evening at 8 p.m. in a way that makes politics fun again!

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Our Idaho Getaways

By Bruce Reichert
December 4, 2006

It’s incredibly rare that our producers get to work on a single show together. And believe me, that’s probably a very good thing! Too many chefs in the kitchen.

But there is one show coming up in March that combines the talents of John Crancer, Joan Cartan-Hansen, Jim Peck, Marcia Franklin, and me – and does it in a way that we think will be pretty enjoyable.

The show is called "Idaho Getaways." The premise is simple. Each of us picks a favorite Idaho getaway and reports on it, for ten minutes. Then we put 'em together into an hour-long OUTDOOR IDAHO special that airs during our annual pledge drive in March, 2007.

John chose a dude ranch in eastern Idaho. Joan picked the Coeur d’Alene area. Jim headed for the Lewis & Clark trail. Marcia settled on the Sawtooths. And I flew into Indian Creek for a late season rafting trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

This past September forest fires burned all around us, and occasionally the skies were overcast with smoke. It was a reminder of how the wilderness is constantly changing.

Our days were constantly changing, too. We usually spent about five hours in the rafts each day. But the rest of the time was spent hiking, searching for pictographs, soaking in hot springs, playing badminton on the sandy beaches and Texas Hold-em by candle light, fishing, eating well, and telling stories.

A low water trip makes for some tricky boating. It's virtually impossible to avoid hitting rocks. At Tappen Falls, some of my buddies stayed longer than they had planned. Tappen is one of a handful of Class IV rapids.

Cameraman Pat Metzler captured the trip on video. And now our goal is to convince viewers that the Middle Fork is a great Idaho Getaway. Should be easy!

I still remember the last day on the river, as our rafts left the famous tributary and joined with the main Salmon, for the homeward stretch. It was a bittersweet feeling.

You know you’re leaving one of the special places on earth. And being able to share that experience with a group of friends made the trip even more memorable.

You'll get to see that trip, along with four other great Idaho Getaways, during our March Pledge drive.

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The On Again, Off Again “Idaho Debates”

By Bruce Reichert
September 22, 2006

Why have some candidates chosen not to participate in the "Idaho Debates"? Are we still doing the Debates? And what does this mean for the future of the 30 year collaboration we have with the Idaho Press Club and the League of Women Voters?

These are some of the questions people are asking me, as we enter the final weeks of Idaho's campaign season. These are good questions. They deserve answers.

Politicians tend to make pragmatic decisions about debates. If they are leading in the polls, why should they give their opponent a chance to score points? It can only hurt their cause. And why shouldn't they try to get the best advantage they can in a fight?

As a fellow human being, I completely understand where they're coming from. That's why I make it a point to congratulate candidates of either party who agree to debate. It's not fun to debate. But, as a citizen of this state, I need to know what the next Governor or Congressman has in his or her head. They owe that to me if they want my vote.

In this new media marketplace, our 30 year collaboration is not the only game in town. Candidates can now shop around for the best deal. And they're doing it. That's what Jim Risch did. That's what Butch Otter did. (Controller candidate Donna Jones just decided no one wanted to watch her debate, so she's not debating, period.)

It's hard to justify Mrs. Jones' decision, at least in my head. As for Mr. Otter and Mr. Risch, I guess time will tell if the public has been served by their shopping around for the best venue. I do know that Idaho Public Television will be airing their debates, regardless of which commercial TV station they appear on.

I happen to believe that our "Idaho Debates" have served the state well. I've heard that from many candidates over the years, from all parties. We don't cut deals with individual candidates. Our process is totally transparent. Everyone gets a fair shake. If we can be faulted, it's in providing only one debate for the important state and congressional offices. Next door, Oregonians have four statewide Governor debates to watch. Now, that's more like it!

So, yes, the "Idaho Debates" will continue. We have debates scheduled on statewide television for Attorney General (Oct. 18); Second Congressional District (Oct. 22); First Congressional District (Oct. 24); and Superintendent of Public Instruction (Oct. 25).

We even have a debate for Governor scheduled on Oct. 29, because we have, at this point in time, two candidates willing to debate. That's our criterion. There have to be at least two candidates.

