UI may shutter Sandpoint R&E center

COEUR d'ALENE - The University of Idaho's Research & Extension Center in Sandpoint could be on the chopping block.

School officials told legislators in Boise last week that they plan to shutter two of the university's  13 agricultural research and extension centers due to budget cuts.

"None of the centers or programs are targeted yet," said John Hammell, dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, in a telephone interview from Moscow.

The agency is set to receive 7 percent less than it did last year under budget cuts proposed by Gov. Butch Otter.

"For us, it's about $1.9 million," Hammell said.

A review process is being developed to determine which centers will be closed.

Hammell said they will look at areas of redundancy and where centers can merge resources.

Each center has a specific agricultural, natural resource, community or environmental research direction.

The impact a center's closing will have on the industry it serves will be a major consideration, Hammell said.

At the Sandpoint station, established in 1912, the emphasis is on ornamental nursery plants, small-acre crops and fruit, especially indigenous berries like the huckleberry.

"We have a pretty broad range of things that we do," said Dan Barney, Sandpoint superintendent and horticulturist.

They also work with individual growers, present workshops and provide educational materials to the public.

There are three full-time employees, including Barney, on the site.

The Sandpoint research center sits on 77 acres the university had planned in 2007 to develop into a new university campus.

Those plans were indefinitely shelved when the project's main benefactor, the private nonprofit Wild Rose Foundation and then Coldwater Creek CEO Dennis Pence, backed out citing the plummeting stock market and a loss of assets in the foundation's portfolio.

Those development plans included the sale of the land from the university to the foundation.

Larry Branen, vice president of the university's North Idaho operations, said the sale never took place so the university could develop it as another campus in the future.

"It's not totally out of the picture," Branen said. "At some point in time, it could come back, but it's certainly a long ways out."

Branen, whose office is in Coeur d'Alene, said he would be participating in the evaluation of the Sandpoint site when it is reviewed for possible closure.

He said the fact that it could one day house another university campus will be a major consideration.

The Sandpoint facility is the only North Idaho agricultural research center being considered for closure.

The research park in Post Falls is part of the university's College of Engineering and not connected to the agricultural college or its budget.

The university's extension system also has offices in 42 counties with specially trained staff who work with agriculture, families, youth and communities.

Dean Hammell said those offices, including one in Coeur d'Alene, are not in danger of being shut down.