- 4 days ago
Venturing into the wilds of Idaho to explore its evolving outdoor culture; ranchers and backcountry pilots share the wilderness with resettled refugees; how climate change impacts an age-old salmon fishery.
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00:16Change.
00:19In nature, it's the one constant.
00:25Even this, the tallest freestanding sand dune in North America, is always changing.
00:33Slowly but surely, the wind building it up and tearing it down, one grain at a time.
00:45I've come to a state that is being radically transformed by the winds of change.
00:52And I've come, in part, to change my own understanding of this place.
00:57Because this dune-filled desert isn't in Arizona, or California, or New Mexico.
01:07It's a place that contains more than I ever knew, and where change is very much in the air.
01:15Idaho.
01:20My name is Baratunde Thurston.
01:23I'm a writer, activist, sometimes comedian.
01:26And I'm all about exploring the issues that shape us as Americans.
01:30Yes!
01:32This country is wild.
01:34And its natural landscapes are as diverse as its people.
01:37Hey!
01:39There it is, there it is.
01:40How does our relationship with the outdoors define us?
01:43As individuals, and as a nation?
01:56I'm going to level with you.
01:58I have a deep connection with many places across this great land.
02:03Some have been important in my own story, and some have just loomed large in my imagination.
02:09But Idaho?
02:11I don't have any connection to Idaho.
02:14In fact, it's one of the few states that I've never visited.
02:19I don't think stopping for gas counts.
02:23Don't get me wrong, it sounds like a lovely place.
02:26Lots of beautiful scenery, and cows, and potatoes.
02:33But here's the thing.
02:35Idaho is one of the fastest growing states in the country, with no signs that it's letting up.
02:45The population has ballooned by almost 300,000 people since 2010.
02:51That's a lot of new faces in a state of less than 2 million.
02:55But there's a reason Idaho is growing so fast.
02:59People are looking for something.
03:01Maybe it's a respite from the modern world.
03:04Or maybe it's just a little more elbow room.
03:09Like them, I'm a stranger here, looking for connection.
03:13And my hunch is that I'll find it with the people who live, work, and play here in the great
03:18outdoors.
03:24Martin Black is a fifth-generation rancher whose family's been raising cattle for over 150 years.
03:32We're going to get you dressed.
03:34Yeah, I'm ready to get dressed. I thought I was dressed.
03:36Yeah, well, this is real cowboy stuff.
03:39Real cowboy stuff, huh?
03:42I guess real cowboys don't shop at the department store.
03:46Just like at the carnival, huh?
03:49And I'm betting real cowboys also don't use stairs to mount their horse.
03:54Just like that.
03:56Martin certainly doesn't, though he does stretch first.
04:01Cowboy yoga, huh?
04:02Cowboy yoga.
04:04Pretty limber there.
04:05I reckon it's best that we go ahead and mosey on down the trail.
04:30Martin's ranch sits on high intermountain desert land in Idaho's southwestern corner.
04:36The only life visible to my eyes is the patchy desert land in Idaho's southwestern corner.
04:39Desert grass and some sagebrush that looks like it's rolled in from one of those TV westerns I watched as
04:45a kid.
04:46So, Martin, what does it mean to be a cowboy in Idaho?
04:50The cowboy term more or less came to this country, to my knowledge, more with the rodeo.
04:56In this area, we traditionally refer to ourselves as buckaroos.
05:03Buckaroo.
05:03Which comes from the Spanish vaquero.
05:07Vaquero.
05:08The word vaquero means rider handling cattle.
05:11So, if you're somebody paid to look after cattle or work cattle or whatever from a horse, I guess that's
05:17where the term buckaroo would come into.
05:24Martin's spread is a little over a thousand acres.
05:27So, for someone like me who's basically lived in cities my whole life, a thousand acres sounds like infinity.
05:35What do you need that much space for?
05:38You probably have more grass growing in your park than I do on this ranch.
05:44If you look at the acres of green grass, the creeks are dry here, it's a drought year, so it's
05:53not real productive. It takes a lot of acres.
06:01It turns out, if you want to raise cattle, you've got to have grass to feed them.
06:07But these arid desert lands don't see a lot of rain.
06:11So, you've got to make up for it in sheer acreage, up to a hundred acres per head of cattle.
06:19Ranching today is kind of a slow way to starve to death.
06:24The land doesn't produce enough to support a family, unless you're running about 500 cows, more or less.
06:32Then you can generate enough, if you're a good manager, you can generate enough that you can raise a family
06:37on and still pay the bills.
06:39With money tight, Martin never pays somebody else to do work that he can do himself.
06:45Not that there's anybody nearby to do the work anyway.
06:49You wear a lot of hats.
06:50You've got to be a negotiator, you've got to be a businessman, you've got to be a cowboy, you've got
06:54to be a horseman, you've got to be a farrier,
06:56you've got to be a veterinarian for your horses and your cattle.
06:58I mean, the list just goes on and on and on, because you don't have the money to hire professionals
07:03all the time.
07:05Martin really can do it all.
07:08He's even a pretty good TV producer.
07:11You probably should be a little bit ahead of me, because that camera's over here, right?
07:14Smart move.
07:15Yeah.
07:16I'm not blocking you out.
07:18I told you, it's not my first rodeo.
