IDL tracks and monitors news coverage of our activities and significant events that may impact our operations, recapping the coverage in this newsletter.
This publication also details IDL's social media posts for the week, keeping stakeholders and our front-line customer service staff apprised of our public-facing communications.
The community is invited to join the city of Sandpoint and its partners at the 2022 Arbor Day celebration.
The celebration will be held Saturday at Lakeview Park, 901 Ontario St., between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. A tree planting ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m.
There will be educational booths, landscape design workshops, a tour of the arboretum tour. Participants will be able to collect stamps at the different events in their adventure passport for a free tree seedling and other prizes.
In addition, the Bonner County Historical Society will also be hosting its annual plant sale from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at the museum.
This event is being held by the city Sandpoint, along with the Bonner County Historical Society and Museum, Aster Garden Design Center, Pend Oreille Arts Council, Kaniksu Land Trust, Spokane Conservation District, Idaho Department of Lands, Bonner Soil & Water Conservation District, and the Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society.
Kooskia students mark Arbor Day with kiosk planting
Clearwater Progress, 5-5-22
Despite the rain, 30 students from Kooskia Elementary fifth-grades classes (Mrs. Simmons and Mrs. Fabbi) turned out on Arbor Day last Friday, April 29, to learn about tree planting, assist with picking up dead branches, raking mulch, pulling weeds and picking up trash at the Kooskia Crossing Kiosk at the junction of highways 12 and 13. Additionally, each student received a tree to take home and plant.
“Enthusiasm ran high despite the rain and the kids jumped into the tasks assigned with vigor,” said organizer Cindy Lane, Kooskia Revitalization Team member. “I had a short quiz for the kids about trees and Arbor Day and was pleased how much they knew. We were able to plant three maples to start replacing the poplar trees on the site, thanks to a $300 grant from the Arbor Day Grant Program - Planting Idaho.”
The Plant Idaho Grant program is sponsored by Idaho Nursery & Landscape Association, Avista, Idaho Power, Rocky Mountain Power and Idaho Department of Lands.
Many Idaho forest landowners want to better understand forest growth and how they can better manage their forest property to meet their goals. In addition, forest landowners are often required to demonstrate planned, active forest management to qualify for lower forestry property tax rates and cost-share assistance for management activities such as thinning.
This summer, a six-session program, titled the Forestry Shortcourse, will help enrich forest landowners’ understanding of forest ecology, silviculture, forest health, wildlife habitat, and other forestry topics. In the process, participants are coached by natural resource professionals on how to develop a management plan for their forest.
If you have questions on the program, contact Chris Schnepf at 208-292-1288. Forestry Shortcourse is an Idaho Forest Stewardship program, co-sponsored by University of Idaho Extension, the Idaho Department of Lands, and many other agencies and organizations.
Burn permits are required outside city limits May 10-Oct. 20, according to the Idaho Department of Lands.
Permits are required during the annual period, called closed fire season. The free, state-issued permits apply to debris and crop residue burning. They are valid for 10 days. They are not available in districts where burn bans are in effect.
Idaho leaders April 29 declared drought in 34 of the state’s 44 counties. Heavy precipitation in April plumped grasses and other fine fuels, which could pose added fire risk when warm, dry conditions arrive.
The Department of Lands said the permit system aims to help prevent human-caused fires.
Dustin Miller, the department’s director, said permits reduce false alarms. Having a burn permit on record also can enable fire managers to respond faster to fires that get out of control, and may reduce the burner’s liability if a fire escapes.
Fire Management Bureau Chief Josh Harvey said severe fire seasons are increasingly common, and more people are moving into the wildland-urban interface and next to agriculture.
“These trends combined with drought conditions and declarations should heighten everyone’s concerns this wildfire season,” he said.
Harvey said a debris fire started on one property can spread quickly onto a neighboring property and to adjacent timber or agricultural land. Debris burning was one of the most frequent causes of wildfire last year on land the department protects.
Farm & Forest Fair offers hands-on ag education
Idaho County Free Press, 5-4-22
How much do cows eat each day? What products are made from wood? How do erosion and pollination work? What weeds are dangerous if you were to eat them?
Each year, fifth-grade students from throughout the area have these questions and more answered at the Camas Prairie Area Farm and Forest Fair, held Wednesday, April 20.
Sponsored by the University of Idaho-Idaho County Extension and the Idaho County Commissioners, the event is held at the Greencreek Community Hall. Students spend 90 minutes going from station to station for eight-minute talks. Handouts, treats and information are given at each station, and the process moves quickly.
