Nick Fasciano is the Executive Director of Idaho Wildlife Federation and came in to speak about wildlife distribution in the state of Idaho. Big game in particular is functioning in ways that are different from years past, and this shift in movement and migration patterns have many causes. Nick will also be speaking at the Rugged Idaho event in Caldwell on April 19th. If you’re interested in hearing more, go check it out! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit ...
Apr 16, 2025•39 min•Ep. 442
Parker Hargen started his So Good movement almost roughly ten years ago, and has led by example bringing the best, positive actions forward to his community. He drives around with a Nascar jack in his car to help with flats (in record time, mind you) and leans in to taking real, meaningful action in the real world. It’s humbling to be around someone who is so unabashedly pushing to be better every day, but I think it’s something we all need. Enjoy! www.theRanchPodcast.org The Ranch Podcast is th...
Apr 16, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 441
Matt Clifford is the Ada County Sheriff and is intimately involved with dealing with illegal immigrants in our area. Many people have asked recently if Idaho law enforcement offices and departments will cooperate with ICE in the coming months and years, and Matt came in to explain that this way of thought is a little backwards. Sheriffs in Idaho don’t have the power of deportation. They can only arrest and notify ICE about someone they suspect may be here illegally. ICE then has to take action, ...
Apr 12, 2025•23 min•Ep. 440
Brett Wilder is an Agricultural Economist for University of Idaho and a local producer at Boise River Lamb. He came in to talk about the tariffs being placed on our imports and what that means for Idaho’s industries, its producers, its imports and exports. As Brett points out, these are not all good or all bad, and more than anything, if you have a “Buy Local” bumper sticker on your car and you DON’T like tariffs, you should take a minute and consider your views on the world economy. Enjoy! The ...
Apr 11, 2025•43 min•Ep. 439
Susie Keller is the CEO of the Idaho Medical Association and came in to speak about many things that came up in the legislative session. One in particular was the problem with Parental Consent laws that have issues when considering emergency situations found within recreation, foster care, and even assaults. We also spoke about the state of medical schools within Idaho and finished off with women’s reproductive care. It’s always a pleasure. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media...
Apr 10, 2025•42 min•Ep. 438
Dr. Phil Gore is the Chief Learning Officer for the Idaho School Board Association and works nationally with school boards and leaders to improve public education. He came in to speak about the problems with school boards, the structure, the election process, and what to consider. As Dr. Gore points out, most people do not think about school boards until there are huge problems in the community, and then people REALLY care about the board members, but as expected, individual board members truly ...
Apr 10, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 437
Alexis Morgan is the Idaho State PTA President and is helping build and promote a community summit on April 26th. The More Social Less Media event will bring experts from across the field and country that are all dedicated to improving the relationship with tech and youth in our community. Tech safety experts, community building experts, tech companies and more will attend the event to present, answer questions, and help all parents of the Treasure Valley start working to build a better tomorrow...
Apr 09, 2025•50 min•Ep. 436
Alexis Pickering is the executive director of the Conservation Voters of Idaho and a huge public lands advocate and educator. Idaho received statehood in part because of a deal we struck with the federal government and land that was inside our state borders. This land was in part designed to compensate the existing states for wrapping us into the union. Alexis did a masterful job of explaining what that means for us now, and what losing that land would mean for us forever into the future. Enjoy!...
Apr 09, 2025•23 min•Ep. 435
Marco Erickson is a District 33 Representative and program director at the LIV Teen Center. He’s incredibly engaged with Idaho youth and cares deeply for the health and welfare of our young people. He has also worked in other states dealing with the homeless crisis that has swept the west, and his explanations of programs, ROIs to taxpayers, and general strategies around youth and drugs were awesome to hear. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media o...
Apr 08, 2025•47 min•Ep. 434
Luke Ankeny is the manager at Marsing Ag Labor and works with agriculture employers to fill labor needs. Our ag system is dependent on a patchwork labor force made of foreign, domestic, and everything in between. Ag labor in particular has come under fire in the state of Idaho with some accusing ag employers of impropriety during the hiring process, but the employer side of the issue is not black and white. Specifically, employers cannot question the authenticity of the employment documentation ...
