In brief: Cowboy fundraiser gives to events center
“Coeur of the Cowboy,” a fundraiser for improvements at the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo Events Center, will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. in the Jacklin Building at the fairgrounds.
Members of the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo Foundation organized the day of mounted shooting and pistol, rifle and shotgun events. Live and silent auctions will be held at 4 p.m.
Free line-dancing lessons begin at 5 p.m and the Colgate Country Showdown – a contest looking for talented country warblers – begins at 6 p.m. Wylie and the Wild West will perform at 9 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased for $15 at Hickman Saddlery in Post Falls. For more information, call Kim Edmondson at (208) 691-7365.
– Sam Taylor
Coeur d’Alene
Forest Service treats weeds
The U.S. Forest Service has started to treat 11 noxious weeds species on the Coeur d’Alene River Ranger District with herbicides, a project that will continue through October.
Noxious weeds compete with native vegetation, eventually impacting wildlife and plant habitat, recreational opportunities, grazing allotments and forest beauty, according to a Forest Service press release.
Employees will hand-pull weeds, use chemical treatments, seed competitive grasses and implement biological controls as part of the effort.
For a list of specific treatment sites, visit the Idaho Panhandle National Forests’ Web site at www.fs.fed.us/ipnf/admin/ press.html, or contact Bonnie Thomson (208) 769-3011.
– Sam Taylor
School program receives grant
St. Vincent de Paul’s after-school tutoring and homework program for at-risk youth recently received a $5,000 boost thanks to a grant from the Idaho Community Foundation’s Herbert D. McAvoy fund.
The X-CEL program has received the grant annually for about five years, said Shelly Hines, grant writer at St. Vincent de Paul.
The program started about seven years ago, serving mostly elementary-school aged children involved in St. Vincent de Paul’s transitional housing program.
It received a $1,000 grant from the Kissler Family Foundation Philanthropic Gift Fund in December.
– Meghann M. Cuniff
Orofino, Idaho
Corps to revamp reservoir plan
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to revamp the master plan for recreation at Dworshak Reservoir in North Idaho, and some people want the plan to include more motorized access.
Paul Pence, resource manager at the corps, said all roads and trails on land managed by the corps are closed to motorized vehicles unless they are designated as open.
The only roads now open to motorized vehicles are the main roads that lead to Dent Acres, Canyon Creek Recreation Area and some campgrounds and boat ramps. There is a half-mile trail open to motorized vehicles.
The current plan for land around the reservoir administrated by the corps would only permit access by bicycle, on foot or by boat.
“I’ve done everything I could to get motorized access but, in my opinion, it’s going to disappear,” said Terry O’Donnell of Lewiston, an all-terrain-vehicle enthusiast. “They will give you a ticket and run you off if they find you on there.”
– Associated Press