The Kootenai Shoshone Soil & Water Conservation District is considered one of 50 conservation districts in Idaho. We service the Kootenai and Shoshone County areas. The conservation district is made up of seven voluntary board members and one paid district administrator.
We assist farmers, ranchers, personal landowners, or neighborhood companions with soil and water conservation issues. The KSSWCD is a public service that could be a subdivision of the state, and we work immediately with the Idaho Soil & Water Conservation Fee and the Pure Assets Conservation Service regionally to supply technical, monetary and academic help.
The KSSWCD recurrently companions with native and state companions to supply funding for conservation tasks. Our aim is to take accessible technical, monetary, and academic assets, no matter their supply, and focus or coordinate them in order that they meet the wants of the native landowner and land person for conservation of soil, water and different associated assets.
One of many annual tasks that we administer is the Annual Tree Seedling sale by the Panhandle Seedling Program. We now have joined along with three of our sister districts positioned in North Idaho that embody, Benewah, Bonner and Boundary counties. The PSP board consists {of professional} foresters with intensive data of economic and small landowner timber wants. The PSP was created to supply high-quality native seedlings to non-public landowners in our neighborhood to fulfill their objectives for forest administration well being in life like portions at reasonably priced costs.
The KSSWCD operates 4 watercraft inspection stations all through Northern Idaho by a grant from Idaho State Division of Agriculture. Every station is staffed with inspectors educated to detect invasive species corresponding to quagga or zebra mussels in addition to invasive weeds. These stations are strategically positioned at entry factors all through the state.
Idaho’s $3.7 billion tourism business depends closely on our world-renowned fisheries because of the pristine waterways all through the state. Hand in hand with our fisheries are the a number of types of water recreation together with swimming, boating and fishing. All of those can be vastly modified by the introduction of Quagga or Zebra mussels which not solely wipe out the native ecosystem of our waterways however depart behind razor-sharp shells and clog boat intakes and engines. Watercraft which are inspected embody boats, kayaks, jet skis and paddle boats. In 2023, the end-of-the-year statistics appear to be this: 38,305 watercraft have been inspected over 4 stations, with 156 watercraft sizzling washed and 329 watercraft from infested waters.
The KSSWCD introduced in July 2024 the arrival of the long-awaited no-till drill. We’re so excited to supply this useful resource to landowners in Kootenai, Shoshone, Benewah, Bonner and Boundary counties. The district was awarded a 319 BMP Grant by Idaho Division of Environmental High quality. The district bought an ESCH 5612 12-foot drill that’s prepared and accessible for landowner rental. There are quite a few advantages to utilizing the no-till drill corresponding to: decreasing or eliminating the necessity to until, decreasing or eliminating the wear and tear and tear on gear, planting crops earlier because of fewer floor preparation necessities, add grazing worth through the use of cowl crops as a feed supply, decreasing disturbance in soil, making certain that natural matter stays within the soil that improves plant well being and will increase water retention and better of all of the no-till drill saves round $100.00 per acre for every crop planted. The district has coaching movies in addition to one-on-one troubleshooting with a board member with tons of expertise with a no-till drill.
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Karla Freeman is the district administrator for the Kootenai Shoshone Soil & Water Conservation District.
The Our Gem Coeur d’Alene Lake Collaborative is a group of dedicated and passionate professionals working to protect lake well being and shield water high quality by selling neighborhood consciousness of native water assets by schooling, outreach, and stewardship. Our Gem consists of native specialists from the College of Idaho — Idaho Water Assets Analysis Institute, Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Idaho Division of Environmental High quality, the Basin Environmental Enchancment Undertaking Fee, Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber of Commerce and Kootenai Environmental Alliance.
