United States History Commons^™

Conservative Conservationists: Water Rights, Wilderness, And Idahoan Political Identity, Kelly M. Orgill

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Idahoans' unique and contradictory history of conservation politics reveals deep tensions between expectations of individual water rights, a shared regard for natural beauty, and a deep-seated fear of government intervention. From its earliest settlers to its Sagebrush Rebels to its modern day miners and lumber crews, Idaho has teemed with those eager to profit from the state’s natural resources. The post-war interest in recreation and the environmental movement of the 1970s, however, promoted concern and support for preservation in Idaho. Coupled with the Idahoan obsession with water rights, Idaho environmentalism prompted the conservative Republican state to elect environmentally-minded Democrats Cecil …