Back to work on conservation

Bob Flagor is the first to admit the Kootenai-Shoshone Soil and Water Conservation District has a rocky past.

In 2010, the Kootenai County commissioners cut off funding for the conservation district, due to the district board members' infighting and bungling of their mission to partner with agencies and landowners on conservation work.

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality also pulled a project it was coordinating with the district, over similar concerns. Board members quarreled over whether the district programs were unfairly benefiting large developers.

"I don't know what the fighting was all about back then," said Flagor, administrator of the conservation district. "The county commissioners cut off our funding during that horrible time, because they were saying, 'What do you do? What do we get for giving you money?'"

But now Flagor wants to draw the public's attention back to the district.

He and board members insist the conservation organization is back on track and worth supporting again. And they can prove it.

With several newly elected board members, the district just pulled off what Flagor identified as a monster of a riverbank stabilization project on the Coeur d'Alene River in Medimont, costing $217,000.

Years in the planning, the project was funded by a Clean Water Act grant and involved participation of several agencies.

"I think it kind of makes a statement, about what the district does," Flagor said.

And what it can do.

The project is a fantastic leap from what the district was accomplishing, or not accomplishing, years ago, said board chair Fran Hughes.

He dubbed it a symbol of how the district, which relies on funding from agencies, private contributions and grants, is worthy of projects and funding again.

"It's taken this long not only to rebuild the organization, but to have results to show," Hughes said.

The district suffered a period of veering off course because of board members with little experience or interest in natural resources, he said.

"They were getting on the board for their own reasons," said Hughes, a Rathdrum Prairie farmer.

Following several elections, the board now boasts members experienced in agriculture, forestry and livestock. There is a cascade of ideas to benefit natural resources in North Idaho.

Hughes envisions fish habitat projects along the Coeur d'Alene River. A biomass project to complement forest thinning in Shoshone County. Programs to benefit grazing, farming and ranching on the Rathdrum Prairie.

The district has even kicked off an annual growers meeting with local agriculture interests, he said.

"We've never done that before," he said.

There is hope all this will lure more funding, Flagor said. More grants, perhaps, and county funding.

"It's really important to us, because the state matches any county funding," Flagor said.

He estimated the lost county funding has cost the district $30,000 a year, matches included.

The commissioners can't make any promises.

The elected officials refused to fund the conservation district over the past two years, said Commissioner Dan Green, because it didn't appear to be the best use of funds.

"There seemed to be some duplication, when you factor in other federal and state agencies," Green observed.

Commissioner Todd Tondee said they are open to considering the district again.

"There are a lot of demands on the dollars that come in," Tondee noted. "We have to take a look at each one and weigh them one at a time."

Flagor is at least hopeful about the district's future, he said.

"Now nobody wants to fight anymore," he said. "They just want to do conservation."