Used to be times were simpler, people were friendlier. The area beyond the common curtilage of a home was open to all, within reason. Now things are different. Everything is surveyed, documented, and posted. I’ve started to wonder if the words of the old Woody Guthrie song "This Land is Your Land,” still ring true. Was this land still made for you and me? The welcome openness of private land is quickly becoming a thing of the past, and not all public land is open to the public anymore. Aside from Idaho Falls and Skyline High Schools still having joint custody of Ravsten Stadium, sharing seems to have become a quaint notion of the past.
Since I came to Idaho 30 years ago the population of the state has grown by 50 percent! While most of the growth has been around Boise, we out in the hinterlands are seeing changes too. Aside from some higher-end enclaves being built along the rivers, most of our open spaces are seeing fewer and fewer residents, yet access to the general public is decreasing daily. Land is being bought up and then locked up. Fishing on the South Fork of the Snake is great from a boat, but woe to he who tries to gain access along the banks.
I can't tell you how many stories I hear from folks about all the places that they used to go with their families outside of town, past the Bone Road, to shoot ground squirrels or hunt deer that they can no longer access because the lands have all been posted. Hunters aren't the only ones being shut out. I know of nearby sledding hills no longer open to families and numerous extemporaneous mountain bike trails that have been shut down. It seems not too many people remember the words to Woody's song or their perceptions have been altered due to the fear of lawsuits or the promise of making a few extra bucks by promising to only let certain individuals onto their land.
Other areas outside of town are being closed off because of the large investments being made to bring in huge mechanical devices to harness the energy derived from the uneven heating and cooling of the Earth’s surface. Nothing against green energy, but like they used to say, ”There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch!” You calculate the cost of production, transportation, construction, maintenance, and see if the numbers are in the black or red. Consider the impact to wildlife that used to live or migrate through the area and see if the energy looks as green? How do you place a value on the once open skyline of rolling fields and hills? Whether heading to work in the morning or returning home at the end of the day, the huge whirlybirds of progress are always there looming on the horizon, seemingly at the end of every street. Their huge rotating blades mimic the spinning little dials of the power meters at our homes. They mock us that it is our wanton lust for energy that allows them to have invaded our open country.
As Pogo, a character from a long gone comic strip of my youth used to say, “We have met the enemy and he is us!”
We can moan over lost access to lands for biking, sledding and hunting, but it is fear of frivolous lawsuits, thoughtless littering, and malicious vandalism that has caused landowners to post and lock up their lands. We can complain of unsightly mechanical monstrosities’ strung out along the skyline, but as long as we are addicted to our highly charged electric lifestyles, how can you blame someone for supplying the demand.
This land is your land, this land is my land, and until we decide how to treat it and each other better, I guess we’ll all have to wake up just a little earlier to stake our spot on someone else’s front lawn to have a place to watch the Fourth of July Parade.