North Idaho is going ghostal.

There are "ghost divisions" all over the place. They are the result of overambitious builders and developers who purchased great chunks of property planning to cash in on the now non-existent building boom.

Developers believed the real estate mirage of the last decade was reality. They listened to the voices in their heads chanting, "If you build it, they will come." Only problem is they didn't come, no one came. And no one is going to come for a very, very long time.

On one hand, I am pleased with these unpopulated oases because they currently provide excellent walking trails. The roads are paved, the surroundings are scenic and peaceful. The rare house one might encounter is usually vacant and for sale. It is wonderful walking in solitude without the annoyance of cars, dogs, and the noise of lawn care maintenance crews.

On the other hand, it is extremely creepy walking alone in such a vast area of partially developed land. I always feel like I am in that episode of the "Twilight Zone" where everyone has suddenly vanished and I am the only person left on Earth. It is also sad to see the invasion and destruction of land that was formerly habitat for some of Idaho's magnificent wildlife.

Recently I was walking in Gotham Bay Estates, soon to be renamed Ghost Bay Estates, off Highway 97 in Gotham Bay. I witnessed the most pathetic and gruesome scene I have ever encountered. A large female elk had been caught on property wires that surround a parcel on the edge of that planned fiefdom. One of her rear ankles had been caught and twisted in all three of the wires that the property owner has in place. She was snared and could not break free. The poor creature had been dead for a few days when I found her. You can imagine the horrible, painful death she suffered. All the while, her calf was standing helplessly by her side. I am sure this majestic creature was crying for help but no one was there to hear her because no one lives there!

I suppose those property wires are an attempt to keep people off private land. News flash, morons! People can read your stupid No hunting, No fishing, No trapping, No trespassing, No blah blah blah signs that you have plastered all over the place! Fence wires are ugly, deadly and unnecessary.

I understand the use of wire or electric fence to corral animals; however, this property contained no livestock or horses. There is no reason to use fence wires if you have no livestock. All wire fencing should have an electric current running through it to protect animals on both sides. It is also effective in keeping all those pesky people out!

The mental illness induced by past real estate feeding frenzies must stop! Property owners need to chill and stop being so nasty toward the occasional hiker or hunter that might touch the perimeter of their property. Builders and developers need to give up the ghost, pun intended, and cease the development of rural areas. Home buyers, an endangered species, need to downgrade their dreams and purchase houses that are already constructed.

With so many vacant, for sale, and foreclosed properties in North Idaho there really is no need to create any new neighborhoods, especially "upper echelon" ones. There are more than enough McMansions and ego domes on the market right now for all the self-anointed royalty to choose from. Now that the commercial real estate sector is in fire sale mode residential prices will be falling fast and furious throughout the next decade, or century, as the real estate market continues to disintegrate locally & nationally. There will be many more already existing rural castles to be had at bargain prices for all you queens of Idaho, all you kings of the mountain.

Patricia Wolford is a resident of Harrison.