Tribe To Present Plan On Environment 3 Meetings Are Scheduled, Open To The General Public

An ambitious plan to improve and protect the environment on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation will be presented at three public meetings.

Written at the initiative of the tribe, the plan is meant to guide council decisions involving human health, ecology and quality of life.

Indians and non-Indians are invited to attend the meetings, according to Tiffany Allgood, coordinator of the tribal Environmental Assessment Plan.

Comments will be accepted regarding water, air, land, forest, fish, wildlife and wetlands, as well as tribal culture and related economic issues.

The meetings will be held:

In Plummer at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Community Center, 520 C. Street;

In St. Maries at 7 p.m. Jan. 22 in the Washington Water Power Auditorium, 528 College Ave.;

In Worley at Lakeside Elementary School gym, 7 p.m. Jan. 29;

In Tensed in the Community Center on U.S. Highway 95, 7 p.m. Feb. 4.

The assessment plan is being funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. Its first phase involves developing a list of problems and potential problems; researching and summarizing existing information on each; and ranking their severity.

Next, strategies will be written and an action plan developed. Implementation will be a long-term effort, tribal officials said.

, DataTimes