07:24For Martin, it all comes down to doing things the right way, which usually means the way his forefathers did
07:32it.
07:33I don't do everything the way they used to do it.
07:35I like electricity, I like running water, I like hot water and a hot shower.
07:41There's a lot of things I don't do that my granddad done, but there's a lot of things I still
07:47think it's a better way.
07:49But, you've got to be a stockman enough and a horseman enough to be able to do it.
07:54And trust me, Martin Black is horseman enough to do almost anything.
07:59He's traveled the world, breaking colts and teaching horsemanship, and has an intuitive understanding of his animals.
08:07I've been on a lot of vehicles in my life, especially recently, but this one moves differently.
08:12You know, it breathes, got a heart rate, I can feel its sensitivity to my mood.
08:17The way I ride a horse, I don't just operate them like a piece of machinery.
08:20I try to work on their emotions a little bit and keep them willing to do what I want and
08:24not just forcing them.
08:25You know, they're working animals, they're not pets, they're not companion animals.
08:29They're working animals and I'm out here doing a job and they're out here doing a job.
08:34These are your co-workers.
08:35Real cowboy stuff.
08:36Real cowboy stuff.
08:44Real cowboy stuff.
08:49Doing things the traditional way sounds like a lot of work.
08:54And while it's a lifestyle I admire, the reality of ranching is that it's only getting tougher.
09:01A glut of production combined with a small number of cattle processors has kept prices low.
09:11Since getting by on raising cattle alone is no longer feasible,
09:17Martin makes extra money teaching buckaroo skills to greenhorns like me.
09:25Alright, so in order to get a correct throw we have to have a correct swing.
09:30Okay.
09:31Correct throw requires a correct swing.
09:33Yep.
09:33That makes sense.
09:38Just put your loop in this hand and I want to go through this with you.
09:42Okay.
09:42Just like that.
09:43Okay, here's position one.
09:45Position one.
09:45Position two is the back of your hand on top of your head.
09:49On top of your head.
09:50On top right in the center.
09:52Oh wait that.
09:52Like that.
09:52Oh that requires some flexibility.
09:54Okay.
09:54Now number three is reaching the back seat because we need some beer money.
09:58Oh.
09:58Okay.
09:59We're going to the drive-in liquor store.
10:00So after we get the beer money, you reach out the window with your palm down and drop it.
10:06Your hand is flat and you come back to here and get your thumb down.
10:11That's our swing.
10:14Oh.
10:16Oh.
10:17For all that's changing in modern ranching, there's still no better way of catching a steer.
10:22Chalk up another win for tradition.
10:25Toss it on there.
10:28I knew you had it in you.
10:30I knew you had the potential.
10:33Yeah.
10:34Go left.
10:35Go left.
10:35Go left.
10:36Go left.
10:37I got him healed.
10:38Oh.
10:38God you broke his neck.
10:40But I got the hind feet.
10:44He's not going anywhere.
10:46You killed my cow.
10:49And while I'm happy to stop while I'm ahead, it's clear there's no quit in Martin.
10:54His cowboy school and colt training are about more than the demands of his bottom line.
11:00They're about preserving a way of life for the next generation.
11:04My son, for example, he's got five kids and he wants them raised on a ranch.
11:10That's how he was raised.
11:11That's how I was raised.
11:13I mean, that's how we've done it for generations basically.
11:15But he wants that atmosphere.
11:25But it's the quiet and the emptiness of that atmosphere that most draws Martin in.
11:31When you're out here riding, what are you feeling?
11:37Well, I enjoy, you know, just this vastness.
11:42You know, I go to eastern states and see the trees and you can't see it 50 feet.
11:47I don't like that.
11:48I like to see, you know, the distance.
11:51I like to see if there's somebody over there.
11:54Maybe I want to go see them.
11:55Maybe I don't want to be seen.
11:56You know, you know, nobody gets to jump on you out here very easily.
12:00It's hard to sneak up when you...
12:02Yeah, it's hard to sneak up.
12:03You can see them coming for 20 miles.
12:07You know, people think, you know, you're a hermit or something.
12:11Well, I don't care.
12:11Maybe I am.
12:12But I like the isolation, the privacy.
12:15You know, if I want company, I can have company.
12:17I can go to town or I can invite people over for dinner or something, you know.
12:20But if I want to be left to hell alone, it's no problem.
12:23Just leave the gate shut and nobody bothers you.
12:27You're a do not disturb sign.
12:28Yeah.
12:31Do not disturb.
12:34It's what a lot of longtime residents of Idaho are saying these days,
12:38as more and more new arrivals move to the gem state.
12:42But surprisingly, Martin has a different take on the subject.
12:46You know, they come in groves, you know.
12:48They've got campers and everything else.
12:49And they're good to get along with, most of them.
12:51You know, there's some of them that, you know, they think they own the whole world
12:55and they're a little hard to get along with.
12:57But you're running into that anywhere.
12:58For the most part, these people that come out here are good.
13:02If everybody respects everybody's space, there's still plenty for everybody.
13:07To be fair, I'm guessing this austere ranch land isn't what's luring most of these newcomers.
13:18Once you get out of the high desert, though, the geography quickly transforms into an advertisement for adventure.
13:25Including rugged mountains, river cut canyons and crystal clear lakes.
