A partnership of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and University of Idaho won one of three new extension Indian reservation programs funded recently by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. David Clark, a graduate of Haskell Indian Nations University, is the new extension educator based at tribal headquarters at Plummer on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation, which spans 345,000 acres in Benewah and Kootenai counties in Idaho’s Panhandle.

Clark’s hiring is a welcome sign given the tribe’s long held desire to add greater extension and education opportunities, said Alfred Nomee, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s Natural Resources Department head. “We’re excited about it and the potential for working with students on the reservation. I want to interest young people in careers and in coming back to the reservation to work,” Nomee said. “I see it as a real exciting opportunity to build some cooperative efforts between the tribe and UI Extension,” said Larry Branen, the university’s dean of Agricultural and Life Sciences and vice president for Outreach.

A graduate of Plummer High School, Nomee watched his classmates move elsewhere in search of opportunities and wants to reverse the traditional pattern of youth leaving the reservation. There are opportunities for youth to become involved in the tribe’s extensive agriculture and forestry operations, and in related programs ranging from wildlife, land management, and water quality, Nomee said.

Nomee believes an active 4-H program and helping build an FFA program in reservation schools will be essential to interesting youth in natural resources and environmental studies. In many respects, Clark’s life parallels Nomee’s and his goals.

A member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, Clark worked for the tribal forestry department at Nespelem, WA for 22 years before deciding to enroll at Haskell in Lawrence, KS. Clark earned an associate’s degree, then a bachelor’s degree in political science. He is now studying at Eastern Washington University for a master’s degree in public administration.

The Coeur d’Alene tribe had pursued the extension funding for a decade. An early proposal won approval but then a budget shortfall left the tribe’s program unfunded.

The university helped to develop a new proposal through the efforts of Valdasue Steele, Benewah County extension educator. Before joining the UI faculty three years ago, she worked on the Navajo Reservation at Shiprock, NM as a reservation extension agent. The Navajo Nation was among the first tribal governments to obtain federal funding for extension reservation programs. When she learned of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s longstanding interest, she helped to write the new proposal, which was accepted and funded.

“The Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s active role in pursuing the program was essential in winning approval and funding,” Steele said. Clark said his first efforts are to meet with tribal members and leaders to determine what programs they would like to receive top priority. The tribe’s elders will be essential to success. “Tribal culture is intergenerational and concern for the environment is passed down from the elders,” Clark said. “I hope to rely on the elders and the political structure to maintain that interest.”

“The land base is there; the opportunities are there,” Clark added.

© 2002 University of Idaho, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.