Batt Says State Will Work With Cda Tribe ‘It’s Important To Me’ To Help Economic Development On The Reservation, Governor Says

Idaho will find a way to work with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe as it tries to create an economic development project, Gov. Phil Batt said Tuesday.

“It’s important to me and important to the state that we do encourage economic development on the reservation,” Batt said during a meeting with tribal leaders. “This is a chance to do something.”

The tribe is eyeing 3.37 acres of land at the intersection of U.S. Highway 95 and state Highway 58, adjacent to its tribal bingo hall.

The land, once part of a tribal member’s personal land allotment, now belongs to the state and is used for gravel mining, disposal of weed killer, and as a maintenance yard.

In addition, people have been using it as a convenient spot to hawk everything from huckleberries to saddles.

The tribe would like to trade similar property nearby for that plot, and has been talking with the state Transportation Department.

The talks have gone well except for one sticking point, tribal council member Marjorie Zarate said: “They were going to add a restriction that it not have any access to the highway, for safety reasons.”

The tribe hopes to develop the property, possibly with a truck stop, motel or convenience store. “It’s right at the junction … traffic has to slow down anyway,” Zarate said.

Transportation Director Dwight Bower, who attended the meeting, said the property is on a curve and raises concerns about sight distance for traffic.

But some work could be done with the road alignment and the problems could be worked out, Bower said, especially because the tribe owns adjoining land.

“We’re inclined to do what you want to do,” Bower told Zarate and Tribal Chairman Ernie Stensgar.

“We need the cooperation that you have put forward as we improve Highway 95.”

Said Batt, “We can probably work through it.”

Tuesday’s meeting was one in a series Batt has held with tribal leaders from throughout the state.

In addition to the Coeur d’Alenes, leaders from the Nez Perce, Shoshone Paiute, Shoshone-Bannock and Kootenai tribes met with the governor and state officials.

Other issues raised by the Coeur d’Alenes include:

An update on the tribe’s proposed regional juvenile detention center. Still in the preliminary discussion stages, the project would include a work camp or boot camp facility, plus a lockdown facility.

It would be for use by both the tribe and surrounding communities.

Stensgar said the tribe hopes to include cultural elements in the camp program, from drumming to Indian arts, to helping instill values in the young participants.

The center also would provide badly needed detention space for juveniles both from the tribe and from state programs.

If the state builds the facility on tribal land, it would be a first.

“We’ve set precedent before,” Stensgar said.

The tribe has started an extensive program to teach the Coeur d’Alene language to tribal members, from kindergartners to senior citizens.

Stensgar said he hopes the state recognizes the program in its core requirements for high school graduation, and in its requirements for college admission.

Sam Byrd, with the office of the state Board of Education, said a committee examining Idaho’s rules and graduation requirements has recommended just that.

, DataTimes