Staff

Hello!

My name is Amy Anderson and I am more than a little ecstatic to be joining the Selkirk Conservation Alliance TEAM working to “keep the wild in the Selkirk ecosystem”! Let me tell you a little about myself and how I came to be a member of the SCA TEAM! I was born and raised on a small working farm in southeastern Iowa. In addition to corn fields our family farm contained meandering pastures and was bordered by dense woodlands with many clean flowing streams and lakes. These beautiful natural areas contained an abundance of wildlife both plant and animal that my brothers and I came to know and love as family. I am blessed to be able to say that my early childhood was surrounded by wildlife, nature and water. I was taught to have a deep and profound love and respect for the creatures and systems that sustain us all. These early teachings underpinned my desire to study ecology & conservation biology, wildlife biology and rangeland ecology in the Pacific Northwest, University of Idaho Moscow. After graduating from UI in 2008 I began working for the Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT); Wildlife Monitoring and Evaluation Program (UWMEP). This work included working with The Coeur d’Alene Tribe, the Kalispell Tribe of Indians, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, the Spokane Tribe of Indians and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation collecting, documenting and analyzing, primary ecological data in pristine and altered habitat types to be used as base reference data for future reservation restoration purposes. Through this work with the Tribes I developed a love of and became very familiar with the flora, fauna and ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. In addition, I also developed a deeper understanding and respect for Tribal nations and the work the Tribes are doing (especially in the PNW) to protect and restore our precious natural resources and functioning ecosystems. I was also privileged to work for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s Natural Resources Departments, Environmental Programs Office as an Environmental Planner working on a spectrum of projects and programs, from establishing a Tribal facilities recycling program to developing a CdA Tribe Wetland Program Plan for the CdA Reservation. Through my work with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe I also became very familiar with many of the state, federal and local/regional laws, regulations and protocols governing agencies responsible for protecting public land, water and air. I was responsible for  reviewing and commenting on various county, state, Tribal and non-Tribal programs, plans, special uses, variances, permits, proposed activities, LUDC’s, Comprehensive Plans, SEPA and NEPA compliance documents (EA’s, EIS’s, FONSI,s) etc. working (watchdogging) to ensure compliance with Tribal natural resource management plans as well as state and federal environmental laws. I moved on from the CdA Tribe but continued fighting for public land, air, water and wildlife as the Environmental Programs Director for Kootenai Environmental Alliance (KEA) in Coeur d’Alene Idaho. As the Environmental Program’s Director (and often time sole employee) I wore many, many hats for the organization. Some of these hats included; management of the Coeur d’Alene Lake Waterkeeper program overseeing and facilitating Waterkeeper educational outreach and community engagement efforts in addition to the Waterkeeper citizen science water quality monitoring program. I was the principal program developer, manager, fundraiser and grant writer for the organization researching, developing and managing all KEA projects and programs. This work also included extensive outreach, collaboration and cooperation with partnering entities, agencies and stakeholders which included state and federal agencies, local governments and municipalities, community members Tribal Governments, local youth/students, NGO’s, business owners, school districts, clubs and local organizations and others. I truly believe that environmental conservation and restoration is and must be a collective effort by all community members (and their respective families, businesses, organizations, agencies etc.). Only by working together can we tackle the immensity of the task before us, conserving and protecting land, air and WATER for generations to come. I have lived in the Pacific Northwest for 23 years and am familiar with many of the environmental, social and political issues that plague the region’s air, water, land and wildlife. I am proud and honored to roll up my sleeves and get to work for this amazing organization that has been fighting diligently for natural resources conservation and protection in the southern Selkirk’s for the last 30 years! I hope to work closely with the SCA Board and local community and put my skill set to work fighting to further the SCA mission to “engage the public in southern Selkirk resource and land management issues through cooperation, scientific inquiry, education and economic diversification” and to “keep the wild in the Selkirk ecosystem” for generations to come!