13:30And just as varied as the landscapes are all the ways that people enjoy it.
13:36We camp, ride razors, four-wheelers.
13:39Camp, hike, go to mountain lakes, snowmobile.
13:43Camping, hiking, climbing, riding bikes.
13:46Snowboard, I jet ski.
13:49Swim, raft.
13:51Kayaking, the Boise River.
13:53We kind of do it all.
13:55Of course, there's one thing in Idaho that looms very large.
13:59Well, I enjoy this potato particularly.
14:03Okay, yes, potatoes are a big deal.
14:05Come here.
14:06Come here.
14:09Golly.
14:12But even bigger is the debate around the state's population boom.
14:16Because for every Idaho old-timer I meet.
14:19I was born and raised in Idaho, so 51 years.
14:22Been here my whole life.
14:24I've lived in Idaho just over 40 years.
14:26There's a more recent arrival just around the corner.
14:30Since February.
14:31Since February.
14:32I'm here next week.
14:33I am from Mexico, from Guadalajara.
14:36I am from California.
14:37I'm from L.A.
14:40And even if Martin's all right with it, this influx of newcomers has some native Idahoans
14:46feeling uneasy.
14:48Even in the last three years, I've noticed just how dramatically the population has changed.
14:53How many people are coming.
14:55Everything has really changed.
14:56And I'm kind of a small-town person, and it scares me a little bit.
15:09So is all this change good?
15:11Or bad?
15:15John Conti is a local filmmaker who shares his outdoor explorations on a popular YouTube channel.
15:22I know Idaho is known for potatoes, and I know a lot of Idahoans are okay with that.
15:27I'm not.
15:28It's such a rad place, man.
15:30I want to show people how cool it is.
15:34But if John thinks Idaho is a great place now, his first impressions were a little different.
15:41I moved to Idaho when I was 14 years old from Mishbieho, which is a suburb of L.A.
15:48It's in Orange County.
15:49You probably know where it's at.
15:51And I didn't like it when I first got here.
15:54You didn't like it?
15:55You're wearing a shirt that says Idaho.
15:56I know.
15:57It's crazy how much I've fallen in love with it since then.
16:01But when I got here, it traumatized me.
16:04I'd never seen a place like this growing up in Southern California.
16:09What do you mean, a place like this?
16:10What was new?
16:11I remember distinctly being in my cousin's car, driving around the roads, and seeing cows in people's backyards.
16:18And I leaned to my cousin and I said, do people just have cows in their backyards here?
16:24And she burst out laughing.
16:30The former California kid didn't really connect with his new home until his early 20s,
16:35when John began working as a cameraman for a local Boise news station.
16:39It was seeing Idaho through the lens of a camera that gave him a new perspective.
16:45I picked up a camera and I got outside in Idaho and I started filming stuff.
16:50And gradually I got more into the outdoor scene here.
16:53And then I went, oh, this is why people love this place.
16:57And this is why I love this place.
16:58And I fell in love with Idaho.
17:00And this place that was once a prison is now my playground.
17:06John explores that playground on his YouTube channel, documenting his epic outdoor adventures around the state.
17:14His videos have racked up hundreds of thousands of views, throwing a spotlight on a state that until recently has
17:22flown under the radar.
17:25Idaho is just one big park.
17:28And the landscapes of Idaho are so much different from different places.
17:32I'm going to just throw Arizona in there.
17:35It all seems like the same landscape to me.
17:37I'm sorry, Arizona, if you're really offended by this.
17:40But Idaho has so many different landscapes.
17:44You can be in the mountains at, you know, 12,000 feet.
17:47Like I'm going to be tomorrow morning and it's.
17:49So the variety of outdoor activities in Idaho is really unique.
18:02John seems to think that the best way for me to experience these rugged trails is on a mountain bike.
18:09I've already ridden a horse, so why not another mode of transit I can fall off of?
18:16You ready to do this?
18:17I am ready to do this.
18:18All right, I might have a hole in my front tire, so we better be quick.
18:21Okay, let's go fast.
18:22Let's go.
18:28Keep going! Keep going!
18:32With true believers like John spreading the word, people have been taking notice.
18:38Making Idaho one of the fastest growing states in the nation.
18:47In 2020, COVID only accelerated the migration.
18:51And while the state's low cost of living and growing job market are part of the story,
18:56clearly the outdoors is the big attraction.
18:59I was at the gym the other day and I see this young couple, they're in the corner and they
19:04come over and they're like,
19:05are you John Conti?
19:06And I'm like, yeah.
19:08And they're like, we're from Illinois.
19:11We saw your stuff online.
19:13It inspired us to come out here to Idaho and then we, you know, we moved out here.
19:22But the voices that are against growth are only getting louder.
19:27The booming real estate market is pricing locals out of housing.
19:31And new development is transforming serene natural areas like those we're riding in today into Idaho's version of urban sprawl.
19:41Can you paint a picture for me of the range of opinions there are here about that growth?
19:49I imagine some people are really excited, some are the opposite of excited.
19:52What are you seeing?
19:53I think Idahoans are scared.
19:55I think they're scared of growth.
19:59It's something that has only been experienced here in the last 20 years and you're starting to see a shifting
20:06landscape.
20:09In the 70s, this was all cattle grazing.
