Englund takes reins at Palouse Land Trust

Lovina Englund often visits Idler’s Rest Nature Preserve north of Moscow as a guest with her family and dogs.

Now, she shares a responsibility in maintaining and improving the recreational site.

Englund, who worked for the Palouse Conservation District in Pullman as a conservation planner for more than a year, spent her first day as the Palouse Land Trust’s executive director June 4.

Englund, a 40-year-old Moscow resident, takes over for Amy Trujillo, who served as the executive director for six years. Trujillo moved on from the position in January to serve as Wood River Land Trust’s deputy director in Hailey, Idaho.

“Amy had done a terrific job with laying the groundwork for a really successful growing organization,” Englund told the Daily News last week while walking through Idler’s Rest. “I just am so excited about the opportunities that are going to come forth in the future for being able to really work with private property owners to meet their goals but also to fulfill the mission of the organization.”

The PLT’s mission is to conserve the open space, scenery, wildlife habitat and water quality of the Palouse for current and future generations.

“The biggest thing for me is being able to work for an organization that you feel so strongly aligns with your conservation values,” Englund said. “I think, for me, it was just that time in my career where I was ready to step up to a new challenge and take all those skill sets that had been evolving and put them to work for a really great nonprofit that serves our community.”

Englund said she spent 10 years working at the University of Idaho Rangeland Center in Moscow, where she started as an outreach coordinator in 2008.

Englund, who was born in Clarkston and raised in Nyssa, Ore. – about 50 miles northwest of Boise – moved to the Palouse in 2003 from the Reno, Nev., area to complete a master’s degree in rangeland ecology and management at the UI, which she earned in 2006.

“I basically grew up almost more like an Idahoan than an Oregonian,” said Englund, noting Nyssa’s close proximity to the Boise area.

Although Englund is now the face of the Palouse Land Trust, she said her goals for the organization are not driven by her vision. She said the PLT’s wonderful board of directors, a group of local volunteers, acts as the trust’s governing body.

“It’s basically really unique because it’s community members driving what they want to see this area look like now and into the future,” she said.

Englund said the trust has plans in the works for Idler’s Rest, including paving the parking lot for improved accessibility and installing bathrooms, which the site lacks.

She said the trust is also planning for potential expansion of the preserve’s properties. Englund said there might be an opportunity to partner with local organizations to put a conservation practice in place on an adjacent private property that would open up more trail access for users. Essentially, the goal would be to connect the Idler’s Rest’s trail network with the Moscow Area Mountain Bike Association’s trail network on Moscow Mountain, Englund said.

She said the trust is working with the local groups but still needs to secure funding for the project and work with landowners.

“I’m really, really enjoying this transition,” Englund said. “It’s been a remarkably wonderful fit for me.”