What does the future hold for our collaboration? Hard to say. Perhaps the Idaho media needs to get together before the next election cycle, put our collective heads together, and come up with a plan so that candidates can't pit us against each other, like they've done this year.

Perhaps we just need a lot more debates. I'm encouraged by the behavior of the two major party candidates for First Congressional District, Mr. Bill Sali and Mr. Larry Grant, as well as the two candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction. They're out there debating, mixing it up. In this day and age, there certainly are enough topics to discuss!

Hurray for them, and all the other candidates participating in our debates! 

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Logjam on the Middle Fork

By Bruce Reichert
August 4, 2006

Perhaps you’ve read about the logjam that shut down the world-famous Salmon river at Pistol Creek rapid. Several of the OUTDOOR IDAHO crew just happened to be on vacation on the Middle Fork and were among the first to witness Mother Nature’s fury that morning.

It started with a torrential downpour about 4 a.m. Monday, July 24. I know, because I was sleeping outside my tent that night, about three miles upstream from Pistol Creek. Luckily, the daytime temperatures were hovering near 100 that week and the soaking was soon forgotten.

Back on the river, I was positioning my raft into some choice fishing holes, when my fishing buddy Dennis noticed that the river had turned into a lake, and green bushes were underwater. Something wasn’t right. Besides, the fishing had suddenly gotten lousy.

An outfitter on the shore yelled at us to pull over. He said that the tricky Pistol Creek rapid -- a narrow S-curve in the river -- had gotten jammed with dead trees from the blowout of a small creek, and that if we continued around the bend, we might not survive.

Maybe you know the feeling, when you come upon something that you know is definitely going to ruin your day. That’s how the 16 people in our private rafting group felt after hurrying down to Pistol Creek rapid,  half a mile away.

Eventually, we set up camp with more than 100 other rafters who were now as stuck as we were, and considered our options: 1) wait for the Forest Service to blow up the logjam; 2) portage our heavy equipment around the obstruction, or 3) cache our boats and walk to Indian Creek and hop a plane back to civilization.

Many of the rafters we talked with on Monday were convinced the Forest Service would do nothing. After all, this was a wilderness, "untrammeled by man, where man is a visitor who does not remain." Trouble is, we remained.

Sensing a "Katrina" in the making, I procured a satellite phone and called our production manager, Jeff Tucker. The connection was terrible and Jeff heard every sixth word: "saw… immense… flood… rafts… people… 30 foot logs… hot dogs… keno…Zimo… fly… pistol creek."

So Jeff called Idaho Statesman reporter Pete Zimowsky who flew in with Jeff to Pistol Creek ranch Tuesday morning, assuring Jeff that a 30 foot long, keno player hot dog did not attack an immense group of rafters!

After conducting interviews Tuesday afternoon with Forest Service personnel, including demolitions expert John Haugh -- who just happened to be one of the rafters on the river that day – I became convinced that a consensus was emerging among those on the ground. Blow up the logjam!

But could they convince their superiors back in the air-conditioned offices? And how long would that take? One private party whose members worked for the federal government sensed a long, protracted federal logjam and opted to carry hundreds of pounds of gear down the trail past the rapid. They had only two boats and some young bucks in the group, but they still said it was one of the hardest things they ever did. An outfitter rented some nearby pack horses and hauled out his gear and paying customers.

Our group, with seven rafts, chose to wait, believing the Forest Service would move quickly. And they did. By Wednesday around noon, 125 pounds of dynamite did the trick. In a post-interview, dynamiter John Haugh said it was the biggest logjam and biggest explosion he’d ever been part of. He may have been as impressed as we were, when the dynamite shook loose 95% of the offending logs. By Wednesday evening, the river rangers had manhandled the last of the logs out of harm’s way, and the Middle Fork was back in business.

Of course, the debate continues. Did the Forest Service do the right thing by using dynamite in a wilderness? And what exactly does "wilderness" mean? Colleague John Crancer and I hope to explore that debate in a future OUTDOOR IDAHO program this winter.

Since the devastating fires of 2000, mud slides have become a regular occurrence on certain stretches of the Middle Fork, so this issue won’t be going away any time soon.

