Surveyors to mark population center of state

SALMON, Idaho — State and federal surveyors are preparing to place a granite monument to mark the theoretical center of Idaho’s 1.3-million population.

Based on data from the 2000 Census, the point is in the Salmon-Challis National Forest near Stanley Lake.

But the monument, scheduled to be installed Friday, will be placed in a more accessible area near the Park Creek Overlook, seven miles northwest of Stanley.

A formal dedication ceremony is planned for July.

The project is an undertaking by The American Congress on Surveying and Mapping and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Geodetic Survey.

Curt Smith is a geodesist — a mathematician who deals with measuring the shape of the Earth or its surface. He said the survey accounts for all of the individuals, households and precincts in the state and gives each unit a mathematical weight.

A computer model then make equal-distance measurements to find the graphical center of the population.

Smith said that unlike some states, such as Florida or New York, the theoretical population center is not far from the state’s geographic center.

“It’s actually quite close,” Smith said, visualizing a map of Idaho. “Our state’s population is spread really well, and it does fit the geographic center.”

The monument will serve as a reference point in future years, when the same type of exercise could be done again to compare movement of the center.

“Any surveyor can go out and find this mark and immediately know the latitude, longitude and height information from that point.”