On Tuesday, the EPA announced the long-awaited but entirely anti-climactic release of their decision document governing the massive cleanup of the Upper Coeur d’ Alene basin. (News coverage here and here.) As had been foreshadowed for months, the EPA’s decision significantly reduced the scope, timeframe and cost of the cleanup plan from what had been originally proposed some two years ago. At this point it’s more »
On a recent volunteer effort to stencil stormdrains with the message “Dump No Waste, Flows To Lake,” volunteers also collected garbage. Most of this garbage consisted of cigarette butts. Not only was it unsightly and unpleasant to collect and dispose of, it poses a health problem for our waterways. Cigarette butts are NOT biodegradable, but are made of “synthetic polymer cellulose acetate,” a plastic that more »
Stormwater is run-off from rain events and snow melt that flows over hard surfaces like pavement, roofs and sidewalks and picks up debris and pollutants in its path. This flow is directed either into a storm sewer system or can go directly into our waterways. Even if stormwater goes into a storm sewer system, it still gets discharged directly into Coeur d’Alene Lake or the more »
From the KEA Board of Directors: If you value the life you enjoy in the county, we urge you to support the adoption of the county’s Unified Land Use Code. The code will implement the newly adopted comprehensive plan and replace current codes that are decades old. Right now the new code is being assaulted by people claiming their private property rights will be taken more »
Farragut State Park is a favorite recreation destination for locals and out-of-town visitors alike. Its miles of beautiful lakeshore are graced by a mix of old growth ponderosa pine and Douglas fir trees and other native plant species… at least for awhile. Unfortunately the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) has begun to log their land along the extremely popular Idlewilde Bay lakeshore. You more »
Although it seems to have fallen on deaf ears, here’s a great letter from conservative east side Republican Chris Fillios to the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee regarding the Unified Land Use Code controversy. It’s not just KEA with concerns about the “property rights” concerns: I understand tonight’s Republican Central Committee meeting is for the purpose of passing the resolution re: the ULUC, ensuring the more »
One more thing on the unenlightened ULUC opposition. Opponents need to recognize that being against the new code has the same effect as being for the old one. Until a new code is passed, the old one is still in effect. The purported “property rights” issues in the ULUC already exist — in the current code. But much worse. The reality is that Idaho state more »
The Community Roots Local Food Share, a program of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance, is entering its sixth year distributing surplus produce from backyard gardeners and farmers to numerous local food assistance facilities. With thousands of people seeking aid each month, the Coeur d’Alene Food Bank struggles to meet the increasing demands for food assistance. In 2011, Kootenai County was the one metropolitan area in the more »
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. But thanks to the efforts of the Larry Spencer wing of the local Republican Party, a long-overdue overhaul of local land use codes is in jeopardy because of irrational fear of an obscure and utterly irrelevant international document. First, some background. For the 85% of Americans who will have no idea what this uproar is about, Agenda 21 is a 20-year-old more »
Wow. I leave town and two weeks later, crazy takes over. From relentlessly sunny Southern California, I noted the recent and growing uproar over Kootenai County’s land use code re-write. And from here, where the sprawl goes on and on and on for miles, the growing opposition to Kootenai County’s Unified Land Use Code (ULUC) project appears to be either pointlessly obstructionist or appallingly uninformed. more »
