Challis, Idaho

View of Challis, Idaho. Photographed from Round Valley looking westward, January 1997.

Challis is an isolated town with a population of slightly less than 1000 people. It has a history of being a "boom-to-bust" (and back again) place due to fluctuations in local mining. Over the years ranching and employment with U.S. government land management agencies have provided sources of economic stability. In recent years tourism, including trips into the nearby Frank Church/River of No Return Wilderness, has become an increasingly important factor. Recently, however, 200 people were laid off as Hecla Mining closed its Grouse Creek gold mine on the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River in 1999.

I have always thought of Challis as a scenic location, and spend a good deal of time in the wild backcountry in the vicinity. There are a lot of good people in the area, but the political ideology of most local political leaders is extremely hostile to conservation and environmental concerns. Not surprisingly the lack of new ideas from political leaders, has led to economic decline.

revised last on October 8, 1998