All I can tell you is that, on Thursday morning, as we floated through Pistol Creek rapid to continue our 10 day trip, I had renewed respect for the men and women of the Forest Service. They made a quick, studied decision, one that made sense to a lot of folks stuck behind the log jam.

Watch our 8 minute video on the dynamiting of the Pistol Creek logjam:
Hi bandwidth

Watch a KIVI-TV interview with Bruce and John:
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Become a Volunteer. See Sneak Previews

By Bruce Reichert
June 23, 2006

One of the nice things about being a volunteer – aside from the free food during our annual pledge drive – is something called "Volunteer Appreciation Day."

It's a special event where the Production crew tries to Wow a room full of Volunteers with clips of our upcoming shows. Luckily, there’s also free food, in case our presentation falls flat.

This year we offered up three Previews, which I think speak to the diversity of our Local Productions.

The first one, "Cycling Idaho," was put together by Marcia Franklin, Chuck Cathcart, and Dave Butler and features the wonderful Coeur d'Alene bike trail in northern Idaho. When it was first proposed, not everyone thought it was a great idea to turn a contaminated rail road bed into a bike path. But so far, it's working, beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Check out our OUTDOOR IDAHO program, "Cycling Idaho," on Thursday, July 20, at 8 Mtn/7 Pac and again on Sunday, July 23, at 7 p.m.

Is there a region of Idaho as captivating as the Palouse in springtime? Hard to imagine. Our five minute clip, "Palouse Paradise," featured some of the fascinating people Pat Metzler and I met on a recent trip to the area around Moscow, Idaho.

The full length version of "Palouse Paradise" will be the first show of OUTDOOR IDAHO’s 24^th season. Plan to meet the giant Palouse earthworm, organic wonder woman Mary Jane Butters, and a host of other compelling characters.

"The Idaho Homefront: World War II" spoke to a lot of the older volunteers in the audience. Jim Peck and Alan Austin poignantly captured this golden era, with their choice of music and archival footage. It was a time of heroism and sacrifice, on the battlefield and on the homefront. Watch for this hour-long Special to air Sunday, December 3.

It could have been the food, but the forty or so Volunteers did seem genuinely impressed with our offerings.

Of course, there are many other shows we’re working on. But sometimes it is rewarding to see short clips, bunched together in the space of an hour, to realize the wonderful diversity of our local programs. Read more about the shows and watch the clips on our Productions page.

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Six, Lies, & Videotape

By Bruce Reichert
May 19, 2006

It's just our luck that "The Idaho Debates" were up against the most hyped television shows of the entire year! Blame it on the May primary falling inside the biggest Sweeps month of the year.

I worked behind the scenes on all five primary debates, and I think they just kept getting more interesting, culminating with the debate for Congressman Butch Otter's current job.

Six strong candidates met in our Studio on May 18 and went toe to toe for 90 minutes on statewide television, for the chance to represent Idaho's First Congressional District.

Nobody threw punches, but there was no love lost between some of the candidates, as they called each other liars, defrauders and liberals. The format allowed them to ask each other questions, and it made for great entertainment, as candidates chose to disregard Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment, "Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican."

The League of Women Voters and the Idaho Press Club have been a partner in these debates for more than 25 years. Elinor Chehey of the League was at every debate, with her trusty stopwatch. And print and TV reporters of the Press Club asked the questions.

Our role was to moderate the debates and provide the studio and staff to get the show to every Idahoan who cares.

So if you happened to be watching "Alias," "Boston Legal," or, heaven forbid, "American Idol," during May Sweeps, you can still catch Idaho democracy in action by going to http://idahoptv.org/theidahodebates/. Each Primary debate is archived and ready for you to watch, on your computer, in your own sweet time.

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This Year's Emmy Nominations

By Bruce Reichert
April 26, 2006

Over the weekend, they announced the television Emmy nominations. We got six. Not bad for a small production team, when you consider we only submit eight or nine entries a year, because of the cost.

 

There are more than sixty different categories in the Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. To many people, it’s all kind of silly and indicative of what ails television these days. Unless you're one of the winners, of course!

 

Many of those 63 categories don’t apply to us, like “Live Sports Coverage” and “Anchor-Weather.” We traditionally have zeroed in on the boring ones, like “Public Affairs” and “Documentary” and “Informational,” although this year we managed to break into a couple of new categories, as well.