Additional agencies presenting included Idaho/Lewis Counties Cattle Association, Idaho Department of Lands, the Grain Max Theater, Soil Conservation Services and Nezperce Tribe Bio Control.
This past Wednesday, April 27, the Clearwater Valley Fire Districts Auxiliary (CVFDA) hosted the 2nd Annual Wildland Fire Mitigation Presentation at Orofino City Park. Wildland Fire experts from the Clearwater Valley and beyond were present to answer questions regarding the different ways to help make area homes Fire wise.
Despite our cool, wet spring, weather experts are calling for another hot, dry summer and area residents came out to learn how to make their homes and properties safe for the wildfire season.
Representatives from Nez Perce Tribe Forestry and Fire Management, Clearwater Potlatch Timber Protection Agency, Idaho Department of Lands and the Clearwater Office of Emergency Management were on hand.
Clearwater Valley fire chiefs and firefighters as well as first responders from the Clearwater Ambulance Service were also available to answer questions and help educate everyone on how to best protect their homes from wildland fires. Brochures were also available with many helpful tips on how to be Firewise around your home.
Fire apparatus from local Fire Districts were on display, and there were free hot dogs and bottled water furnished by CVFDA, along with face painting and coloring pages for the kids and Smokey Bear even made an appearance for that special photo with kids and adults alike.
Routine meeting handled swiftly
Bonner County Daily Bee, 5-4-22
Bonner County Commissioners breezed through a comparatively routine agenda approving contract agreements, annual updates, and county maintenance.
The final two items in the public portion of the meeting came from the Commissioner’s Office. The first approved the auction of 13 parcels of endowment land near Priest Lake. The ongoing process is managed by the Idaho Department of Lands. The commission voted to respond to the State Board of Land Commissioners that they have no objection to the auction.
Closed fire season begins May 10, which means Idahoans outside city limits will need a burn permit before burning any debris.
The closed fire season lasts until Oct. 20.
“The burn permit system reduces the number of false alarms and allowing fire crews to respond only when truly needed. Having a burn permit on record means fire managers can also respond more quickly to fires that escape,” said Dustin Miller, Idaho Department of Lands director. “Obtaining a free burn permit can also potentially reduce the liability of the burner if their fire escapes.”
Central Idaho faces a significant risk of wildfires in 2022, so permits are particularly essential to preventing wildland firefighters from wasting resources.
The burn permit is free and lasts 10 days after it's issued. People can get the burn permits online.
Arbor Day Foundation designates Boise State a ‘Tree Campus Higher Education Institution’
Boise State News, 5-3-22
Boise, or as it is lovingly known by residents, “The City of Trees” just got even greener. Thanks to enormous efforts by Boise State students and faculty, the university is now a designated ‘Tree Campus Higher Education Institution’ thanks to the Arbor Day Foundation. At the campus’s Arbor Day celebration on April 29, members of the campus community planted three new trees provided by the City of Boise to celebrate the university’s designation.
This designation is in recognition of work completed by School of Public Service Lecturer Mari Rice and 30 students in her 300-level Environmental Studies course during the Fall 2021 semester.
Students help plant new campus tree, Photo by Lainey Rehkemper
Rice and the students surveyed and documented every tree on campus in a comprehensive online story map and developed a tree management plan.
The project was a collaborative effort between the students, Campus Landscape Services, the Service- Learning office, Campus Sustainability, and the Idaho Department of Lands who trained the class and gave them access to the tree inventory software.
Valley Co. Commission comes out against auction of Cougar Island in Payette Lake
BoiseDev, 5-2-22
The Valley County Commission has come out against a plan by the Idaho Department of lands to auction a Payette Lake island.
The commission finished crafting a letter to the Idaho Department of Lands outlining its opposition to a process to auction the 14-acre Cougar Island. IDL hired Corbett-Bottles Real Estate Auctions to sell the five lots on the land, as BoiseDev reported last week.
“We do not support auctioning the endowment lands,” commissioner Sherry Maupin said during a public hearing Monday in Cascade. “This (letter) has also gone through United Payette since we are also in partnership with them on all of those easements.”
Mark your calendars! Idaho law (38-115) requires any person planning to burn outside city limits within Idaho, including crop residue burning, to obtain a fire safety burn permit during closed fire season. Get your permit here: burnpermits.idaho.gov Campfires do not require a burn permit! #OneTeam #IDLFireInfo
May is National Wildfire Awareness Month. The Idaho Department of Lands is here to connect you to the information you need to prepare. Check out our updated IDL Fire webpage. You'll find our Fire News Feed, Fire Restrictions, Idaho Fire Map and more: https://www.idl.idaho.gov/fire-management/
