EXTENSION TRENDS: BOUNDARY COUNTY University of Idaho Extension, Boundary County • www.uidaho.edu/boundary
2019 Impact Boundary County is the site of extensive University of Idaho variety trials for spring and winter varieties of wheat, barley, canola, and mustard. UI Extension, Boundary County monitors these plots and hosts a field day and crop tour that includes a sponsored lunch, presentations by U of I researchers, and pesticide recertification credits available for growers. A written evaluation from the annual 2019 Bonners Ferry Cereal School showed all participants rating the program as either very good (64%) or good (36%). Producers and agriculture professionals at the event manage or serve 47,720 acres.
2019 By the Numbers • 7,211 direct contacts • 1,848 youth participants • 101 volunteers • 3,870 volunteer hours • $75,889 extramural funding
Our Advisory Council Special thanks to our volunteers who help shape programming and inform the work we do for UI Extension in Boundary County: Joan Poppino, Jan Bayer, Shirley Anderson, Liz Bigsby, Katty Rozok, Craig Anderson, Lauren Kuczka, Tom Daniel, Tim Dillin, Georgia Earley, Mimi Feuling, Deanna Lauber, Julie Newcomb, Marqui Ronniger, Dennis Weed and Liz Wood.
UI Extension Educators Kate Painter 208-267-3235 kpainter@uidaho.edu
Amy Robertson 208-267-3235 amrobertson@uidaho.edu Chris Schnepf 208-446-1680 cschnepf@uidaho.edu
A Little Free Garden program was initiated in Boundary County in 2019, with help from a $2,500 grant from the City of Bonners Ferry’s High Five program, a Blue Cross Foundation grant. More than 20 small public gardens were installed at business locations around Boundary County, offering horticultural education and free produce for the community. Idaho Master Gardener volunteers helped install and maintain these gardens. Another $2,500 grant was awarded to expand the program in 2020. Nine people completed the Master Food Safety Advisor program and fulfilled volunteer obligations needed to graduate. This was the first time the program has been offered in North Idaho since the mid1990s. The program educates participants with in-depth information regarding handling food safely during harvest, storage, preparation, and consumption. Participants attend a seven-week face-to-face training that incorporates food safety basics, foodborne illness, food spoilage, smoking and drying foods, high acid canning, fruit preserves, pickled foods, low-acid canning, freezing, and outreach education as volunteers. Volunteer opportunities include answering phone call questions from consumers, hosting educational displays during community events, and presenting workshops. More than 144 forest owners, loggers and professional foresters attended 2019 UI Extension forestry programs held in Boundary County, such as Ten Acres and a Dream and Logger Education to Advance Professionalism - Update. Currently five Boundary County forest owners are certified volunteers in the Idaho Master Forest Stewards program. Idaho Master Forest Stewards provided 1,126 hours of volunteer service in the Idaho Panhandle in 2019.
4-H in Boundary County A total of 263 youth participated in the traditional 4-H program offered by UI Extension, Boundary County and exhibited their projects at the 2019 Boundary County Fair. A new 4-H project added in 2019 was the ATV/motorcycle project. Boundary County 4-H partnered with the Boundary County Sheriff’s Office to make the project a success. With the help of a summer intern, the 4-H program held several day camps during the summer. These camps included cooking camp, wildlife camp, a two-day fiber arts camp, science experiment day, water science camp, and a youth farm tour.