 

So, without further ado, here are our Emmy nominations for the past season’s work:

1. “Picturing Idaho,” Entertainment Special
2. “West of the Basque,” Cultural/Fine Arts Special
3. “Dialogue: Nez Perce Water Agreement,” Informational
4. “Outdoor Idaho: Silver Valley Rising,” Public Affairs
5. “Outdoor Idaho: Back to the Past,” Documentary
6. "Outdoor Idaho: Lewis & Clark Among the Tribes," Documentary

There is nothing more “collaborative” than television. It takes good producers, shooters, editors, graphics and web people, and engineers.

It also takes solid accountants, transcribers, press folks, and someone to raise the money.

And it takes a strong commitment from Management, to actually care about local programs and give it more than lip service.

 

I’m happy to say, we have all of the above.

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Tribulations of the Trail

By John Crancer
March 27, 2006

When Outdoor Idaho decided to tackle a program on the Centennial Trail, the logistics were challenging. How do you document a twelve-hundred mile long trail? Obviously we had to carefully choose the few sections of the trail that we would photograph, that would hopefully represent what the trail is all about. Then we would have to find people to actually travel the trail.

To begin, we started with the originators of the trail, Roger Williams and Syd Tate. They had fortunately taken scores of slides of their original hike that covered the entire length of Idaho, the trip that would later inspire the official Idaho Centennial Trail. But we needed much more than a few dozen slides to give people a real sense of the trail and the country it passes through.

Luckily, we found other folks who were beginning their own Centennial Trail. A young couple, John Palan and Mandy Stephan, were planning a sequel to Roger and Syd's feat of trekking the length of the state in one ambitious, all-summer-long hike. At about the same time, Kim Heintzman was beginning his combination biking/hiking trip along various segments of the trail. His plan was to cover the whole trail in a series of shorter trips spread over several years. We also knew Roger and Syd would gladly hike parts of the trail, especially if the official route wasn't part of their original hike.

The challenge was getting together with everyone at the right time and hoping the weather cooperated enough to show some of the stunning scenery along the trail.

Observation Point

One of the more demanding segments was Heintzman's trip through the Sawtooth wilderness. Kim had already been hiking several days when he arrived at the Grand Jean Lodge just as he had anticipated. Chuck Cathcart and I drove in from Boise on the appointed evening, and Kim was sitting on the porch of the lodge. Although he looked a little tired from his previous trail exploits, he was ready to continue through the Sawtooths with camera crew in tow.

We decided to meet Kim here because Roger Williams had told us about a great side trip just off this part of the trail where you could see some of the best views in the state. The only problem for us was that the trail itself climbed 4,000 feet from Grand Jean to the top of the divide in less than five miles. From the pass it was another 1,000 feet up to our destination at Observation Point. On top of those obstacles, when we got up the next morning to prepare for the hike, it was overcast and raining.

But we decided to take a chance. Our photographer Chuck Cathcart pulled on his camera pack that, with batteries and accessories, probably weighed seventy pounds, while I put on the pack that had our tent, sleeping bags, food and other accessories. I also grabbed the large camera tripod. We knew that Kim alone could probably make this hike in a half day or so, but because we would be taking shots at various intervals, we warned him it would take a lot longer.

Anyone who's been around a television production knows that one "take" doesn't always yield the desired results. More often than not, we would ask Kim to re-hike little sections of the trail so we could get just the right shot. He probably hiked fifty percent further than we did because of the retakes, but it slowed him down enough that we could almost keep up with him!

The steepness of the grade and the age and condition of my back made it a fairly grueling trek for me. And with all the overcast skies, we weren't even sure all the effort was going to be worth it. But turning back didn't seem like a reasonable option, so we trudged onward. I was constantly looking forward to our "shooting" locations so I could set my pack down and rest. Kim, on the other hand, didn't seem to need the rest!

As the day wore on, the sky brightened a bit, but then I began to wonder if we would reach the top before sunset. We picked up our pace, and I was elated when we reached the turnoff to Observation Peak. We estimated we still had well over an hour of daylight left and we thought we could make it to the top in half that time. I think the last leg may have been the steepest of all, but spurred on by a reachable goal, we hurried toward the mountain top.

