NIMIIPUU PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT

In FY 2025 the Nimiipuu Protecting Environment Coordinator and staff continued our regular get togethers with the Lapwai Elementary School After School program and continued our program with the youth every Wednesday when school was in session. In 2025 the Coordinator continued to do a number of online presentations on Lower Snake River dam breaching to protect Salmon, protection of wolves and grizzly bears and other endangered species in our Treaty area. During the spring and summer of 2025 we held on the water events and activities at Payette Lake at McCall, Idaho and the Hells Gate State Park for the purpose of continuing to push for the protection of water and aquatic life. areas. With our weekly youth activities with the Lapwai Elementary School After School program that included 30 to 40 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders we met and worked on traditional arts and crafts, beadwork, feather work and other Nimiipuu traditional activities. We also have hired 10 youth who were in the program previously to assist in the paddle carving, arts/crafts and food preparation We continued our advocacy with other Tribes and Tribal Groups and were fairly successful on working with staff from our tribe and other tribal groups in the Pacific Northwest on common environmental issues. We had monthly zoom meetings with groups throughout the Northwest, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho to ensure we kept our message out in the public through these meetings and social media. These included Sierra Club, Save Our Wild Salmon, the Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Clearwater, Earthjustice, Johm Muir Project and others who were working on the same issues, co-opting different groups into our campaigns has proved immensely successful. We continued to meet with the Nez Perce Tribal Circle of Elders at their monthly meetings to ensure we have their input on our activities. We have gained good support within our community by tabling at a number of tribal and community events. The main goals we have now are to Breach the Lower Snake River Dams, push for protections for Wolves and Grizzly bears in the Pacific Northwest and to continue advocating or the protections of the land, water, forests and species in our Treaty of 1855 and usual and accustomed areas. We will continue our youth and adult work in the upcoming year. We also began working with staff from Washington State University and student groups for our Youth Garden and our proposed Fruit tree orchard.