He Lived For The Land Environmentalist Morey Haggin, Who Fought To Preserve Little Spokane River, Dishman Hills, Dies At 88

The dean of Spokane environmentalists died Sunday, but his life’s work lives on in the pristine corners of the Inland Northwest he helped preserve.

Morey Haggin, 88, was a combination of Ralph Nader and John Muir - a fiery advocate for conserving Spokane’s natural heritage.

Haggin’s energy began to wane last year, when he had to stop skiing in the forests he had visited since the Great Depression. He died Sunday at a local nursing home.

For decades, Haggin fought to protect the Spokane aquifer, the Little Spokane River, Dishman Hills and several regional treasures - including Hells Canyon and the Salmo-Priest Wilderness Area.

“Almost every environmental issue you could think of, Morey was in the center of it. And he fought passionately,” said former House Speaker Tom Foley from Washington, D.C.

This week, Haggin’s family and friends recalled his love of the land - and his fierce efforts to protect it.

“He lived the kind of life he thought was worth fighting for,” said Sam Angove, Spokane County’s retired parks director, from Mesa, Ariz.

Haggin, a retired welder, loved the birds, turtles and other wildlife he and his wife Margaret nurtured at their 12-acre homestead on the Little Spokane River, said his son, Bart Haggin.

When they married in 1935, the schoolteacher and the railroad laborer pooled their money, buying the Little Spokane property for $1,000.

After a half-century of activism, they recently decided their final act of generosity would be to donate their extremely valuable property for a county wildlife preserve and nature center.

Haggin cherished his wife, an environmental activist who survives him.

“It was a deep and long love,” he said in 1993 of their marriage.

At the Little Spokane home, the Haggins played host to the powerful, including attorney Clarence Darrow, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and Foley.

“I don’t know of one spot I can think of that’s more stunning than that house and that land,” Foley said.

Haggin showed a fierce side in his battles with government bureaucrats, corporations and politicians.

“You knew it when he was mad at you,” Foley said.

Haggin liked to tweak bureaucrats by quoting newspaper columnist James Reston in public forums: “A long-range plan in America is how we get through the weekend.”

The Democratic Party activist’s favorite targets included the U.S. Forest Service for clearcuts and poor forest stewardship.

He also wasn’t afraid to take on Spokane companies. He opposed Washington Water Power Co. rate increases, and the utility’s involvement in the ill-fated WPPSS nuclear power plant program.

The Haggins also devoted time to children. They organized a summer camp on their property, where Margaret helped kids make jelly out of Oregon grapes and peer at river water through microscopes.

In the 1980s, the Haggins and other Audubon Society members helped the county Parks Department protect a Little Spokane River nesting site for the great blue heron.

They also gave Angove money to appraise endangered areas at Dishman Hills, Liberty Lake and on the Little Spokane when the county had no money, Angove recalled.

“They weren’t overly wealthy, but if you needed money for a really good cause, they’d give it to you.”

When Angove returns to Spokane after wintering in Arizona, he plans to carry out the Haggins’ final wishes by establishing a foundation for the Haggin Natural Area Learning Center.

In addition to his wife and son, Haggin is survived by his daughter-in-law Lindel Haggin, grandchildren Shawn Haggin of Roseburg, Ore., Steven Steele of Seattle, Maria Lavallee of Phoenix, and one great-grandson.

Services are scheduled Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Church of Spokane.

The family suggests memorial contributions can be made to the Peace and Justice Action League or to environmental organizations.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo; Map of donated acreage area