Although I was trailing the other two, I knew the hike had been worth all the effort when I heard Chuck yell "Wahoo!" I knew why a few minutes later. The clouds had cleared, the sun was in its perfect "golden hour" position, and the view of the Sawtooth Mountains was fabulous! We spent the next hour videotaping the incredible views that stretched out in every direction. It was one of those shoots where you aren't sure what you're going to get when you start out, but then Mother Nature cooperates and reveals her full splendor for the camera lens.

I guess I'd have to agree with Chuck, it was definitely a "Wahoo" moment for the Outdoor Idaho crew.

While not every shoot on the Centennial Trail production came together so beautifully -- I could write another several pages on the time our vehicle developed serious engine problems at one of the most remote locations you can possibly drive to -- we were fortunate on many occasions. We think we were in the right place, at the right time, with the right people enough times that we were able to capture at least a small sampling of what this magical trail is all about. Like Roger Williams says, "It's the adventure of a lifetime!"

Check out our web site at http://idahoptv.org/outdoors/shows/centennialtrail/. And look for future airings of our hour long program "Idaho's Centennial Trail."

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We Don't Build 'Em Like We Used To

By Bruce Reichert
February 22, 2006

Our Rosalie Sorrels Special Airs March 19 at 7 p.m.

In the good ole days, producing a program was relatively straightforward. You did some preliminary research, interviewed folks, shot some footage, wrote a script, edited it, and then aired it on television.

But then came digital television, DVD’s, Video on Demand, video downloads, video streaming and the web. Talk about confusing! That’s why we’ve stayed far away from doing certain programs, like performance documentaries involving musicians.

Until now.

Last year, Idaho native Rosalie Sorrels was nominated for a Grammy Award for her “My Last Go Round” album. If Rosalie could survive a brain aneurism, a bout with cancer, and the Grammy nomination process after a forty year career, we figured the least we could do is profile this Idaho gem, regardless of the complications.

So we met with Rosalie and quickly agreed that a concert at the Liberty Theater in Hailey would comprise the bulk of our program. Rosalie would get the world class musicians. We would handle the logistics.

We rented three high quality digital cameras from outside the state, to go with the four we owned, and we shot up a 3 ½ hour storm last September at the Liberty Theater.

Since great sound is essential in a music concert, we also spent money getting a house mix with 24 live microphones; and we decided on Rosalie’s favorite song mix person, Roma Baran, from back east, to mix the 18 songs for us. Roma and our editor, Pat Metzler, used something called yousendit.com to fly the video and the sound mix back and forth through the ethernet for each of the 18 songs.

We also wanted the show to be more than just music. We wanted some perspective, some insight in the program. So we applied for and received a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council that allowed Marcia Franklin to interview, on location, luminaries like Pete Seeger and Jean Ritchie, Nanci Griffith, Utah Phillips and others.

As editor Pat Metzler enters the final stages of post production, we find ourselves still dealing with music rights issues. Video-on-demand, DVDs, and gawd knows what else – these have definitely complicated the negotiations! Our production manager Jeff Tucker, who has been talking with publishing company attorneys, says he’s starting to feel like a guppy in a world of sharks! At least he’s had a reason to chat with Paul McCartney’s publishing company. So far, no sign of Paul…

But when the dust settles, we’ll have a remarkable 90 minute program that will air on our normal channel. We’ll also have an up-converted High Definition program that will air on our digital channel; and, if we’re lucky, we may even find a national audience. On top of that, we’ll also have a DVD with bonus tracks, an impressive website with lots of interviews, and who knows what else!

It’s not at all like the good ole days.

I think it’s going to be better.

 

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A New Look for an Old War Horse

By Bruce Reichert
January 12, 2006

Each session of the Idaho Legislature can be remembered for ‘something.’ Last year it was the Governor’s Highway proposal and his willingness to veto bills in the waning days of the session to accomplish his goals.

What will it be this year? Too early to tell, but already there are intriguing clues.  But one thing we already know for sure. Our “Idaho Reports” program will have a whole different look to it.

