Bi State Interpretive Trail Project: A vision for water resources education. Jim Ekins, University of Idaho Extension, Area Water Educator

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1 Bi State Interpretive Trail Project: A vision for water resources education Jim Ekins, University of Idaho Extension, Area Water Educator

2 My background University Extension: community driven education programs Four+ years in Coeur d Alene (ten years with U Idaho) Old National Park Ranger (CANY ISKY, NERI, BLRI) Stream restoration, volunteer persistence, collaborative natural resources decision making PhD candidate, Conservation Social Sciences: Social ecological resilience Canoeist and overall river rat

3 26 Community Partners! 1. City of Coeur d Alene Stormwater Management 2. Spokane County, WA Stormwater Office 3. Coeur d Alene Lake Management Plan (LMP) 4. North Idaho College 5. University of Idaho Community Water Resources Center 6. University of Idaho Extension 7. Lake City High School Outdoor Learning Center 8. Kootenai Environmental Alliance (KEA) 9. City of Spokane, WA, Wastewater Management 10. City of Spokane Valley, WA, Stormwater Office 11. Spokane River Forum 12. Spokane Water Trail 13. City of Coeur d Alene Wastewater Treatment 14. City of Post Falls, ID 15. Bureau of Land Management 16. Community Water Resources Center 17. Panhandle Stormwater Erosion Education Project (SEEP) 18. Coeur d Alene Lake Tributaries Watershed Advisory Group (WAG) 19. North Idaho Centennial Trail Foundation 20. Friends of the Centennial Trail (WA) 21. Welch Comer Engineering 22. Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District 23. Idaho Washington Aquifer Collaborative 24. Post Falls Highway District 25. East Side Highway District 26. Lakes Highway District (Chasing all the letters of support, commitments, loose ends, etc. is a challenge!)

4 Project Overview A vision for community based water resources education Hands on water science and aquifer education National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funding Mountaineers Foundation funding Interpretive signs: CdA to Spokane Short videos about water quality Thousands of riparian trees to plant Service Learning for H.S. and College Outdoor Classroom/Amphitheater Virtual geocache

5 Mantra and Mission Cleaner. Water. Faster.* This collaborative project is battling more than just stormwater pollution, but also widespread public perception of endless supplies of pristine water in the region. * (thanks to Marlene Feist, City of Spokane Utilities Communications, who came up with the Cleaner. River. Faster. mantra. I re tooled it with permission. )

6 Interpretive Signs 12 interpretive signs ID and WA Centennial Trails: 60 miles Higgins Point to Nine Mile Falls Kootenai and Spokane Counties Cities: Coeur d Alene, Post Falls, Liberty Lake, Spokane Valley, Spokane Graphic Design students (ART 322) Graphic Design summer interns Linked to a UI webpage with additional information (forthcoming) QR codes for developing virtual geocache education program

7 Interpretive Signs

8 Working with Undergraduate Lots of energy Not yet tired and jaded (nor old and fat and nearsighted from the years driving a desk ) No limits to creativity Still learning their craft Pulled in many directions Think there s more time Visit in person! Not credentialed design professionals (yet ) Students

9 Academic Service Learning NOT!!!!! a volunteer event. Meeting learning objectives. Reciprocity: faculty, students, and your organization Co develop the project (design with, not for) Balance between too much and not enough complexity Failure is always an option! Project may be re framed to avoid complete failure Faculty and students may value process over output Designs are more like concepts than plans campuscompact.org for more information

10 Short Videos

11 Native Plant Installation Funding for 2,000 native shrubs (6 tubelings) Anywhere along the corridor ACOE nixed our plans to plant along North Idaho College beach due to the dike SCCD planting project

12 Outdoor Classroom Focused space for educational programs Nothing similar exists in Kootenai County Hayden Meadows kids sitting on the asphalt parking lot! Identified part of the 4 Corners Parks Project A public place to enjoy

13 What it looks like now

14 Topographical Survey

15 Outdoor Classroom Total cost estimated at $65,000 $10,000 secured from Kootenai Aquifer Protection District Additional $5,000 for survey spent: APD, NFWF, Coeur d Alene Tribe, Welch Comer Engineering $20,000 needed for groundbreaking and earthwork Funding for Living roof/presenter shade structure, electricity, pavers, etc., still unsecured

16 Outdoor classroom S L project Capstone civil engineering students Semester long project under faculty supervision (Fritz Fiedler) Pulling together 4 years of courses and labs

17 Strategic Partnerships City of CdA: working closely with to follow permitting and approval process BLM: working closely to meet cultural, natural resource needs CdA Tribe: working closely to meet cultural resource needs Regional stormwater educators and experiential education specialists to create a robust learning environment All 26 partners had something to give, and found some benefit

18 The larger picture NFWF Grant: $37,000 Mountaineers Foundation: $3,000 The Confluence Project (High School): YWS istem From Excellence (4 th grade) IDAH2O Master Water Stewards Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) Publishing peer reviewed articles and bulletins Future desired UI research and education: Bioinfiltration Swale Research Harbor Center Dock Research boat Educational boat (WaterKeepers) Center for Stormwater Research/Education

19 Overarching Philosophy If you want to build a ship, don t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. Antoine de Saint Exupery, French writer and aviator

20 My contact info: Jim Ekins University of Idaho Extension IDAH 2 O Master Water Stewards jekins@uidaho.edu uidaho.edu/cda/idah2o Located in the UI Harbor Center Questions? Discussion!

21 4 Corners Area