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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Whitworth gains 605-acre outdoor classroom

University will preserve the Verbrugge family land

Encroaching development has swallowed up much of the headwaters of the Little Spokane River, but 3,000 feet of riverfront and 605 surrounding acres of wetlands, meadows, bubbling springs and forest will be protected in their natural state thanks to a conservation easement with the Inland Northwest Land Trust.

The agreement to preserve the Verbrugge property also provides a promise for continuing ecological research on the land by Whitworth University faculty and students.

“We wanted somebody to leave the property to who would care for it and wouldn’t develop it or sell it,” said Gary Verbrugge.

The property straddles the Little Spokane River, south of Highway 2 and southeast of Diamond Lake in the southern Pend Oreille County area known as the Scotia Valley.

All around it land is being subdivided into five-acre lots.

Verbrugge’s family has owned portions of its property since the 1920s, adding to the original parcel over the years.

Though Verbrugge spent his formative years on the banks of the Little Spokane River, he left for college in 1969 and didn’t return to live there until two years ago.

“You don’t appreciate it when you’re young,” said the 57-year-old.

All sorts of birds of prey – ospreys, eagles and hawks – and moose, deer, cougars and other wildlife live on the property or pass through it to access water and food.

The conservation easement protects the land as wildlife habitat. It cannot be subdivided or sold for development.

Unique terms in the easement also provide for the construction of a small Whitworth University field station for environmental research.

Researchers have already been conducting some studies on the Verbrugge land, said Whitworth spokesman Greg Orwig.

“We’re only now beginning to think about the opportunities for our faculty and students, Orwig said.

One key advantage to the arrangement is that the promise of access in perpetuity gives university researchers the ability to conduct long-term studies on plants, water quality and wildlife.

The property is the first Little Spokane River frontage on which the Inland Northwest Land Trust has secured a conservation easement, said the group’s executive director, Chris DeForest.

“This was an exceptional easement,” DeForest said. “It’s a beautiful chunk of topography.”

Call Amy Cannata at 459-5197 or e-mail amyc@spokesman.com.