Apr 07, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 433
Paul Arrington is the President of the Idaho Water Users Association and came in to discuss the future of water in Idaho. Gov. Brad Little requested a $30 million line item for ongoing water research and analysis to ensure the availability of this incredibly scarce and valuable resource in our arid, agricultural state. Paul came in to discuss where we’re headed, what the legislature did, and what we need to understand as a developing state as we move forward. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supporte...
Apr 04, 2025•50 min•Ep. 432
Ben Gillenwater is a former Chief Tech Officer and current cyber security expert who has turned his focus onto the child tech world. There are many programs and pieces of tech that are marketed to parents and children as safe, fun, and generally innocuous. However, as Ben took a deep dive into the world of child facing tech, he realized how damaging and dangerous it really is. He has committed his professional focus to helping families protect their children one at a time. Enjoy! The Ranch Podca...
Apr 04, 2025•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 431
Brian Jagger is the founder of GuardRailz AI, an AI company that helps integrate safe, effective AI tech with education systems. His insights about what AI can and can’t do, along with what schools are actually looking for in education was amazing. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. www.theRanchPodcast.org The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews and information ...
Apr 03, 2025•40 min•Ep. 430
Lauren Necochea is the leader of the Democratic Party in Idaho and came in to speak about the legislative session, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. www.theRanchPodcast.org The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews and information in the Treasure Valley and great state of Idaho. The Boise area is home to many counties and ways of ...
Apr 03, 2025•48 min•Ep. 429
Brandy Furiani is the Executive Director of the Eagle Chamber of Commerce. We were blessed to enjoy two vanilla lattes from the new Form and Function coffee spot on Eagle at Hill and 55 while we talked some trash and schemed for the summer months. Thank you Heather Ferguson Realty for helping bring this fun, informative, community episode to the people! www.theRanchPodcast.org The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews and information in the Treasure Valley and great stat...
Apr 02, 2025•50 min•Ep. 428
Jonathan Oppenheimer works for the Idaho Conservation League, and we spoke extensively about the timber industry in Idaho. Some have blamed the destruction of the timber industry on environmental preservation and also blamed the increased fuel load for the massive fires we are experiencing. Jonathan sees things differently, specifically from the lens of changing consumer needs with lumber and longer forest life cycles. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-pro...
Apr 02, 2025•56 min•Ep. 427
Chris Danley is a civil and traffic engineer in and out of the state of Idaho. He has worked on projects in almost every major area of the state and came in to speak about the interesting trend of state legislation that is designed to control local traffic design. In Ada County, for instance, we have a highway district that has commissioners that are elected by the residents of Ada County, but there were several state level bills this session that uniquely targeted ACHD. This was an interesting ...
Apr 01, 2025•44 min•Ep. 426
Dr. Emily Wakild is a BSU professor, historian, and beaver expert. The beaver has an amazing and incredibly functional history in Idaho, which comes as no surprise considering our extensive network of rivers and creeks. This amazing creature helped in the past but is also currently still helping by creating surface water storage systems that our state desperately needs to continue capturing our precious water resource. This is definitely the first of many with Dr. Wakild. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcas...
Apr 01, 2025•48 min•Ep. 425
Cory Stambaugh is the Garden City Chief of Police and very concerned about the state of our Department of Corrections. He brought in lots of pieces of information that gave me pause, ranging from things like state owned and paid for vehicles for inmates to drive around to bounce houses and family parties in prisons. I am obviously not in corrections and know nothing about the systems in place, but I have heard from several law enforcement officers that this is atypical. I greatly appreciate his ...
Mar 31, 2025•33 min•Ep. 424
Tracy Basterrechea is a current chief of police and former president of the Idaho Police Chief Association. He came in to speak on several bills that have either passed or failed in this legislative session, including the Bolter-Stall bill, the mandatory minimum for a second DUI involving a death, and child predators. Crime in Idaho is incredibly low, especially when compared to our surrounding states, and that is no mistake. Law Enforcement agencies work incredibly hard, and hearing from them d...
