Saturday November 27, 2021 Handed out a few flyers, one woman even said she will come to the meeting this week. Regardless of drumming up new members it was a fun event and many people commented it was nice to see our organization supporting the community. Dan Waugh
READ LATEST INFO at Idaho Transportation Department
UPDATE #7: 3:30 P.M. 11/28/2021
Idaho State Highway 55 between Smiths Ferry and Round Valley Road will remain closed another seven to 10 days depending on weather. Construction crews made significant progress today (November 29) shoring up the rockslide area near the Rainbow Bridge about 20 miles south of Cascade, Idaho.
The crews completed construction of a rock structure, known as a buttress, approximately 20 feet tall and 400 feet long to stabilize the base of the slide. The next step is to remove slide debris, install drainage systems above the buttress and widen the roadway to two lanes before the winter.
“We have made very good progress and stabilized the slide area. This allows crews to remove excess rock from the hillside and begin building a two way road around the slide area,” said Jason Brinkman, ITD District 3 Engineering Manager. “Our goal is to finish the work as quickly as possible while also focusing on both the safety of the construction team and the public once the road reopens.”
Until the highway is reopened, travelers can use U.S. Highway 95 as an alternate route.
Folks heading to the McCall area for Thanksgiving will need to plan to take Highway 95.
The Idaho Transportation Department on Friday said the highway will remain closed between Smiths Ferry and Round Valley Road through Thanksgiving due to a rockslide that occurred on Thursday.
“We understand the inconvenience closing down the road causes, but our objective is to ensure the corridor is safe for travel,” said Jason Brinkman, ITD District 3 engineering manager. “These decisions are not taken lightly. We appreciate the public’s continued patience as we work to clear the material and reopen the road safely.”
Geotechnical experts are on-site evaluating the safety and stability of the slope and figuring out how much material needs to be removed.
Squaw Butte Chapter officers deliver Checks and food donations to the Gem County Food Bank and PALS
Scott Morgan, Heather Donesky & granddaughter, Ron Fergie, Pictures taken by Lisa Deas.
The Squaw Butte Ridge is about 8 miles long, runs generally north to south, and has a steep eastern front that rises from about 2500 feet near Sweet and Ola, Idaho to 5500-5800 along the top of the ridge. If viewed from the south or east, it appears that the Squaw Butte ridge is a separate or island-like mountain. Native Americans used the slopes of Squaw Butte as their wintering ground and it’s been claimed that they, not the white man, assigned the Squaw name to this prominent landmark. Nearby Timber Butte is also known as a wintering area and the region’s volcanic rock has been used by natives to quarry and make weapons. In the early 1800’s white men settled the area as ranchers, farmers, and gold miners. The tiny towns of Ola, Sweet, Montour, Letha, and Roystone were some of the first settlements with the town of Emmett developing into a prosperous fruit farming area (due in part to the fertile soil).
Interior Secretary Haaland moves to rid U.S. of racially derogatory place names
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced Friday that the federal agency will establish a process to review and replace racially derogatory terms used in place names.
Haaland, the nation’s first Native American Cabinet secretary, said a newly-created federal advisory committee will review and recommend changes to derogatory federal land names, according to a U.S. Department of Interior press release.
The committee, through a new Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force, will consult with the public and tribal representatives on potential place name changes.
Haaland also declared the term “squaw,” a pejorative for Indigenous women, to be derogatory, the press release said. She ordered the Board Geographic Names, the federal body tasked with naming geographic places, to develop procedures that would remove the term from federal usage.
“Squaw” currently appears in the names of more than 650 federal land units, according to Board Geographic Names data.
“Racist terms have no place in our vernacular or on our federal lands. Our nation’s lands and waters should be places to celebrate the outdoors and our shared cultural heritage – not to perpetuate the legacies of oppression,” Haaland said in the press release.
“Today’s actions will accelerate an important process to reconcile derogatory place names and mark a significant step in honoring the ancestors who have stewarded our lands since time immemorial,” she said.
Haaland noted that it typically takes years for the Board of Geographic Names to replace place names as their review process is by a case-by-case basis. There are currently hundreds of name changes pending before the board, according to the press release.
The new federal advisory committee aims to make this process more efficient by facilitating a “proactive and systematic development and review” of name change proposals, the press release said.
Some advocates welcomed Haaland’s Friday announcement, saying that the move by the federal government is long overdue.
“Names that still use derogatory terms are an embarrassing legacy of this country’s colonialist and racist past,” said John Echohawk, executive director of the Native American Rights Fund, in a statement. “It is well-past time for us, as a nation, to move forward, beyond these derogatory terms, and show Native people — and all people — equal respect.”
“We applaud Secretary Halaand for taking action to make our federal government and public lands more inclusive and respectful of Native peoples,” Echohawk continued.
Paul Spitler, senior legislative policy manager of non-profit land conservation organization The Wilderness Society, also applauded the announcement.
“The names of our mountains and rivers should honor and reflect our nation’s great diversity, and advance dignity for all people,” Spitler said in a statement Friday. “We support the Biden administration’s actions to eliminate the thousands of racist and offensive place names on public lands and to work with diverse populations in local communities to create more equitable and inclusive outdoor spaces for all people.”
The Secretary of Interior and Board of Geographic Names have made similar moves to replace derogatory place names and terms over the years.
In 1962, then-Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall directed the board to eliminate the use of the N-word. And in 1974, the board identified a pejorative term for “Japanese” as derogatory and eliminated its use as well.
The board also voted in 2008 to change the name of a mountain in Phoenix from “Squaw” Peak to Piestewa Peak, in honor of Army Spc. Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military.
Some states have also passed legislation to prohibit the use of the word “squaw” in place names, including Oregon, Maine, Montana and Minnesota, according to the press release.
Earlier this year, Congressional Democrats also introduced legislation in July to rename more than 1,000 places in the U.S. that feature offensive language and racist slurs, Business Insider reported.
Name changing has also occurred in the private sector. In September, the Squaw Valley Ski Resort in California changed its name to Palisades Tahoe. The ski resort is in the Olympic valley, which was formerly known as “Squaw” Valley until it hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics.
ITA partnered with Wild Hearts Idaho this year for an all-girls youth trail maintenance trip in the Gospel Hump Wilderness! From a thrilling (and wet!) jet boat ride up the Salmon River to living out of their backpacks for a week, these girls had quite the adventure in Idaho’s backcountry.
Thank you to the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest, the Sawtooth National Forest, and Mackay Bar Outfitters for your support on this project.
