Talk:Northwestern United States/Archives/2013

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Maybe this article should be merged with the international "Pacific Northwest" article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.171.134.133 (talk) 04:07, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

Colours and appearance

I have made a proposal to change the colour of the map box, please see the discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject U.S. regions --Qirex 05:37, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

Midwest

Can't the Dakotas and Minnesota be Northwest too?

No, those are clearly Mid-Western States -134.50.19.134 (talk) 02:27, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Alaska

When I just merged some text from Pacific Northwest I realize that this article is unclear about the inclusion of Alaska. The text says it is included, but the map doesn't show it. — Sebastian (talk) 00:01, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

• I am a lifelong oregonian, born and raised here, and I have always considered the Northwest United States to be made up of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. Garr1984 (talk) 15:28, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

Utah...

While I know this won't be read for a long time, Northern Utah (north of Utah County) is usually - though not always - considered part of the northwest. 67.41.166.38 02:02, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I have never seen an instance by any source that puts Utah outside of the Rocky Mountain States. -134.50.19.134 (talk) 02:26, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Vancouver

deleted Vancouver as one of the most populous city since it is in BC, CANADA.Profession (talk) 10:04, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Did they mean Vancouver, WA (near Portland, OR)? There's more than one.

Indeed, Vancouver, WA. Vancouver BC is not part of the United States. I have added a WA to the end of it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Contrail10 (talk • contribs) 04:03, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

Wyoming is in the northwest??

I thought that Wyoming is the "rocky mountain west," being next to Colorado. I've never heard it be called part of the northwest, and I'm from Seattle. Calling Eastern Idaho the northwest is somewhat expansive. Northern California, on the other hand is often thought of as the northwest, since it is similar in climate and culture to Oregon, much more so than it is similar to the southwest.Ryanfrei (talk) 21:20, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes, this page could use some references to back up its claims. I'm from Seattle too and don't usually think of Wyoming or eastern Idaho as part of the northwest US. Then again, sometimes I do--especially if the northwest is defined as west of the continental divide and/or including the watershed of the Columbia River. In both cases Idaho is fully northwestern and part of Wyoming too (a rather small part though). Or from a historical perspective, with the northwest having been linked to the Oregon Country and the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company. There was a time when western Wyoming was part of the "jointly occupied" Oregon Country, and was a region of rather intense economic warfare between American and British fur traders and trappers. The British largely won, keeping most American traders east of the continental divide and tying western Wyoming into the economy of the HBC dominated Pacific Northwest. Until, of course, the mass migration of Americans over the Oregon Trail (itself a link between Wyoming and the northwest). Still, that was all long ago.

There's some confusion, I think, over the differences, if any, between the Northwestern United States and the Pacific Northwest. A while ago there was a big debate on the Pacific Northwest's talk page about whether the term was US-only or if it included part of Canada as well. It got archived somewhere... um... here. It was eventually agreed that the Pacific Northwest included part of Canada. In the aftermath of that debate some text about the US-only Pacific Northwest got moved to this page. As a result this page is even less clear about quite what the "Northwestern United States" is supposed to be. It explicitly equates the two terms. Earlier versions of this page did not do that. The first sentence of the page currently starts The Northwestern United States comprise the northwestern states up to the western Great Plains regions of the United States... The second paragraph starts "The Northwest ... is sometimes referred to as the "the Pacific Northwest"... These two statements make the claim that the Pacific Northwest extends into the "western Great Plains region". This strikes me as dubious to say the least! Before the dispute over at Talk:Pacific Northwest, in late 2006, this page's first sentence read: Northwestern United States comprises the Pacific Northwest and the western Great Plains regions of the United States... (from a January 2006 version). This statement does not equate the Northwestern United States with the Pacific Northwest. It instead says the Pacific Northwest (defined to be US only back then) was just one part of the Northwestern United States, not the whole of it.

Anyway, I have written more than I meant to. I think the improvement of the Pacific Northwest page had the side-effect of creating confusion on this Northwestern United States page. It would help if this page cited some sources that used and defined the "Northwestern US". In any case, there are definitely problems with this page. A reference section would be a good start. Pfly (talk) 08:10, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Ok, a quick search on the term "Northwestern United States" turns up a number of sources that include Wyoming. Here's three. Oregon Federal District Court Ruling Classifies Wolves in the Northwestern United States as Endangered, Except in Experimental Population Areas in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service News Release. In case the title isn't clear enough, farther down the text says "The only known wolves in the northwestern United States currently live in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming." The University of Montana's INVADERS Database System is a "database of exotic plant names and weed distribution records for five states in the northwestern United States." This page shows a map of the five states (WA, OR, ID, MT, WY). Regional Pollution Potential in the Northwestern United States, a Forest Service report. Page 2 has a map of the "Northwestern United States" that includes about half of Wyoming. The text also mentions Wyoming as being part of the NW US. ....something to start with, maybe. Pfly (talk) 08:35, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

dubious synonym for PNW

The article asserts that Northwestern U.S. is synonymous with Pacific Northwest. That is certainly not what is (or at least—was) taught in grade school, which was that the PNW is Oregon+Washington, and sometimes B.C. I am sure that can be cited. But including Wyoming in the PNW is sure to be hard to cite. —EncMstr (talk) 22:46, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

• I grew up in Ft. Collins, Colorado, just a few miles from Wyoming. You'd be laughed out of town for calling Wyoming "the Pacific Northwest." That would be like calling North Carolina part of New England. Changing the article, and we'll see if anyone objects or can provide a clarifying source. !melquiades (talk) 22:43, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

Boise vs Spokane

I believe Spokane is bigger than Boise, and as such should be given the third picture. Stupid nitpicking, I know. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.28.188.56 (talk) 00:10, 5 June 2012 (UTC)

The picture says that Boise is the third largest Metropolitan area, which is true, as it is most likely talking about an MSA, or Metropolitan Statistical Area. Boise's is actually larger than Spokane's, although Spokane itself is bigger than Boise.--24.17.144.210 (talk) 23:45, 9 June 2012 (UTC)