My take on it is that the show will look a lot more like the best Sunday morning public affairs shows, with a handful of knowledgeable guests mixing it up throughout the entire program, responding to the stories of the week.

Joining host Jim Peck will be Betsy Russell of the Spokesman Review and Greg Hahn of the Idaho Statesman. You won’t see them just at the end of the show anymore. They will be front and center and joined by BSU political scientist Jim Weatherby, former lawmaker Henry Kulczyk, and former U.S. Attorney Betty Richardson. 

This will be our 34^th year of covering the Idaho Legislature.  Half the people reading this probably weren’t even born when we started our coverage! That speaks well of our commitment to legislative matters.

This year the show airs Fridays at 8 p.m. and is repeated Sunday mornings 11:30/10:30 Mtn/Pac. And don’t forget our valuable website at http://idahoptv.org/idreports/ , where you can listen to live debate as well as read the best legislative writing from the state’s journalists.

Admittedly, a program devoted to the inner workings of the Legislature is not everyone’s cup of tea. But we think you’ll find this year’s “Idaho Reports” show timely, important, and, yes, even entertaining!

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Picture This!

By Bruce Reichert
November 19, 2005

People in jeans and in suits snaked their way through two centuries of history, careful not to spill the wine they were clutching.

Meriwether and Sacajawea peered out from the massive Lewis & Clark display that split the hallway lengthwise. Like rocks in an Idaho river, the display created eddies for the 175 people in attendance, making it impossible not to rub elbows with fellow patrons of the arts.

Afterwards, some headed west, toward the all-Idaho feast prepared by chef Jon Mortimer. Others wandered east, toward the jazz band and the silent auction.

Last Saturday’s fundraiser at the Historical Museum in Boise was the second time we’d teamed up with the Idaho Grape Growers & Wine Producers Commission to premiere a television show. This time the program was “Picturing Idaho,” featuring some of Idaho’s gifted outdoor photographers.

The program was shown in two parts, to allow folks to mingle and enjoy the evening. And many of the photographers featured in the show were in attendance: Steve Bly, Mark Lisk, Glenn Oakley, Leland Howard, David Marr, Tim Buckley, Jan Boles.

“Picturing Idaho” was produced and directed by Jim Peck and Alan Austin. It will air statewide on Sunday, December 4, at 7 p.m. It’s a heart-felt look at photographers and the Idaho landscape that sustains them.

If you missed the premiere in November, you don’t want to miss the show in December!

Oh, yes, and there's a calendar you don't want to miss, either, with pictures from all those photographers. This collaborative venture is a First, and it's quite lovely. Needless to say, it would make a beautiful gift this time of year. 
 

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Silver Valley Rising

By Bruce Reichert
October 21, 2005

Geologist Earl Bennett warned me. Regardless of what we did, there would be critics. I’m sure he’s right. It’s been a long time since I worked on an OUTDOOR IDAHO show with so many complexities. And I don’t think I’ve ever worked on a show where so many people we interviewed just didn’t make it into the show! We didn’t have time. I apologize publicly to those fine folks.

The Silver Valley is, hands down, one of the most fascinating regions of Idaho. The silver mines of this region, east of Coeur d’Alene, threw Idaho onto the world stage, long before there were Famous Potatoes.

Then silver prices hit the skids, the mines closed in 1981, and Silver Valley went from being the richest region of the state to being one of the poorest. To make matters worse, in 1983 the EPA declared a 21 square mile area around Bunker Hill Mine a Superfund site. Talk about a double whammy!

A few years ago, the EPA expanded Superfund to include the entire Coeur d’Alene basin, angering many locals. Of course, others thought it was too little too late.

Trying to walk somewhere in the middle of all this has been challenging, and trying to do it in a regular half hour OUTDOOR IDAHO program has really been challenging. Our Silver Valley Rising Web site starts to hint at the complexity of some of the issues. It’s one of our most robust sites ever, with lots of full-length interviews. We figure that way people interested in the topic of the Silver Valley can make up their own minds.

This was one of those times when we explored a topic in two ways, with an OUTDOOR IDAHO program, followed immediately with a live call-in DIALOGUE show. If you missed our DIALOGUE program, you can now listen to it streamed on your computer.

I’m hopeful we’ll re-examin