AgForestry Class 34 Travels to Costa Rica and Nicaragua

AgForestry Class 34 Travels to Costa Rica and Nicaragua
I’m KayDee Gilkey with today’s Northwest Farm and Ranch Report.

For 35 years the Washington Agriculture and Forestry Leadership Program or AgForestry has provided leadership training for more than 900 people involved in the natural resources industry.

Class 34 recently returned from their International 14 day trip to Cost Rica and Nicaragua. Ritzville dry land wheat farmer Jake Klein shares his impressions.

Klein: “I thought Costa Rica would be a little more advanced, because you hear so much about their environmental push and their eco-tourism and things like that. I was a little taken back, yea that was there but there is a lot of things they have to catch up on yet like their infrastructure, their road systems and their cities and their waste management was way behind what I expected.

Cost Rica was ahead in their tourism development but Klein said Nicaragua is working towards increasing their own tourism.

Klein: “Nicaragua is a third world country, very poor, a lot of trash every where but at the same time they are trying to develop as well and move forward. They see what Costa Rica is doing with the tourism thing and they are trying to catch on to that and bring it to their country as well.”

AgForestry’s Class 34 will soon be finishing up their two-year experience. Recruitment of Class 36 is happening now, application deadline is April 30th. Jake shared about his experience.

Klein: “Absolutely, It’s been very worthwhile. It takes a lot of time but the time invested over the long term will be well worth it.”

For more information, go to agforestry.org.