LACLEDE — Almost all of Bonner County’s fifth graders — 460 students from 14 public and private schools — came together for the annual Pend Oreille Water Festival at Riley Creek Recreation Area in Laclede Wednesday and Thursday. 

Every year, a new class of students comes to the shore of the Pend Oreille River to learn about hydrology, water resources and aquatic wildlife at stations manned by a collection of educators, state agents and local naturalists. 

At the water quality tent, students sifted through tubs of pond water to try to find and identify the many snails, leaches, insects and other critters inside. 

At the fur trapping era station, they learned about the 19th century trappers and explorers who were among the first white Americans to navigate Idaho’s streams, rivers and lakes. 

In addition to sharing information about water resources, instructors used the event to educate students about pressing local issues that threaten biodiversity and environmental quality in our aquatic ecosystems. 

At one station, Idaho State Department of Agriculture program specialist Ryan Hanna showed students specimens of the quagga mussel — an invasive species first detected in Idaho on the Snake River in 2023 — and described the environmental and economic impacts the state would experience if the mussels spread throughout Idaho. 

At another, Idaho Fish and Game fisheries resource officer Dakotah Smith showed participants how to distinguish nonnative lake trout from federally protected bull trout and taught them the handy mnemonic, “no black, put it back,” designed to help anglers identify the species’ distinctly light-colored fins and safely release the fish. 

Gail Bolin, who has coordinated the annual event for the past 13 years, said the festival’s value lies in the importance of its subject. 

“It’s life,” she said of water. “It's important that we maintain it without polluting it, and that we also conserve it.” 

Bolin said that 35 volunteers, along with 30 parent chaperones and more than a dozen high school student guides, showed up on Wednesday and Thursday to facilitate the festival. 

The event is also supported by several state and local organizations including Bonner County EMS, which lends an ambulance to be on standby and to sound its siren every 25 minutes to instruct students to move to their next station.

Bolin noted that the festival helps students become aware of the career opportunities available in natural resources conservation and introduces young learners to one of the area’s many public recreation sites and campgrounds.

“Even though they live here, some of them don't get out to enjoy it,” Bolin said. 

That’s perhaps the festival’s most important role — an opportunity for nearly all of Bonner County’s fifth graders to spend a sunny spring day on the banks of the Pend Oreille River and appreciate what makes North Idaho remarkable.

    Local educators, naturalists and subject matter experts taught students about aquatic ecosystems and the importance of conservation.