20:14All of a sudden you start seeing houses pop up in the foothills and things like that, open spaces starting
20:21to shrink.
20:22You're seeing housing prices climb and people are scared.
20:27But I just don't believe that growth is bad.
20:33As human beings, we should grow.
20:35As society, we should grow.
20:36Idaho should grow.
20:37It just needs to grow the right way.
20:40But you're not going to get that done by yelling, stop coming here.
20:44You're going to get that done by actually being a positive voice for this community.
20:49And I hope that's what, if I do anything, that's what the few videos I have online do.
20:57Senator John Conte, it's been a pleasure.
20:59My name is John Conte and I approve this message.
21:02I'll be senator when you're president.
21:04I'll run for senator of Idaho.
21:06Mutually assured destruction.
21:10In a state where you can find families that have ranched the same land for five generations, it makes perfect
21:18sense that change might be unwelcome by some.
21:22But I can't help feeling that both sides of the debate, long time residents and new arrivals, probably have the
21:30same reasons for wanting to be here.
21:33We were on the trail this morning. The parking lot was full at 7 a.m.
21:37And you go, don't all these people, aren't they, don't they have jobs?
21:41And I'm like, yeah, they're here before work, man.
21:43They're going to take this bike ride and then they're going to go to work.
21:46And that's part of people's day here.
21:49You know, a lawyer will go fishing in the river and then go put his tie on and head to
21:53court.
21:56I'm not afraid of people coming here or the growth.
21:58I want to see it grow.
21:59And I want to see it grow with those kind of people that have the same values that make this
22:03state great.
22:04And that's, that's this, that's this outdoor lifestyle.
22:08As we congregate in these cities and we become so connected, it's important for us as a society to keep
22:15a healthy relationship with the outdoors.
22:17I think that keeps you stable, that keeps you centered.
22:20I feel it's made me a better person.
22:22I don't, I mean, that's weird to say, but I'm more patient at home.
22:26I feel like I understand what's important.
22:29That's a process that I have with the outdoors and I hope everyone, everyone finds their relationship.
22:36Whether Idahoans agree with John or not, there's no doubt that the state has plenty of room to grow.
22:42With just 22 people per square mile, Idaho is not exactly densely populated.
22:57And part of that spaciousness is the state's millions of acres of federally protected wilderness.
23:10But accessing that vast backcountry requires something a little more powerful than a mountain bike.
23:19That's where Lori McNichol comes into the picture.
23:23Nearly 40 years ago, she started flying visitors and residents in and out of Idaho's backcountry.
23:31Hello.
23:32You're like a gymnast.
23:34What's up?
23:36You landed this plane.
23:38Oh, man.
23:39I mean, it's your job, but it's still very impressive to me.
23:41For Lori, flying began with her first love, the great outdoors.
23:47I decided I needed to fly so that I could get into the best fishing spots.
23:53Okay.
23:54Which are down on the river where nobody else could go.
23:59So, I've been a motorcycle dirt bike rider.
24:02So, for this type of plane, almost the same thing, just playing around in the dirt.
24:08Okay.
24:09I just had to be careful of the wings around the trees.
24:11A dirt bike with wings.
24:12That's right.
24:12So, fishing got you in the sky.
24:15That's right.
24:25After a few years of taking fly fishing to the next level, she began offering aerial taxi
24:31services to hunters, hikers, and others flying in and out of Idaho's vast wilderness.
24:37A woman flying was an anomaly.
24:40Clients would usually come out and think that I was the person who loaded the airplane.
24:45Yeah.
24:46And they were, like, looking around for the pilot.
24:48And then they would be like, oh, how many times have you flown into the back country?
24:54And I have kind of a not-so-nice sense of humor sometimes.
24:58I'd say, well, let's see, this time and the last time, two times.
25:07And then, of course, we'd get a laugh out of that and take off and go.
25:14Much of Idaho's back country is too remote for road access.
25:17So, short, narrow airstrips have always offered the only way in and out.
25:22Back in the land rush, everybody came out west to get their chunk of land.
25:28There was no roads, no power lines, none of that.
25:34So, most people would put in an airstrip, chopping down trees, land, chop down a few more trees
25:40to make it longer.
25:42Sure.
25:42You know, so that's how that worked.
25:48Needless to say, navigating this back country by air comes with its dangers,
25:54something that Lori has seen firsthand.
25:57Part of my job was to fly the sheriff into the back country to a plane accident.
26:05Yeah.
26:05I was like, why did that?
26:06That did not have to happen.
26:07And then I began to recognize that there was really nothing out there put together
26:14to create a safety culture in the back country flying.
26:19I said, that's enough.
26:21I had the experience of flying and seeing.
26:24And I wanted to be instrumental in, you know, giving the pilots a tool to save lives.
26:36In 1997, Lori and her partner launched a school to teach other pilots how to negotiate the challenges
26:43of Idaho's unique landscape.
26:46I decided to put together a school teaching how to operate below the rim, confined area approaches,
26:54density altitude, all the things that are very different than just, you know, from point A to B.
27:00What does below the rim mean? Because I'm thinking basketball, but you're not talking about that.
27:04I'm not talking about basketball.
27:07Because we have these ridges, when we go, we drop into these gorges.
