‘Nothing more punk-rock than giving back’: Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder gifts signed ukulele for Lands Council auction to benefit conservation efforts

The story of how a local outdoors nonprofit acquired a ukulele once owned by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder starts with a canoe beached on the shore of the Salish sea.

While frolicking around the Puget Sound in 2007, local resident Bobby Whittaker took a photo of his friend Vedder, ukulele in hand, on a canoe inscribed with the words “I Heart Ferry County.”

Eighteen years after that photo was taken, Vedder called Whittaker and asked whether he wanted the canoe, as Vedder was getting a new boat. An avid boater, Whittaker said yes, but with one stipulation: Instead of lying dormant in his garage, Whittaker wanted the seacraft to go to the Lands Council for them to auction off.

When Vedder received a picture from Whittaker of the canoe on top of a Lands Council member’s Toyota, he texted back an apology about its condition, saying he felt bad for whoever wound up winning the dilapidated vessel. So to sweeten the pot, Vedder decided to donate the autographed ukulele with the case attached.

The Lands Council is hoping to raise around $20,000 from the sale of the instrument. As of Wednesday night, the bid was at $10,000. The auction ends Monday. Anyone interested in bidding on this one-of-a-kind ukulele is encouraged to do so online at Charitybuzz. A similar ukulele from Vedder was donated to the Ferry County Rail Trail, of which Whittaker is the president, in 2011. It sold for $17,000.

Whittaker said he worked in the music industry for a long time, but it’s being out in nature that’s the driving force for his friendship with Vedder.

“We really love the water, and we love public land, and we love giving back to the community and being a part of things,” Whittaker said. “I can’t play music, but I worked in the music business for a long time, and Ed and I always crossed paths in the music business, because we came from grunge, but this is where we really connect – the outdoors, giving back to community, civic duty, supporting good initiatives for the community. That really gets us excited.”

This year, the Lands Council is celebrating its 40th year of operation, making it the longest standing environmental nonprofit in Eastern Washington.

In an emailed statement, Vedder said the work the Lands Council does with rural and Indigenous communities is deeply vital and that he’s proud to be part of their incredible mission. He ends the note proclaiming that interested parties should bid high and bid often.

The Lands Council offers numerous programs and activities, including a climate justice offering that centers around giving Indigenous people the chance to speak out about what they want to see changed in their community, year-round environmental education for folks interested in connecting with nature, and on top of all that, they plant a lot of trees.

“Today, the Lands Council is looking at who has access to the benefits of these public lands,” said Amanda Parrish, the executive director of the Lands Council. “Does everyone have equitable access to the benefits of nature? The Lands Council continues the cornerstone work of our mission, which is protecting public lands, but part of the way we do that is by affording all kinds of opportunities for people to come make relationships with the lands that they are owners of, whether that’s Mount Spokane State Park or Bowl and Pitcher, Riverside State Park or Manito Park.”

For Parrish, auctioning off the ukulele has been a full-circle moment. The first concert she ever went to was Pearl Jam when she was 13. Now 39, Parrish can still recall just how cool she felt standing in the front row.

“There’s something that just feels really right about this,” Parrish said. “That I have landed in this work to preserve and revitalize forest, water and wildlife, and that some of my rock and roll idols value those same things, and that somehow now I’m connected to them through my work.”

With uncertainty looming over the future of wildlife preservation and the encroaching threat of public lands being sold to the highest bidder, Whittaker said it’s crucial now, more than ever, to support conservation groups working to keep public lands in the hands of the people, where they belong.

Whittaker said he’s both blurry-eyed and tickled pink from the amount of money that’s already been raised from the ukulele auction.

“There’s nothing more punk-rock than giving back to the community,” Whittaker said.