Extension Trends: Kootenai County

EXTENSION TRENDS: KOOTENAI COUNTY University of Idaho Extension, Kootenai County • www.uidaho.edu/kootenai

2019 Impact UI Extension, Kootenai County offers forestry, family and consumer sciences (FCS), home horticulture, water quality, and 4-H youth development programming and education.

In 2019, 701 owners of over 56,000 family forest acres, 275 loggers, and 162 foresters and other natural resource professionals attended forestry workshops and other educational activities offered by the UI Extension Panhandle Forestry program. To help support UI Extension efforts, 36 certified Idaho Master Forest Stewards provided over 1,126 hours of volunteer service to 7,441 forest owners and others. The improved management practices that family forest owners implement as a result of knowledge and skills gained in UI Extension programs will ultimately increase wood to fuel Idaho’s economy, maintain water quality, reduce catastrophic fire risk, improve forest growth and health, and enhance biological diversity.

2019 By the Numbers • 45,826 direct contacts • 38,104 youth participants • 458 volunteers • 9,417 volunteer hours • $336,867 extramural funding

UI Extension Educators Shelley Johnson 208-446-1680 sjohnson@uidaho.edu

Chris Schnepf 208-446-1680 cschnepf@uidaho.edu Sharla Wilson 208-446-1687 swilson@uidaho.edu Jim Ekins 208-292-1287 jekins@uidaho.edu

FCS programs focus on nutrition, wellness, and obesity prevention.

The UI Extension Northern District’s Eat Smart Idaho Program is managed in Kootenai County and focuses its efforts on access to healthier foods targeted at low-income families. Programming includes the Smarter Lunchroom Movement in three local school districts and Healthy Food Pantry/Healthy Food Drive initiatives supporting many North Idaho pantries. In 2019, FCS programs helped over 32,000 youth and adults establish healthy eating habits and a physically active lifestyle. Participants showed improvement in dietary knowledge or practices, use of food resource management, food safety, physical activity, and an improved sense of food security.

Idaho Master Gardeners participated in 659 hours of continuing education to improve their knowledge and skills. In turn they provided 977 hours spent in the UI Extension, Kootenai County Plant Clinic as well as 2,650 one-on-one consultations through plant clinic and farmers market interactions. The Idaho Master Gardeners booth at the Kootenai County Farmers Market saw an increase in visits/client questions by 50%, compared to 2018. There were also 960 adults who attended one or more of the 28 classes offered by the Idaho Master Gardeners program.

IDAH2O Master Water Stewards, Project WET, and The River Mile Crayfish programs provided professional development training to 75 K-12 teachers and 25 additional Kootenai County citizen scientists.

Other related impacts included teaching watershed science portions of the Logger Education to Advance Professionalism workshops and The Confluence Program and Idaho Youth Water Summit that reached 500 high school students.

4-H in Kootenai County In 2019 the UI Extension, Kootenai County 4-H Youth Development program saw an 18.6% increase in club member enrollment (765 enrolled youth); a 15.6% increase in adult volunteers (237 volunteers); and an 18.6% in youth who benefited from short-term youth programs (1,427 youth participants).

be offered virtually, and grant funding is being sought to offer online videos and publications that are geo-referenced to specific forestry demonstration areas via ESRI Story Maps, so people can see sustainable forestry principles placed into action.

At the North Idaho State Fair, 536 exhibitors entered 1,669 items. These entries included everything from robotics, citizenship, and foods, to animal exhibits. Youth who participate in 4-H activities not only gain project/topic skills but also learn valuable life skills that they can take forward into adulthood.

Program growth has resulted in expanded learning opportunities. To reach short-term members in addition to traditional club/project youth, 19 sessions of summer programming was offered focused on STEM and expanding exposure to the breadth of 4-H projects available. A total of 14 county level contests and events (not including fair) were held for youth to expand and test their knowledge and skills across a range of project areas. County youth also participated in a district retreat, three state level events, and three national level events. Additionally, multiple members serve on the State 4-H Teen Association Convention and other state event planning boards.

4-H activities are being incorporated with local elementary schools through experiential learning during the school day and afterschool programming.

A statewide team is working to create consistent volunteer onboarding and training and multiple training opportunities for volunteers to continue their education and skills as 4-H volunteers are offered annually.

In 2019 a fundraising event was held to help purchase modular horse stalls for the fair. Over $15,000 was donated resulting in 24 new stalls.

On the Horizon The Idaho Master Forest Stewards continue to reach more family forest owners. They will also inform the forestry community about family forest owners' needs and help guide UI Extension and research programs and technical assistance efforts of public and privately employed foresters.

A variety of programs will continue to be offered with their guidance. The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in new ways of providing forestry education to forest owners, loggers, and professional foresters. In the future, more programs will likely

The FCS program is working on a research project related to the cleanliness of water bottles. Many school districts encourage students to bring water bottles from home to use in the classroom, however, water provides optimal growth conditions for microorganisms. Researchers have identified four middle schools to conduct reusable water bottle sampling, cleaning, and sanitizing education. Analysis indicates significant improvement in four of the five water bottle cleaning behaviors among the intervention students from the same school, comparing two classrooms pre- and post- education. Comparison between intervention and control in different schools showed significant improvement in all five of the measured water bottle cleaning behaviors.

Water bottles were collected to be sampled and results from the microbial counts will be reported as analysis is pending.

A new 4-H curriculum about wildlife and water is in final stages for publication, as well as a new 4-H volunteer handbook and 4-H pledge video. Additionally, a research study on volunteerism patterns, University Extension Citizen Science Water Quality Monitoring Programs: Analysis of Volunteer Activities, was published.

UI Extension, Kootenai County will work with additional schools, including homeschool groups, to integrate experiential learning activities, developed on 4-H principals, into school day and afterschool programs. The 4-H program is also working to set up a 4-H STEM Lab that would allow any local 4-H member to learn about and use technology such as snap circuits, drones, 3D printers, and EV3 and similar robots.

Our Advisory Council Special thanks to our volunteers, organizations, and agencies who help shape programming and inform the work we do for UI Extension in Kootenai County.