FULL NAME State of Idaho
1985 Idaho accounts for 48 percent of national silver production. It also produces all the nation's antimony and ranks second among states in lead and vanadium produc¬tion and third in phosphate rock and molybdenum. Record potato production of over 102 million hundredweight comprises one-fourth of all U.S. potatoes.
1986 Idaho voters adopt a right-to-work constitutional amendment prohibiting the payment of union dues as a condition for employment.
1992 Overcoming objections from state officials and tribal councils, the federal govern¬ment ships nuclear waste to an Idaho Falls storage center for the first time in three years.Angus!. Governor Cecil Andrus declares a state of emergency as fires rage through the state.SOME INFORMATION: The Idaho potato remains the state's most important cash crop, followed by wheat, sugar beets, alfalfa, beans, truck vegetables, and peas. Cattle are the main livestock. To¬tal farm receipts were over $2.7 billion in 1989. Manufacturing in the state is centered around potato and beet-sugar processing, lumber products, and chemicals. Silver, lead, and zinc, sand, gravel, basalt, pumice, garnet, and phosphate are the principle min¬ing products. As in many Western states, tourism is one of the fastest growing indus¬tries, as visitors flock to see Idaho's spec¬tacular national and state parks.
Among states, Idaho ranks high in the gen¬eration of energy from renewable resources —mainly hydropower and woodburning. The Columbia and Snake River system, which passes through the state, is one of the most endangered in the nation, in part due to Idaho's heavy use of irrigation. In fact, Idahoans use more water per capita than the inhabitants of any other state. Among the species threatened by declining river levels is the sockeye salmon, which is near¬ly extinct in Idaho.
NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES
Idaho was formerly home to the Kalispel, Nehelem, Northern Paiute, Palouse, and Spokane tribes. Groups that continue to live there include the Bannock, Coeur d'Alene, Kootenay, Nez Perce, Northern Shoshoni, and Western Shoshoni. Native Americans were 1.4 percent of the popula¬tion in 1990.
RELIGIONS, ETHNICITIES, AND LANGUAGES
More than half of Idaho's population was born in Idaho; the rest is drawn mainly from the western and north central states. There is also a large community of Basques, origi¬nally from Spain, who continue their tradi¬tion of sheep-herding. Among churchgoers, Mormons are the biggest group, followed by Catholics and Methodists. In 1990, 2.9 per¬cent of the population was foreign-born, with the majority of immigrants coming from Mexico and Canada; 6.4 percent of the population spoke languages other than En¬glish at home, of which the ten most com¬mon were Spanish, German, French, Japa¬nese, Shoshoni, Chinese, Basque, Thai (Laotian), Portuguese, and Italian. Catholics and Methodists. In 1990, 2.9 per¬cent of the population was foreign-born, with the majority of immigrants coming from Mexico and Canada; 6.4 percent of the population spoke languages other than En¬glish at home, of which the ten most com¬mon were Spanish, German, French, Japa¬nese, Shoshoni, Chinese, Basque, Thai (Laotian), Portuguese, and Italian.
MAJOR MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES
Boise Gallery of Art Idaho State Historical Museum, Boise
MAJOR ARTS ORGANIZATIONS
Boise Opera Boise Philharmonic Association
Idaho has the only state seal designed by a woman—Emma Sarah Edwards. The seal was officially adopted on March 14, 1891.
Democrat Moses Alexander, Idaho governor from 1915 to 1919, was the nation's first full-term Jewish governor.
Idaho's Craters of the Moon National Monument, a region of volcanic craters and ash-strewn low hills, was used by NASA as a training ground for Apollo astronauts.
The state's hydroelectric power plants, with 1 million-plus kilowatt capacity, use less than ten percent of Idaho's hydroelectric potential.
Idaho's stretch of U.S. Highway 12 runs along the route taken by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805. Only one major highway runs north-south in the state; when that is blocked in winter, vehicular travel between the upper and lower parts of the state is nearly impossible.
MAJOR MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES
Boise Gallery of Art Idaho State Historical Museum, Boise
MAJOR ARTS ORGANIZATIONS Boise Opera Boise Philharmonic Association.