OUR GEM: Re-MEMBER-ing the Kootenai Environmental Alliance

Over the last 50 years, Kootenai Environmental Alliance (KEA) has been a leader in environmental activism, advocacy, and education in conserving, protecting and restoring North Idaho. When it comes to Our Gem, KEA has been and will continue to be a voice for Coeur d’Alene Lake and all the water resources of this wonderful part of the country.

As with many nonprofits, we have had our ups and downs through COVID, staff changes, decreases in grant funding and the many challenges every grassroots non-profit faces. Thanks to the dedication of former board members, (many from the original group of volunteers), partnerships in our community, and help from passionate community members we are building KEA's future for the next 50 years, beginning with a reinstatement of the original membership organization structure.

We invite you to attend our re-MEMBER-ing KEA event at The Art Spirit Gallery on April 27 at 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. to meet the Board of Directors, hear what is planned, offer your input, and find out how you can get involved. We have the mission, we have the vision, we have the passion and there are so many ways you can be a part of it all and truly make a difference.

KEA’s mission sits upon five pillars that define the board and volunteer focus areas: Water, Forest, Land Use, Community Sustainability and Climate Action. Building on our strengths and working with a limited capacity for the past two years, the Board of Directors, with input from KEA donors and the community, voted for the Water Pillar to be our primary focus at this time.

We are proudly aligned with the National Waterkeeper Alliance and have been designated as the Lake Coeur d’Alene Waterkeeper, leading water advocacy efforts throughout Kootenai County by promoting shoreline restoration and organizing events including:

• Hosting Waterkeeper Educational Boat Tours

• Reporting violations to shoreline riparian zones

• Monitoring stormwater discharge

• Advocating for expanded public access to our lakes and rivers

This is a lot of activity for a small board! We are thankful for the community volunteers and partnerships that have helped with this important work.

We are currently collaborating with water professionals and educators to expand classroom and outdoor educational programs for first- and fifth-grade students and are creating a third-grade environmental curriculum. This collaboration ensures environmental education from first grade through high school — educating the next generation to conserve, protect and restore our environment.

Now, 50 years later, population growth has put tremendous pressure on the North Idaho environment and our mission to conserve, protect and restore the North Idaho Panhandle and Lake Coeur d’Alene is more urgent than ever. We continue to fight the good fight and know we have a window of opportunity to change the course of the decline in lake water quality and the overuse of our natural resources that impacts us all. Together we can change the trajectory towards a better tomorrow.

Help us spread the word:  make a donation, volunteer for a program, join a committee and/or attend an upcoming event:

April 20 — Earth Day at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library

April 27 — re-MEMBER-ing KEA at Art Spirit Gallery

May 2 — North Idaho Green Summit at 1st Presbyterian Church

Oct. 12 — Junk2Funk — the Eagles on Sherman

Visit the Kootenai Environmental Alliance website, kealliance.org, or call 208-640-3455 for more information.

The Our Gem Coeur d’Alene Lake Collaborative is a team of committed and passionate professionals working to preserve lake health and protect water quality by promoting community awareness of local water resources through education, outreach, and stewardship. Our Gem includes local experts from the University of Idaho — Idaho Water Resources Research Institute, Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission, Kootenai Environmental Alliance.

Cynthia Rozyla is the Kootenai Environmental Alliance Board Chair.