STATE OF IDAHO 1990 - 1999
| 1990 | Idaho Population: 1,006,749. Idaho celebrates Statehood Centennial - July 3. Senator James McClure retires from U.S. Senate. Idaho State Senate split - 21 Democrats and 21 Republicans. |
| 1991 | Kirby Dam collapses near Atlanta, cutting off electrical power to residents and dumping arsenic, mercury and cadmium into the Middle Fork of the Boise River. Drought persists through fifth consecutive year. |
| 1992 | Fire on the second and third floors of the State Capitol on January 1st caused 3.2 million dollars in damage. Worst forest fire season in Idaho's recorded history. Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris surrender to federal officials on August 31st following a shootout and eleven day standoff at Weaver's Boundary County cabin that left one U.S. deputy marshall and Weaver's wife and son dead. Linda Copple Trout becomes the first woman appointed to the Idaho Supreme Court. |
| 1993 | Normal winter and spring precipitation help to alleviate the drought. Kevin Harris acquitted of all charges and Randy Weaver convicted on minor charges following a 60-day federal trial stemming from the 1992 shootout with federal officials in Boundary County. |
| 1994 | Ezra Taft Benson, native of Whitney, Idaho, died on May 30. Benson had served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1953 to 1961 and head of the Mormon Church since 1985. Summer wildfires burn approximately 750,000 acres. Picabo Street wins silver medal in downhill skiing during the Olympic games in Lillehammer, Norway. Idaho ranks third nationwide in percentage population growth after the state added another 33,000 residents. |
| 1995 | Phil Batt sworn in as the first republican governor in twenty-five years. Legislature creates the Department of Juvenile Justice. Picabo Street becomes first American to win World Cup downhill title. Nuclear waste agreement signed. First year of five years in a row of normal or above normal water/snowpack. |
| 1996 | Major flooding in north Idaho. President Clinton visits Boise to discuss flooding. |
| 1997 | New Year's day floods in the Weiser and Payette River drainages of southwestern Idaho. Town of Banks condemned by federal government following mudslides. |
| 1998 | Picabo Street wins gold medal in giant slalom at Olympic winter games. |
| 1999 | First shipment of nuclear waste leaves INEEL for permanent storage at the federal Waste Isolation Pilot Project in New Mexico. |
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