Board should embrace UI's Sandpoint campus

Today, the Idaho State Board of Education is expected to vote on a proposal that will fundamentally change the educational landscape and future of North Idaho.

We hope board members will support this ingenious plan to bring higher education to this remote region.

The $31 million proposal by the Wild Rose Foundation to purchase and develop the 31 acres of the Sandpoint Research and Extension Center, develop the campus and then give it back to the University of Idaho will stand up in Idaho history as one of the most benevolent acts ever perpetrated in the Gem State.

Owing to its agricultural history, this campus will plant seeds that will be harvested for generations.

Construction would begin almost immediately and students could be taking courses on campus as early as 2009. It is projected that 350 people would be taking courses on campus with a full-time student population of 180.

The plans call for 34 resident faculty and staff.

The Sandpoint Research and Extension Center was established in 1915 on land donated by T.J. Humbird, president of the Humbird Lumber Co.

The center provides research and advice for people who wanted to learn more about agriculture.

It's fitting that if this 21st century campus becomes a reality, that another business titan has taken the leadership role.

The University of Idaho Sandpoint campus will be the incubator for innovation that will embrace the past while preparing future generations for the exciting and ever-changing challenges that face North Idaho and the world.

? David Keyes is publisher of the Daily Bee.