Idaho leads nation in housing growth. Data shows it’s still not enough. + Emergency logging project coming to Montana, Idaho

By Christina Lords | Editor-in-Chief

“The housing shortage is driving up costs and making it nearly impossible for long-time residents and young families to find homes. This isn’t just an affordability problem, it’s a barrier to economic stability and quality of life.” - Ali Rabe, executive director of the nonprofit Gem State Housing Alliance

A construction crew works outside a new development in Boise. Idaho leads the nation in population growth and housing growth metrics. (Photo by Abigail Gerstein/Idaho Capital Sun)

GROWTH + AFFORDIBILITY

Idaho leads the nation in housing growth. The data shows it’s still not enough.

By Abigail Gerstein

For the second year in a row, Idaho had the highest housing unit growth rate in the nation — boasting a 2.1% increase in its housing stock in 2025, according to the Idaho Department of Labor. But the addition of more than 17,000 units still falls short of need as the state’s population surges.

A U.S. Forest Service road is pictured in Flathead National Forest north of Columbia Falls on Aug. 8, 2021. (Photo by Jordan Hansen/Daily Montanan)

ENVIRONMENT

U.S. Forest Service announces emergency logging project over 5 million acres in Montana, Idaho

By Daily Montanan staff

The U.S. Forest Service published an 8-page emergency plan that it says addresses catastrophic wind damage done to federal forest land after two weather emergencies, but environmental watchdog groups say it’s rushed and could result in millions of acres being used for commercial logging with an almost impossibly short public comment period.

Two weeks of parental leave is not enough time for a body to recover from childbirth, establish feeding routines, stabilize sleep, or begin to surface from the fog of postpartum depression, a condition that affects roughly 1 in 5 new mothers and rarely resolves in a matter of weeks, write guest columnists Tara Jalali Malek and Cora Whitney. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

COMMENTARY

Fair parental leave in Idaho would help workplace retention through a culture of support, acceptance

By Tara Jalali Malek and Cora Whitney

Employers that don’t create space for the transition to parenthood will lose people, and most of them will be women, write guest columnists Tara Jalali Malek and Cora Whitney.

MORE IDAHO AND REGIONAL NEWS FROM US

New digital tour honors the work of Japanese American artist incarcerated at Minidoka during WWII | Abigail Gerstein
Oregon finds invasive quagga mussel on Prineville Reservoir shoreline | Mia Maldonado
Gov. Cox says ‘there’s no end in sight’ to wildfire that could be Utah’s most destructive ever | Annie Knox

MORE NATIONAL NEWS FROM US

US Supreme Court sides with Trump administration’s efforts to curb asylum claims at southern border | Ariana Figueroa
Trump order limiting voting by mail halted by federal court | Jonathan Shorman
US Supreme Court hands win to Monsanto in case related to claims Roundup causes cancer | Jacob Fischler
US Supreme Court rules Trump administration can end legal protections for 350,000 Haitians, 6,000 Syrians | Ariana Figueroa

ICYMI

Shining a light on other Idaho politics reporting

Note: Some links may lead to stories behind a news organization's paywall

Boise State Public Radio | St. Luke's sues former state contractor over fraud, forgery claims
Coeur d’Alene Press: Cd’A School District trustees adopt $107M budget
Idaho EdNews: ‘Maintenance only:’ State agencies told to hold the line on spending
Idaho State Journal: Pocatello investing millions in Historic Downtown infrastructure and beautification projects
Local News 8: Glenn Beck to headline Preston fundraiser benefiting local history, library

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