Wild Idaho: The Big Empty

July 30, 2007 By: Marshall Cutchin

Empty, that is, unless you are looking for fish. “The big rivers are the St. Joe, the three forks of the Clearwater, the Lochsa, the Selway, the three forks of the Salmon and a half-dozen or so feeder streams, any one of which would be a national attraction if it were in, say, Texas. These rivers drain an amazing swath of real estate owned by every American – a public land inheritance unseen by most of its owners.” On TwinCities.com, Timothy Egan describes the riches to be found in the panhandle of Idaho, where there are no national parks, only the reality of untended wildness.