27:13Oh, so if we're talking like a canyon here, and this is the rim, and this is, so you're flying
27:17below that.
27:18Yep.
27:19And why is that special?
27:20Because when we get below the rim, if there's an airstrip down by the river, it gets narrower and narrower
27:28and narrower.
27:29And you have to figure out how to position your airplane within the environment to get it in there.
27:38What do the people who fly in the backcountry have in common?
27:42It all starts with the passion of the plane.
27:45Then it goes to being in the outdoors.
27:47They come here to get off the grid with family, with their dog.
27:53And the airplane is really the only way to get in there to your spot.
28:00Lori's offered to give me my first pilot lesson today.
28:04And while flying below the rim isn't on the first day's syllabus, I do get to learn how to taxi
28:09a real-life airplane.
28:14That's it.
28:15And scoot right back.
28:17There you go.
28:17Okay.
28:18That's a way to do it.
28:21All right.
28:23Excellent.
28:23I'm a pilot, right?
28:24Yes.
28:25Got in the plane.
28:26That's it.
28:29And when you fly this airplane, this hand remains on the stick, and this one is for the throttle.
28:34This is your altimeter, airspeed, RPM, pressure.
28:40Oh, it's tough.
28:41Yep.
28:41There's no rearview mirrors on this thing.
28:43I know.
28:44No side mirrors.
28:46Here I come.
28:47Look out.
28:47No.
28:48Ah!
28:54Clear.
29:01So go ahead and left.
29:02Go forward.
29:03Yeah.
29:04And then less throttle.
29:06Okay.
29:06Because we're just going to walk it.
29:07Ah, okay.
29:09Oh, yeah.
29:10Okay.
29:11Yeah.
29:11I'm straightening out.
29:12Yep.
29:13I'm going to find that line again.
29:14Yeah.
29:14If you hit anything, the insurance cover will cover.
29:23I'm just going to have you do a 180 in front of the camera, and go ahead and kick that
29:28left brake again.
29:31There you go.
29:32Yeah.
29:33There you go.
29:34Oh, my God.
29:35Now you got to stop.
29:36You can go all the way around if you want.
29:39It was the most exciting parking lot driving lesson I've ever had in my life.
29:44It gave me a sense of respect for what a backcountry pilot has to go through to be able to
29:50make it in and out, to fly above and below the rim.
29:55Respect, y'all.
29:55Yes.
29:57Yes.
29:57Oh.
29:58That was really cool.
30:00For not flying, I felt like I really operated a plane.
30:03It's the hard part.
30:04It's the hard part of this line.
30:06Oh, that's the hard part?
30:20It's the hard part of this year.
30:21Her skill and experience only make flying look easy.
30:27And she's having an impact by making it easier to enjoy one of America's last truly wild places and do
30:35it safely.
30:39What goes through your head when you're flying above the backcountry?
30:44You know how your head rattles around and you've got all this noise in your brain?
30:49Well, guess what?
30:51Take that airplane, drop below the rim into that drainage, and everything else goes away.
30:58Everything.
31:02It really is a pristine wilderness that we love and the largest one in the U.S.
31:08What more could we ask for, right?
31:10This is our public land.
31:11It is such a special jewel.
31:17Idaho really is a jewel.
31:20Its nickname is the Gem State, in part because these mountains are chock full of gemstones like opal, jade, and
31:27topaz.
31:29But the true value that Lori's talking about is the way nature puts us in touch with our place in
31:35the world.
31:37It's the unique ability of the outdoors to offer connection that inspired Liz Urban when she first moved to Boise
31:4410 years ago.
31:46A trained biologist with a passion for nature education, she was drawn to a group of people who lacked connection
31:53to the place they now called home.
31:56Boise's large refugee population.
31:59When I moved to Boise, I was actually a little surprised at the level of diversity we had here.
32:05Just a lot of culture.
32:06Yeah, not the marketing campaign for Boise most of us have experienced.
32:13With a population that's almost 90% white, diversity isn't the first word that comes to mind when I think
32:20of Boise.
32:22But Idaho also has one of the country's highest refugee settlement rates, with over 19,000 refugees arriving since 1980.
32:35Still, assimilation to this beautiful but strange land is difficult, especially for young people.
32:42That's why Liz founded the New Roots program.
32:47What's the goal of the program for the students? What do you want them to give out of?
32:51I came to this really wanting to expose kids to nature and just learn about science and share that passion
32:57that I have.
32:59Like, learn about birds and bugs and plants and things.
33:02But the value really is to build that, like, sense of safety and security and understanding of our place.
33:10And the community building aspect between students, between the mentors, and between our partners, too.
33:17Hey!
33:18Hi!
33:19What's up, New Roots?
33:20Excited to go on this hike?
33:21Yes!
33:22We'll find out.
33:25A sense of safety and security.
33:27That's a real need for teenagers like these, whose past lives have offered little of either.
33:33Hi, my name is Chantal. I was born in Uganda.
33:37Hello, my name is Bertrand. I'm from Zambia.
33:39My name is Tomini. I'm from Tanzania.
33:42My friends call me Dogo, or Mini, or Dogomini.
33:46Way too many names.
33:50Through education and exploration, the two-week program forges new connections between these kids and the natural world around them.
34:01It also builds community among students from vastly different backgrounds.
