Working together for wildlands: Dishman Hills Conservancy and Inland Northwest Land Conservancy consider merger

The Dishman Hills Conservancy and Inland Northwest Land Conservancy leadership are discussing merging nonprofits in the name of improving land protections.

The two organizations share similar conservation missions, Dishman conservancy board President AT Miller said, so “it just makes sense” to combine.

“It’s a great thing. We’re very excited,” he said.

Dishman Hills Conservancy is the oldest land trust in Washington state, established in 1966. It depends on volunteers to maintain and restore property that it has slowly purchased in the name of conservation and connectivity, today owning around 1,000 acres of the 3,200 protected as part of the Dishman Hills area, said executive director Ruth Gifford. The other acres are owned by Spokane County and the Department of Natural Resources.

A long-term goal in the organization has been to connect Iller Creek, Glenrose and the Dishman Hills. Just last year, Miller said, the group purchased a “keystone” property that allows for visitors to be able to hike from the north to the middle of the conservancy all while staying on public lands.

The Inland Northwest Land Conservancy was founded in 1991 and has helped to protect around 30,000 acres across the Inland Northwest from development, largely through securing long-term conservation agreements with landowners that persist through ownership changes. The group is an accredited land trust, following strict guidelines and legal proceedings.

Combined, the conservancies round each other out, said the immediate past president for the INLC board, Leyna Bernstein.

“The Inland Northwest Land Conservancy brings the rigor and the practices of documentation and working with legal issues and ensuring that there isn’t encroachment on the land,” she said. “It’s a really good match because they’re bringing their knowledge and history with that very large and very important piece of land.”

An official merge committee with leadership from both organizations started in 2022, but the idea has been floated for over a decade, Miller said. In 2023, the groups began working towards a merge but backed out when the Inland Northwest Land Conservancy purchased a large piece of property, taking up its capacity at the time, Gifford said. Now, conversations have reopened.

“Right now, we are exploring the comparison of what we would each bring to the table,” Gifford said. “So it’s been a comparison of what are our finances like, what are our bylaws like?”

Though noting that both organizations have been independently successful, Gifford said ongoing development makes the current Dishman Hills Conservancy modus operandi difficult to maintain.

“As an organization, we have purchased land, and now development is encroaching on it, and there are fewer properties to be purchased. So we have to make a change as an organization to continue,” she said.

“So our merging with INLC gives us a way to extend the future of Dishman Hills Conservancy. This is going to be great for conservation throughout the Inland Northwest, and gives us the opportunity then to expand the ways that we engage with our community, as well as through land conservation.”

Bernstein shared the sentiment, saying the Inland Northwest conservancy believes “we will be a stronger, more resilient organization for this region at a time when land is disappearing rapidly.”

Miller said the merge committee will likely make a recommendation to the two boards sometime in May, and whatever they decide to move forward with will be done by the end of 2026.

Though saying he can’t speak for the whole board, Miller said that “at this rate, it looks like it’ll be moving forward” with a merge.

Donations made specifically for the Dishman Hills natural area will remain for that use. Gifford remains steadfast in her commitment to Dishman Hills Conservatory members.

“I’m more concerned about the process and representing our membership, so that’s probably the biggest thing that needs to be worked through,” she said of the potential merge terms.

For the casual hiker – and certainly any wildlife in the area – the merge would not have much of an effect on accessibility.

“Those protected habitats, those protected recreation sites are going to stay there,” Gifford said. “There’s going to be a sign change, an emblem on the sign that changes, but few people even look at those, so they really won’t notice a difference.

“They’ll continue to be able to go out there and explore and see wildlife and take their pictures and leave their footprints and never know that it’s changed.”