Idaho Schools |
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Idaho, The Gem of The Mountains, has a diverse natural environment reflected in its community, politics, economy and cultural development. While industry has replaced dependence on agriculture, lumbering, and mining, Idaho maintains a distinct frontier character. Idaho is also emerging as one of the top states in tourism. College Programs The universities offer advanced degrees in areas related to the state’s economy such as mining, forestry, engineering, and wildlife and range science as well as business, education, and arts and letters. The universities, particularly the University of Idaho, have a large influence on the development of music, art, architecture, and theatre programs throughout the state. The Idaho State Board of Education oversees three comprehensive universities which include the University of Idaho in Moscow was the first university in the state, Idaho State University, and Boise State University. Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston is the only public, non-university 4 year college in Idaho. Idaho has three regional community colleges: North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene, College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, and The College of Western Idaho in Nampa. Private institutions in Idaho are Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg, The College of Idaho in Caldwell, Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, and New Saint Andrews College in Moscow. Culture Idaho boasts some of the largest unspoiled natural areas in the U.S., with 2.5 million acres of wilderness and primitive land. The rugged forest and mountain terrain have always played a major role in the state’s logging and mining economy, but in the past decade, Idaho has attracted many new businesses, including high-technology firms. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL), a government lab for nuclear energy research, is also an important part of the eastern Idaho economy as are the three facilities of Anheuser-Busch which provide a large part of the malt for breweries located across the nation. The several national and state parks and the growth of the winter sports industry has helped make Idaho a leading tourist state. Idaho continues to draw residents in and is one of the nation's fastest-growing states in population between 1990 and 2000. Weather Idaho has much variation in its climate and the altitude is the cause. The state's climate ranges from hot summers in the arid southern basins to cold, snowy winters in the high wilderness areas of central and northern Idaho. Hot summer days are tempered by the low relative humidity and cooler evenings during summer months. Winters can be cold, although extended periods of bitter cold weather are unusual. Recreation Idaho is an outdoors person’s paradise with its grand mountains, timberland, scenic lakes, wild rivers, cascades, and spectacular gorges. There are large expanses of national forests covering approximately two fifths of the state and constituting one of the largest areas of national forests in the nation including parts of Yellowstone National Park and Craters of the Moon National Monument with it’s rare geologic composition. Water is Idaho’s greatest resource, with rivers such as the Salmon and the Clearwater, and many lakes, notably Lake Pend Oreille, Lake Coeur d'Alene, and Priest Lake, as well as the state's mountain areas. Idaho is a superb fish and game preserve especially inviting to campers, anglers, and hunters. |