34:06Tanay was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his parents were driven out of Myanmar.
34:13He settled in Boise with his family eight years ago.
34:17When you first arrived here, did you have a sense of community or friends?
34:22Did you know anybody when you got here?
34:23No. When I first came here, the first two years, I stayed home.
34:27But then I joined. Next thing I know, I made so many friends.
34:33Hey, what direction do you all think north is?
34:36Let's get our compasses out.
34:43We got kids from all over the world, you know?
34:47And Nuru is mostly about like working as a team.
34:49It's never by yourself.
34:50So when you work as a team, you get to know each other better than you see them just walking
34:55on the road, you know?
34:56That's one of the reasons I like about Nuru.
34:58You get to meet people that you never expect to meet, you know?
35:01What is that one thing we need to learn?
35:04Never eat soggy waffle.
35:07North, east, south, west.
35:10You got it.
35:10That's brilliant.
35:11Great.
35:13You see the view out there, bro?
35:14Yeah, I see it.
35:15What do you see?
35:15Why do you think there's less trees over that side?
35:18Because there's not.
35:19There's not.
35:20A lot of water?
35:21Yeah, there's not water.
35:22This year, Tanae graduated from student to counselor.
35:25Yeah, there's less trees over there.
35:26How does it feel to transition from kind of the student side, the camper side, to the counselor side?
35:31I feel like getting old.
35:33But it feels great, though.
35:34You said you feel like getting old.
35:35You're getting old already, you know?
35:37You're talking to a person who's much older than you.
35:39Be careful, man.
35:39Yeah, it's true.
35:41But you still look young, so it's okay.
35:42Oh, thank you.
35:44You know the right things to say.
35:45Yeah, of course.
35:52There's one.
35:52That's a dragon.
35:53That's a dragonfly.
35:54I see one.
35:55Oh, over there.
35:57Yeah.
35:57Yeah.
36:05Every kid here has a different story.
36:07Yeah.
36:08Yeah.
36:10I know there's some people out there that went through a tougher life than me, you know?
36:13And still going through tougher life than me.
36:15Yeah.
36:15So that's why I show that there's happiness out there.
36:19Yeah.
36:19It can't be sad.
36:20It's staying home.
36:22There's a lot of adventure.
36:23It's the best thing.
36:24And you get to see the things you never expect to see.
36:27We've done a lot.
36:28And now I'm proud of it.
36:29Yeah.
36:30I'm proud of being a new root camp.
36:32I'm proud of you, man.
36:33You got me very inspired.
36:35Yeah, of course.
36:36It's amazing.
36:37Tanay reminds me that while new roots help anchor a tree in place, they're also the stable
36:43foundation that allows it to grow to new heights.
36:47We really think, like, being outdoors for them is important and connecting with nature
36:52is really, it can be really therapeutic on a number of levels.
36:55The outdoors is offering something different.
36:57I think so.
36:58And all of us get to see new things every time we do it.
37:02So, lots of value to be had.
37:06Access to nature has never been more important.
37:10Xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment are on the rise in Idaho, like in many other
37:15parts of the country.
37:17But nature is open to all, despite our country of origin.
37:21Who knows what's a national forest mean?
37:23It means, like, this.
37:26Yeah?
37:27Who owns a national forest?
37:29Nobody.
37:29All of us.
37:30Everybody.
37:31Right?
37:32We all.
37:33Nobody and everybody.
37:34That's right.
37:35The federal government manages the land, but it belongs to all of us.
37:40Do you feel like you belong here now, in Boise, in Idaho?
37:44Do you feel like you belong in the United States?
37:46I feel like I belong in America, all over the world now.
37:49I feel like wherever I go, I feel like it's my house, you know?
37:51Like, right here?
37:52Yeah.
37:52I feel like this is my land, too.
37:55They told me that when I came, they were like, this park, it belongs to everyone.
37:59I feel like it's my house here.
38:05So of all the things you've done in the outdoors, what are some of your favorite?
38:09My favorite is flowing down the river.
38:12Fresh air.
38:13No stress in your mind, you know?
38:15All you have to worry about is keeping your boat up.
38:19It's the best feeling to have is, like, stress-free, feeling that fresh, cool water hitting you.
38:25And just, like, there's not a lot of noises.
38:28There's no car noises.
38:29Just bird, nature noises.
38:31It's the best feeling to have when you're out there.
38:34That sense of calm and peace of mind that nature can provide is all of our birthright.
38:40But sometimes, it can take the fresh eyes of a new arrival to truly see and fully appreciate our shared
38:47outdoor spaces.
38:48I've had the privilege of seeing this place from the perspective of the newest arrivals.
38:54And the thing that I can say is, sometimes we fear losing tradition.
38:58We fear what the new people might bring.
39:01The irony is, some of the new people can bring the deepest appreciation for the oldest traditions.
39:06And our fear is misplaced.
39:08They can help us preserve what we love the most.
39:28Whether they just arrived yesterday, or have been here for generations,
39:34Idahoans seem united in a shared connection with nature.
39:39But just as important as loving the outdoors is learning to love it responsibly.
40:01Living responsibly with nature is a core value of the Shoshone-Bannock tribe.
40:06Their deep understanding of the land has allowed them to thrive in this wooded valley in central Idaho for thousands
40:12of years.
