The White River National Forest in western Colorado uses a variety of methods to manage its 2.3 million acres, whether that's pickup trucks, all-terrain vehicles, or drones, but there's one tried and true method of getting around the wilderness that the forest service still relies on - horses and mules.

Recently, workers got some training in the saddle. Caroline Llanes reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

When it comes to Idaho history, there's one group that will always be happy to dig into the Gem State's past: the Idaho Archaeological Society.

For more than 50 years, the organization has been preserving important artifacts that not only help us learn more about the state's earliest inhabitants but also how they may have impacted the way we live our lives today. And this weekend, they are celebrating that work with the Idaho Archeology Fair.

Beth Burgess, cultural resources program manager, and Craig Hauer, IAS President, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the society and their upcoming fair.

Recently, three people were sentenced to prison in Idaho for possessing illegal guns or ammunition. They'll serve a combined 22 years behind bars.

All three cases were prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative from the Justice Department.

U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the initiative, which brings together law enforcement agencies from all over Idaho.

When it comes to supporting our children's mental health, it can be hard to know where to start. Which is why organizations like FYIdaho are so important.

For 25 years, the nonprofit has been providing mental health resources to those in need, connecting parents and kids with vital services that help to empower the whole family.

Brenda Willson, Executive Director of FYIdaho, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this effort.

Every day, 26,000 cars drive up and over Interstate 84 on the Five Mile Overpass in Boise.

The bridge was built in 1966 and has two narrow lanes that carry travelers from Overland Road to Franklin. It's the only freeway overpass in Boise that has not been rebuilt to make it safer and more bike- and pedestrian-friendly.

The Ada County Highway District is planning to replace the bridge while widening the road and putting in a safe way for people and bikes to cross.

While the project is just now getting public attention, ACHD has been quietly planning the project for more than five years, and it will take another few years for the construction to be complete.

So what goes into a project like this? Rachel Speer, the project manager for the Five Mile Bridge with the Ada County Highway District, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the project.

For more than a decade, the Open Arms Dance Project has been bringing people of different ages and abilities together for one purpose: to create joy through art.

And this year is no different, especially as the company gears up for their end-of-season performance, SOARING.

Megan Brandel, the artistic director of Open Arms, along with dancers Carol Colwell and Loey Brandel, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the upcoming event.

Idaho is pushing back against new Title IX rules, primary races in the state are heating up, a lawsuit has been filed over the blocked sale of the Idaho Transportation Department and signatures for Idaho's open primary ballot initiative have been submitted,

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

Our journalist panel today:

Just like water managers here in Idaho, officials in the seven states that use the Colorado River are turning their eyes to the mountains to get a sense of the summer water supply. That river gets two-thirds of its water from snow in Colorado, which is just starting to melt.

KUNC's Alex Hager follows the springtime flows for the Mountain West News Bureau.

Speech: it can define us as much as divide us. And Idaho, it appears, has found itself in the eye of that hurricane lately.

With the year not half over, 2024 has been particularly brittle: from the hyper-divisions at the Idaho Capitol to the rants of Boise State Professor Scott Yenor’s doubling down on his comments, calling feminists “medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome.”

And Boise State is not an outlier. Just this week, college students at Yale have been charged with trespassing during protests over the Irael-Hamas war. And the University of Southern California canceled the graduation speech of a valedictorian, a Muslim, due to what the university said were “safety reasons.”

“When I look at public universities, and I’m not just talking about Boise State… once you open a public space to a speaker, the court has said, ‘you have to open that,’” said Dr. Sam Martin, scholar, professor and Frank and Bethine Church Chair Endowed Chair of Public Affairs at Boise State University. “When we affirm a person’s right to speak out and say things that we would spend our whole lives shouting against, that’s free speech.”

Martin joined Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about how public perceptions can shift over time, and how the so-called “law of the pendulum,” which can only swing too far to the left or right.

Every spring, students plant thousands of plants, everything from tomatoes to peppers to flowers and herbs, as part of horticulture classes at Boise area high schools. The kids grow the better known varieties of plants like Romas and Beefsteak, but they also get to experiment with tomatoes with names like Boxcar Willie, Siberian Cool Weather and Brandywine Pink.

Then when the flowers and veggies are ready, the high schools hold plant sales which are open to the public, giving everyone a chance to pick up some plants for much less than they would cost in a store.

We headed to Borah High School's greenhouse to meet with Jeremy Thompson, biology and horticulture teacher, to preview one of this year's upcoming sales. He said the kids learn how to garden from the ground up.

“We go really slow and they work with a partner and, like, hey, this is how you measure how deep this is, and this is how much potting mix you have to put in there. And this is how wet it has to be. And we do that a few times. And then after that it's like, okay, you're planting your own flat and this is what you need to do,” said Thompson.

The greenhouse behind Borah High is filled with rows and rows of flowers and vegetables. There is a long line of tomatoes including Golden Nugget, Mortgage Lifter, San Marzano and Oregon Spring.

He says the kids learn a lot as they start taking care of their own plants and they get to choose what plants they put into their hanging baskets.

“It's a learning process and yeah, sometimes it probably would be, I guess if it was in it for the profit, it might be better to say, hey, you're going to plant these things. But I think it's important for them to learn what they're planting and how well it's going to work,” Thompson said.

Rows of pepper plants are popping up including Hot Lemon, Hungarian Hot Wax and Jupiter Bell. The flowers are dazzling, from a Speedy Sonnet Mix Snapdragon to a Darlin Orange Flare Dahlia. One of the favorites for kids and buyers alike is the Dracula Celosia plant, which is a bright red-purple folded spike nestled on blood-red veined leaves.

He says at first, it’s hard for kids to see the results of all their hard work planting seed after seed, until a few weeks go by.

“All of a sudden there's all these little baby plants popping up, and then they start to get excited. And then when the flowers are all blooming, I think they find enjoyment in that and get some sort of satisfaction from, hey, I did that,” said Thompson.

He says everyone is welcome to the sales, where you can pick up plants for $1 or $3 apiece. All the money raised goes back into the horticulture programs to buy more things like seeds and pots for next year’s growing season.

Borah High School Plant Sale:

Capital High School Plant Sale:

Frank Church High School Plant Sale: