Crass Grows Greener On North Idaho Side

It won’t be long before the billboard industry finishes its job of burying North Idaho’s sparkling waterways and pine-covered mountains behind a battalion of signs.

The industry, like a noxious weed, is firmly planted at the western entrances to Idaho, Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene and is spreading rapidly. It has encountered little resistance because government leaders, corporate citizens and the public don’t understand the threat unlimited billboards pose to their quality of life.

In fact, North Idaho tourism leaders, with an occasional touch of angst, are leading the charge to transform their slice of heaven into a billboard jungle. Said tourism official Bob Singletary: “It’s a dilemma. You’re really caught between promoting what is our major industry and cluttering our beautiful scenery.”

Is Idaho really “caught”?

Four exceptionally pretty states have had the backbone to say no to the billboard industry: Hawaii, Alaska, Vermont and Maine. Chris Barbieri, president of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, said his state’s billboard ban sets it apart: “It’s a nice feeling, coming to a place where you’re not assaulted with advertising.”

In Idaho, meanwhile, the 1997 Legislature made it tougher still to remove outdoor signs that are out of compliance with the law. Incredibly, lawmakers required the government to compensate billboard companies for lost revenue. All North Idaho legislators except Rep. Jim Stoicheff, D-Sandpoint, blindly voted for the bill.

Anyone who witnessed former Councilman Steve McCrea’s valiant attempt to rein in Coeur d’Alene’s billboards a few years ago knows how tenaciously the industry fights for its space. Unfortunately, the battle to limit billboards in Coeur d’Alene and, later, Hayden probably encouraged the industry to aggressively pursue Kootenai County sites.

Now, billboards sprout every 700 feet in areas from State Line through Coeur d’Alene, beginning with a knot of six signs that ironically obscure the Pleasant View area.

Unless North Idahoans speak up now, the blight will spread to Rathdrum Prairie along state Highway 41 and to U.S. Highway 95 between Hayden and Sandpoint. Residents must let elected officials and tourism leaders know that their visual comfort year-round is more important than enticing motorists with the equivalent of a three-second sound bite.

For beauty’s sake, North Idaho must draw a line in the sand.

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