40:21Sammy Matsaw and his wife Jessica are members of the tribe.
40:26Where are we right now?
40:28So we're on the South Fork of the Salmon River.
40:30Sort of at the northwestern extent of the Shoshone-Bannock lands, our homelands.
40:34How long have the Shoshone-Bannock been here?
40:38Since time immemorial.
40:41I have a feeling you said that before.
40:47The Shoshone-Bannock homelands lie in the Snake River plain of southeastern Idaho.
40:53The river, and especially the salmon that swim in it, are central to tribal life and spirituality.
41:00The salmon are much older than we are.
41:02And they showed up and we're still here because of them.
41:06They saved us from extinction.
41:07And so we don't know any different past.
41:11We just know that we were, our stories are that these salmon are what saved us from dying.
41:19The Snake River has historically been one of the world's most prolific salmon habitats.
41:24Each year, tens of thousands swim from the Pacific Ocean to their spawning grounds in the Sawtooth Valley.
41:32For generations, these salmon were the tribe's largest food source.
41:36But in the 20th century, the federal government built a series of massive hydroelectric dams on the river.
41:42Over time, this annual flood of fish dwindled to a trickle.
41:48They go from here to the ocean. They pass through eight dams.
41:51Eight dams?
41:52Eight hydroelectric dams.
41:53That's a gauntlet.
41:54It is a gauntlet.
41:55And in that passage, we're trying to understand how do they make it through there and increase their survivability.
42:02Yeah.
42:05But if the dams were the first threat to the salmon survival?
42:10Now they also face the dangers of global climate change.
42:15We came here with the expectation that we would observe your family tradition, your tribal tradition.
42:22And I remember showing up and feeling an emotional low in the air.
42:29It was a sadness.
42:30What's different this year and why are we not doing that?
42:34Yes.
42:36More traditionally, this is the beginning of the salmon run, this time of the year.
42:41Temperatures would be snow on the mountain still, chilly cold water would be walking through,
42:47cool breezes coming up the river.
42:49But today, in the last week, it's just been nothing but a hair dryer blown in our face.
42:54And the water temperature is very warm and it's very concerning.
43:03We were out fishing yesterday and we got two fish all day working the stream with about a crew of
43:08nine of us with spears.
43:10And what would be a more normal amount of fish?
43:1316 to 18 fish, maybe more.
43:16But we didn't have that yesterday.
43:20A couple of fish we caught, they're lethargic and they're already getting soft.
43:26So when you pick them up, they're not as firm.
43:27And so the situation is that we apologize, but we cannot take any of these salmon right now.
43:35It's an ethical choice that we made, so we're putting a pause on this year.
43:39This year is a wrap for us.
43:44Sacrificing their fishing season is just one way the tribe is working to alter the course of the salmon's fate.
43:51Sammy combines tribal knowledge with degrees in ecology, conservation, genetics, and a PhD in water resources
43:59to bring both traditional and cutting edge expertise to bear on the problem of saving the salmon.
44:05You were saying that the salmon helped save you from extinction.
44:09And I'm wondering, do you feel a duty to try to save them from extinction now?
44:14Oh yeah.
44:15That's the time we're in now.
44:19We say we're the salmon and the salmon is us.
44:22And so we're an extension of their knowledge.
44:25And we're also an extension of the things that they need in order to survive.
44:31Key to this work is ensuring that tribal knowledge is preserved and passed down to the next generation.
44:40In 2017, Sammy and Jessica founded an organization named River Nua to facilitate the sharing of knowledge from elders to
44:49younger members of the tribe.
44:51We do want to continue to share that knowledge with our children.
44:56And so even though we won't be harvesting salmon, we're going to be showing them how to read water and
45:02how to hold a spear, how to walk through the river.
45:05Those things that are also very important.
45:06Yeah.
45:08Oh.
45:08Okay, we're just going to practice like you caught a fish, okay?
45:11So you're going to hold on to the pole and I'm going to pretend to be the fish.
45:14The spear of fish.
45:16And we're going to go like this.
45:17Hold it, hold it, hold it.
45:19And then you can pull it up the stream, pull it up the bank.
45:22Go, go, two hands.
45:24Good job.
45:25There you go.
45:26Good job.
45:27Nice work.
45:27You'd have got it.
45:30We have to create a space for our kids to just know this land as their home.
45:37They are building those connections to our homelands and they'll know if we keep fighting for our brother salmon that
45:43at some point they're going to be able to come back and they'll be fishing in healthy waters.
45:47We're teaching them how to be fighters, we're teaching them how to take up space and that's part of that
45:53survival.
45:55When you were just speaking it was actually hard for me to know if you were talking about your children
46:00or the salmon.
46:01It's the same.
46:03It's the same to me.
46:08With the global climate crisis we face in the 21st century, the tribe's understanding of Mother Nature has never been
46:15more important.
46:16What we're trying to say is that our knowledge is the future.
46:19Our knowledge is the future because it is tied to land.
46:23If our knowledge is displaced from land, we've already seen the result of that experiment.
46:27We're living in it.
46:28And so the whole changing of the global climate has been a result of that.
46:33And so how do we go forward in the 21st century given that we know that science and technology has
46:38gotten us this far as a human species?
