Life Waters: Tribal STEAM Education and Workforce Development on a Wild & Scenic River

By Nathan Moody

During the summer of 2026, PRL lab member and faculty in the UI Natural Resources and Society department Nate Moody completed his first season as a new outfitter on the Lower Selway and Middle Fork Clearwater Rivers in Northern Idaho. The Selway, together with the Lochsa River, combine to form the Middle Fork Clearwater and collectively hold the unique position as one of the 8 original Wild and Scenic Rivers designated by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.

Wild and scenic rivers “possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural, or other similar values, [and] shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations” (Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, 1968). As an outfitter, Nate’s outfitting business Great Rift Outdoors LLC (GRO) has the opportunity to share these values with others through the concession of a special use permit administered by the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest.

Just like recreationally rafting or kayaking down challenging rapids, the process of becoming an outfitter is hard, and the rewards are rich. And just like learning the skills to handle whitewater, learning the skills to become a guide or outfitter takes time. GRO provides an ‘experimental outfitting’ venue for University of Idaho students and PRL lab members (Brey Weygandt, masters student and river guide extraordinaire), UI extension educators and rural communities to build awareness and skills around outfitting and guiding on public lands in an active and authentic learning environment providing access to outstandingly remarkable values associated with wild and scenic rivers.

Working with Danielle Scott, UI Extension Educator for the Nez Perce Reservation in Lapwai, Idaho, GRO was able to train seasonal UI extension employees working with Nez Perce ReservationExtension to become guides leading packrafting programs for Tribal youth in the region. The newly trained guides served two distinct groups through the Nez Perce Reservation Extension Program. The Nimiipuu Youth Salmon Protectors program through Idaho Conservation League (501c3) offered youth the chance engage with free-flowing rivers and habitats supporting salmon recovery, and the TIWIYEKT Culture & STEM Camp (formerly known as the PACE Math & Science Camp). TIWIYEKT is an immersive, two-week summer educational program based out of Lapwai High School in Idaho. TIWIYEKT means Advise, Teach, Instruct in nimiipuutímt, the Nez Perce Language. As part of the immersive, two-week summer experience, leaders and students floated down the Selway and Clearwater rivers engaging with cultural knowledge, environmental stewardship, and academic readiness activities.

Building off of the successes of this past summer season, GRO is excited to partner with these programs next year and beyond to further connect communities with the outstandingly remarkable values present along protected wild and scenic rivers and offer the chance for community members to learn how to guide and understand outfitting as a profession.