From Kamiah to the West Central Mountains: Scaling Trust-Based Resilience in Idaho
When the City of Kamiah, Idaho—a rural town of just over 1,200 residents nestled along flood-prone Lawyer Creek—first reached out for help, the request was simple: support flood resilience planning. But early conversations between Deputy City Clerk Mike Tornatore and Dr. Brittany Brand of The Resilience Institute at Boise State revealed something deeper. Kamiah faced interconnected challenges: unsafe and unaffordable housing, aging water systems, limited economic opportunity, minimal emergency planning, and long-standing jurisdictional tensions between the city, two counties, and the Nez Perce Tribe.
Brand and her Resilience Institute team knew that technical fixes alone wouldn’t work. What Kamiah needed was a trusted, neutral partner to convene all voices—especially those historically left out of decision-making—and help the community define its own path forward.
Listening First, Acting Together
The Resilience Institute began with more than 30 one-on-one listening sessions, building relationships before bringing people into the same room. This trust-building step led to 12 focus groups and, eventually, a whole-community resilience workshop attended by about 50 residents, tribal representatives, and cross-sector leaders. Together, they mapped out “Challenge and Solution Trees” to trace the root causes of local issues and co-create actionable solutions. The result was the Kamiah Resilience Strategy—a community-owned plan that became the foundation for targeted projects and funding efforts.
Real Impact and Student-Led Projects
Since the strategy’s launch, the Resilience Institute has supported Kamiah in securing more than $1.5 million in grants for wildfire protection, flood mitigation, and stormwater infrastructure upgrades. Much of this progress has been driven by student-faculty collaborations that not only advanced community priorities but also provided applied learning experiences: Lawyer Creek Flood Technical Working Group – Led by Brand with communications student Anujay Chopra, this group united 26 partners from city, county, tribal, business, and federal sectors to tackle chronic flooding caused by decades of stream modification. Biweekly sessions, expert input, and collaborative problem-solving shifted the approach from traditional flood control to ecosystem restoration and nature-based strategies—securing over $600,000 in additional funding and positioning Kamiah for long-term resilience.
Kamiah Infrastructure Asset Map and Upgrade Plan – Graduate student Sabrina Akther, working with Brand and city partners, used GIS tools and community input to map critical infrastructure and identify priority upgrades in flood- and landslide-prone areas. This project directly enabled a $385,054 FEMA grant for stormwater improvements while strengthening trust between the city and university.
Kamiah Economic Assessment – Economics student Tayah Brodt, mentored by faculty lead Lee Parton, conducted a fiscal impact study to clarify Kamiah’s revenue streams and expenditures. The study identified the trade, transportation, and utilities sectors as the top contributors to county property tax revenue, providing a foundation for targeted economic development strategies.
Kamiah Housing Project – Urban planning student Nathaniel Campbell, guided by Brand, researched affordable and workforce housing solutions for rural contexts. Using community input, regional data, and national case studies, the project identified barriers to housing development and outlined opportunities such as land trust models and strategic partnerships to expand Kamiah’s housing options.
These projects reinforced Kamiah’s capacity to act on its own priorities, demonstrated the power of student engagement in community resilience, and built lasting trust between the city, the Tribe, and regional partners.
Expanding the Model: The West Central Mountains
Kamiah’s success became a proof-of-concept for the Resilience Institute’s relationship-first, community-led approach. In 2023, the Institute began applying a streamlined version of the model in Valley County and the West Central Mountains region—an area facing rapid growth, housing shortages, infrastructure strain, and increasing wildfire risk.
The regional process follows five phases:
- Build relationships and identify concerns – meeting with leaders, reviewing existing plans, and understanding context.
- Conduct a pre-assessment – tailoring tools and engagement to local realities.
- Engage cross-sector partners – assessing resilience across disaster management, growth and development, infrastructure, and environmental health.
- Host a solutions-focused workshop – co-creating a resilience strategy.
- Support implementation – connecting faculty and students to deliver on community-defined priorities.
Already, more than 200 stakeholders have been engaged through interviews and workshops. Projects underway include hazard mitigation planning, growth and infrastructure assessments, and community capacity-building initiatives—all designed to reflect the collaborative, trust-based approach that worked in Kamiah.
Rooted in Partnership, Built for Scale
From Kamiah’s small-town workshop to the multi-county convenings in the West Central Mountains, the Resilience Institute’s work proves that rural and under-resourced communities can chart resilient futures when they lead the process and have the right support. By blending deep listening, technical expertise, and long-term partnership, the Institute is helping communities move from reactive problem-solving to proactive, locally grounded action—one relationship at a time.