The place has many names. Some call it Hammer Flat. One real estate developer calls it "The Cliffs." Some simply refer to it as The Plateau. The Ada County government pretends it doesn't exist, at least as far as records of related deliberations are concerned.

From this plateau, you can see Boise, and Idaho’s State Capitol building 10 miles to the northwest. To the South West, you can see steam rising from the stacks of the Micron Technology microchip manufacturing plant. It has that in common with much of Boise Valley. What is not common is, compared to the rest of the Boise River Valley, indeed compared to the rest of the state and nation, is the wildlife density.

One afternoon in the late winter of 2003, from a stance overlooking the plateau, the author counted over 900 head of deer, 90 head of elk, 25 antelope, a couple of coyote, a few wild turkeys, several coveys of quail and chukar, and 5 bald eagles. Sightings by others of wolves are rumored, visits by cougar and bear are fact. The accompanying photographs only hint at the awe visitors feel when viewing the scene in person.

When the neighboring state of Wyoming contemplated a piece of land with similar attributes, they turned it into a tourist attraction. Now known as the National Elk Refuge it helps bring millions of dollars of tourist income into the Jackson area year after year.

Idaho residents pride themselves on their intelligence. However, where the town of Jackson saw an unending series of golden eggs, a real estate developer is eying the prospect of dining on a golden goose.

The Plateau and its wildlife still exist, but its days may be numbered. The developers are doing their best to turn The Plateau into a subdivision. Surveyors have been working, preliminary plats have been drawn, and secret discussions between Ada County Officials and developers have been held. The public has been excluded. Even other local governmental agencies, such as the City of Boise have been excluded. An application has been filed, approved, and appealed. Pending the result of court decisions, and further subterfuge by the developer and Ada County, the exact status of The Plateau is unknown.

There are plenty of social, political and economic reasons why the subdivision should not go forward, such as disregard for the concept of the foothills ordinance, additional urban sprawl, perhaps 10,000 more cars per day on the already overburdened historic Warm Springs Avenue, difficulties with fire protection, a stunning drain on the area’s water supply, minimal provision for basic retail services, the list goes on. But at the end of the day, it seems to me that the true measure of a society is often measured not by what it builds, but rather by what it preserves. In a State and a City that waste no opportunity to extol their quality of life and the access to the outdoors, and in a County whose seal is a Bald Eagle soaring over a body of water, it seems careless, perhaps even absurd, to put a housing development in an area that will eliminate a major Bald Eagle hunting area and severely impact the largest Mule Deer herd in the state.

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of other locations in the valley where subdivisions can be sited that make more economic sense and have little or no adverse environmental impact. Conversely, there may be nowhere else in the valley, perhaps nowhere else in the state, where a single subdivision’s negative impact on wildlife and the environment will be more severe.

Hammer Flats, The Plateau, or whatever name ultimately sticks, is not a good place for a subdivision. It is a site that deserves to be preserved so that area residents and visitors from far and wide can see the kinds of amenities that brought people to Idaho in the past and, if properly preserved, will keep bringing them to Idaho in the future.

So please, get involved. Alert others to the situation. Forward a link to this site to everyone you know who is sympathetic to the issue. Drop me an email if you can be of assistance and send my email address to others you think may be interested.

Let us all do what we can to make sure that Boise City, Ada County and all relevant persons and agencies are aware of the treasure that will be lost if The Plateau is converted into one more patch of urban sprawl.