Land Conservation Program Measures Its Progress 2,600 County Acres Protected As Natural Areas

More than 2,600 acres and $5.5 million dollars later, the Spokane County Conservation Futures Program is halfway into its second five-year term.

Since the program began in 1992, 11 land purchases have been made in Spokane - four in the city and seven in the county, including Cheney, Deer Park and Liberty Lake.

Conservation Futures is a program designed to protect natural areas from development. Land purchased in the program is set aside for public use and wildlife protection.

The program is funded by a voter-approved property tax. The tax raises about $1 million per year.

Conservation Futures purchases cannot be sold without voter approval, and even then, the deeds prohibit the land from being developed.

After the program was extended for another five years by voters in 1997, a subcommittee made up of members from the city and county park boards went through a relentless land selection process.

The committee spent 10-hour days over the course of three weekends walking as many properties as they were permitted - 68 of the 75 that were nominated by Spokane citizens.

There were a series of meetings seeking public comment in March and April of 1998. And the subcommittee consulted the Department of Fish and Wildlife to identify wildlife habitats. “This had to be an intense process so some evaluations weren’t made in the lush of spring while others were made in the dry burn of summer,” said Craig Volosing, vice chair of the county Park Board and Conservation Futures subcommittee member.

All the sites were ranked and scored individually, based on how well they meld with the state parks plan and Growth Management Act.

The subcommittee also considered which sites could be lost to development if not purchased.

“We focused on sites where development would cause a lost opportunity for a conservation quest to maintain the overall habitat for humans, flora and fauna,” Volosing said.

Volosing said the future of the land conservation program will play a role in the quality of growth in Spokane.

“There is so much at stake for how livable this county is going to be. We think this program is key to this,” Volosing said.

At the end of this summer, the subcommittee will do an assessment of the program’s progress and projects under negotiation for purchase.

In 2002, county commissioners will decide if the program will continue for another five years.

Of the properties nominated, 17 are near or adjacent to city limits, three are on the North Side, seven on the South Side, and the rest are in the Valley.

There are negotiations under way to purchase 160 acres from the Department of Natural Resources near Glenrose, and 101 acres that would connect Palisades Park to Indian Canyon. The latter is an ingredient of an 11-mile public parks corridor from Rimrock to the Little Spokane River.

Properties nominated were as small as an acre and as large as 3,500 acres in Newman Lake, said County Parks Planner Steve Horobiowski.

Once purchased, properties are usually maintained by citizen volunteers, state parks, and user-groups such as the Backcountry Horseman.

“If it weren’t for the volunteer groups, trust funds, and state parks, maintaining would be an issue,” Horobiowski said.

Maintenance and noxious weed control, for example, is often paid for with trust funds donated by previous property owners.

“Trust funds are in place so the taxpayer can enjoy the land in the future without it being a burden,” Volosing said.

Conservation lands do not allow motorized vehicles and dogs must be on leashes. Hunting and open camp fires are also prohibited.

“That is so we don’t have the encroachment of lights and barking dogs,” Horobiowski said.