Mar 28, 2025•31 min•Ep. 423
Jon Weber is a District 34 Representative concerned with the ever increasing stranglehold that the developer controlled HOA systems in Idaho have over residents. In current law, HOAs are under the control of the developer until the development is all but completed. In some areas of the Treasure Valley, for instance, there are developments that will take decades to complete, so the residents who own and live in those areas will not have any say or control of their own homeowner’s association for ...
Mar 28, 2025•25 min•Ep. 422
Monica Church is a District 19 Representative and recently attended a rally for public lands put on by the Conservation Voters of Idaho. She spoke at the engagement on the origins of Idaho’s public lands and why they’re so important to the state. Every time I speak with someone about public lands, I learn more about how fundamental they are to our state from an industry, identity, and individual citizen point of view. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-prof...
Mar 28, 2025•42 min•Ep. 421
Jeff Simmons is the Superintendent for the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance, a state funded organization offering digital education to Idaho students. This is an incredible resource for people looking to supplement their existing public education, for homeschool families, for private school families, or those looking for alternative education models. This is yet another program provided by the state of Idaho that makes it an incredible place to live and raise a family. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is...
Mar 27, 2025•35 min•Ep. 420
Jeff Ehlers is a District 21 Representative and came in to speak about the Gangster Tax and reducing licensing roadblocks for service providers. The Gangster Tax is in response to the BLM introducing projects into the state of Idaho that do NOT fit with our state, do NOT have public backing, and are NOT wanted by anyone living here. It would levy an excise tax onto those projects that could double the cost of the project and potentially make private companies think twice about their designs. Enj...
Mar 27, 2025•34 min•Ep. 419
Megan Egbert is a District 17 Representative and came in to speak on the SNAP program modifications and restricting illegal immigrant services. She is concerned that making it more difficult for stores to work with the SNAP program will reduce options for Idahoans who use the program, and she’s also worried about young people and soon to be born Americans that will be removed from social help, like food assistance. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit ...
Mar 27, 2025•39 min•Ep. 418
Josh Lustig is an Idaho grown success story. After dropping out of college in four months, he went to work in the insurance field, but he inserted innovation and leveraged social media marketing to become a decamillionaire before 30. This type of out of the box thinking is what we will fundamentally need in our upcoming generations as technology shifts the employment landscape. More than anything, Josh exhibits what every young person in Idaho needs to understand: there’s opportunity everywhere....
Mar 26, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 417
Jeff Cornilles is a District 12 Representative, which includes the Nampa area where the infamous Pride Festival was held last year. There was a problem at the festival with two specific individuals who appeared to be males with plastic surgery to give them female breasts. The existings laws in Idaho at the time prevented police or other law enforcement from charging these two individuals with lewd and indecent behavior, and Rep. Cornilles came to the legislative session this year ready to addres...
Mar 25, 2025•28 min•Ep. 416
Rick Naerebout is the CEO of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association and came in to speak on the bird flu that is wrecking the poultry industry. The bird flu can infect many mammalian species, including cattle and humans, but it has a drastically different effect on us than it does in poultry. It is also very easily killed in the pasteurization process. For any dairy consumer, this was important information to consume. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit med...
Mar 25, 2025•24 min•Ep. 415
Jerald Raymond is a District 31 Representative who has been engaged in Ag his entire life. We spoke at length about issues around protecting Idaho children from vaping and illegal products, water resources, and the preservation of Idaho history and culture. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focused media. www.theRanchPodcast.org The Ranch Podcast is the premier source for long format interviews and inf...
Mar 24, 2025•35 min•Ep. 414
Stephanie Mickelsen is a District 32 Representative and is very concerned about government overreach with Idaho businesses. One bill in particular removes businesses’ ability to refuse service to individuals, something that has classically been very cherished by conservative lawmakers who value religious freedoms. We also spoke on Ag. labor myths and political transparency. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast is supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, ...
Mar 24, 2025•34 min•Ep. 413