46:40How can we use that in a different way to get us into the future that lives more in tune
46:45with nature, that lives more in tune with our neighbors, that lives more in tune with indigenous people?
46:49That's what we're saying about the 21st century indigenous person.
46:54It feels like we would all be wise to absorb the lessons that Sammy and Jessica know so well.
46:59That's fast.
47:01Starting with just how to use a 10-foot long birch spear to catch a sockeye salmon.
47:06All right, so we're in a riffle habitat.
47:09Riffle is this part where it's going over the rocks and it's sort of a similar sort of depth and
47:16the water is moving faster.
47:18Okay.
47:18And so it has these waves to it.
47:20And those waves are going to work to your advantage because a fish can't really make you out.
47:24So if you hold still, it might even swim towards you.
47:29Usually when you go for a fish too, you bring your arm up.
47:32And so you're going down.
47:33Okay.
47:34You're spearing down, not like this.
47:37You're not playing pool.
47:39I was just, I was like, why does this feel familiar?
47:41Oh yeah.
47:42You're trying to go down on the fish and get it with the hooks.
47:45Okay.
47:46Oh, you're going to let me hold this.
47:48Yes.
47:48Just a reminder that no actual fish will be harmed in the filming of this scene.
47:53See, there's a fish coming up towards you.
47:54It's coming up.
47:55It's right in front of you.
47:56Yep.
47:57Dab.
47:57There you go.
47:59Yep.
47:59Nice.
48:00This takes some coordination.
48:02Yeah.
48:02This is a really, it doesn't feel that heavy.
48:05Yeah.
48:05But it's kind of...
48:06Balanced.
48:07Yeah.
48:08It's so big that the balance is off and it wobbles a little bit.
48:12Standing in this river with a spear.
48:14This is really good for the core.
48:15I have to remind myself this isn't just another Idaho outdoor adventure.
48:21It's the culmination of ages of tribal experience fishing these waters.
48:26And a ritual deeply connecting me to these people and this place.
48:31For people who are seeing this and have a thought about Idaho, what are they going to miss from the
48:38brochures and the packages that you think they should know about this limit?
48:42There are people out here and they're coming out and they're going to come to Idaho.
48:46We have a lot of public land available, thankfully.
48:49And, uh, but what we want them to see is to see us.
48:52To see the land, to take care of it.
48:55It doesn't matter where you go.
48:57Like, acknowledging the land and the people.
48:59It's free.
49:00It's simple.
49:07I'm watching.
49:08I'm looking.
49:09In the U.S., we often look at nature as private property to be fenced off, or a resource to
49:15be exploited, or just a playground to enjoy.
49:19But Sammy and Jessica's viewpoint is a radical departure from that line of thinking.
49:24For the Shoshone Bannock, nature isn't something that's out there.
49:28It's something inside them.
49:30It's part of who they are as people.
49:32I never really think about, like, oh, let's go outdoors.
49:36I think about this is the time of season for us to do this thing.
49:40And so, like, seasonal rounds, understanding where people were, where we need to be next.
49:46So I like to talk about connection to place as, like, visiting family.
49:52I don't think about it as an idea of conquest.
49:55Like, oh, I've gone down the river this many times.
49:57Because we wouldn't do that with relatives.
49:59We wouldn't say, I've visited my grandma 300 times in my life.
50:02So it's like, oh, it's time to go see grandma.
50:04I have a good connection with her.
50:07I feel like she loves me.
50:08You know, I would fight like hell to protect my loved ones.
50:12And so, I think that's how I see that.
50:21Our teachings talk about keeping our hands off of our kids.
50:25That the land will teach them the lessons.
50:27So if our kids want to run around barefoot across rocks and they stub their toe,
50:30the land taught them a lesson.
50:32I didn't have to teach them.
50:33So then they say, oh, well, maybe I should put my sandals or my shoes on.
50:36Yep, you should.
50:37I agree.
50:38Yeah.
50:38And you wouldn't have hurt your toe.
50:40Co-parenting with the land.
50:42Yep.
50:43Oh, yeah.
50:43That's nice.
50:44Yep.
50:46Co-parenting with the land.
50:50Once again, I'm getting a profound sense that for all the challenges we face,
50:55nature itself still has enormous power to change us and change the future.
51:01It's one more way that Mother Nature offers connection in Idaho.
51:07Connecting the past to the future.
51:10And uniting people of very different backgrounds with very different connections to nature,
51:16but the same understanding of why the great outdoors here are so great.
51:21I came to Idaho with no connection to the place or the people.
51:26But thanks to Mother Nature, I leave with a deep appreciation for both.
51:33I can feel the differences among the people over politics or ideology.
51:37But what I also feel is the literal common ground they share.
51:41The sands, the rivers, the forest, the wildlife.
51:45And everyone who lives here, whether it's been for thousands of years or they just showed up,
51:51well, they appreciate those outdoors too.
51:54So, Idaho, I came, I saw, I changed.
52:01My sister's office.
52:06I was working in the chat with a學来 teacher.
52:07Either you, God, will happen in a petals for life,
52:28Let us know.
52:28What are our expectations?
52:28I want to'm gonna know.
52:29If you can break the earth as well.
52:29You can actually break the lives of wheat.
52:29I'm gonna hang out.