Our Public Lands Are Under Attack: What can we do?

Mount Spokane State Park

The attacks on our public lands and environment feel relentless during the early months of the current Trump administration. As your regional conservation organization in the Inland Northwest, The Lands Council is tracking these threats closely — and taking action. 

Here’s what’s happening, and how you can stand with us to protect the forests, waters, and wildlife we all cherish. 

Executive Orders Put Timber Over Ecosystems 

The administration has issued two executive orders aimed at rapidly increasing timber production on public lands: 

• Secretarial Order: Increasing Timber Production and Designating an Emergency Situation on National Forest System Lands 

• Executive Order: Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production – The White House 

These directives allow federal land managers to bypass multiple-use management, sidelining aquatic restoration, habitat protection, and recreational improvements in favor of aggressive logging. 

Let’s be clear: 88% of U.S. timber already comes from private industrial lands. Public lands provide a tiny fraction of timber to the economy, yet these new orders prioritize logging above all else—at the expense of biodiversity, water quality, and recreational access. 

Public Land Sales & Budget Cuts Threaten Our Heritage 

While public support for national parks and forests remains high, some lawmakers are pushing hard to sell them off: 

• Senator Mike Lee is attempting to include language in the administration’s spending bill that would allow the federal government to auction off public lands to the highest bidder. 

• Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has proposed a $900 million cut — nearly 30% — to National Park System operations. 

• That same proposal recommends transferring smaller and less visited parks to state and tribal governments, many of which lack the funding or capacity to manage them. 

This strategy risks degrading our shared natural heritage, closing off public access, and undermining long-term conservation. 

Science and Staffing Slashed 

Meanwhile, federal agency staffing has been gutted. Whole research, biological, and archeology teams have been eliminated. District Rangers are cleaning toilets while trying to manage whole forests. There’s simply not enough capacity left to care for our public lands—let alone restore them. It has been reported that regional forests have lost 35 people at Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, 46 at Okanagan-Wenatchee, 21 at Colville, 15 at Gifford-Pinchot. This is leaving wildfire agency uncertain for a fire season that is already kicking off. 

This administration is also slashing funding for salmon recovery in the Columbia River, a priority for all the Tribes of the Upper Columbia. 

What The Lands Council Is Doing 

We’re responding with advocacy, collaboration, and direct action: 

📣 Advocacy 

• We’ve written to our representatives to defend public lands and advocate for multiple-use management—including responsible harvest, aquatic protections, restoration, and economic benefits of recreation to rural communities. TLC has signed on with over 350 other Federal Lands Advocates across WA and will continue to fight for public lands protections.  

• We’ve submitted formal comments defending key protections in the Endangered Species Act. 

• We co-signed a statewide letter supporting forest collaboratives like the Northeast Washington Forest Coalition (NEWFC), which TLC helped found alongside Vaagen Brothers Lumber and other partners. NEWFC is a national model for balancing forest restoration, old growth protection, and rural economic support. 

🌲 Action 

• The Lands Council is working with the Old Growth Tree Network to document and protect the less than 3% of old-growth trees left in NE Washington—vital habitat for many species including endangered species like lynx, goshawks, and grizzly bears. 

• We’re supporting Colville National Forest as it faces severe staffing shortages. Join us at NEWFC’s Community Forest Field Day: 

📍 June 16, 1–6 p.m., Chewelah, WA 
Come learn how you can volunteer to support your national forest. https://www.facebook.com/share/1Br8Wokspg/ 

• We’re helping build capacity for prescribed fire through the Selkirk TREX program, training new practitioners to restore healthy fire regimes and protect communities from catastrophic wildfire. 

• The Lands Council is also an active member in the newly formed Spokane Salmon Restoration Collaborative, and the Kalispel Tibe - Pend Oreille Lead Entity, working with our regional partners to restore salmon, red band, and cutthroat trout habitat across NE WA. 

What You Can Do 

Now is the time to act: 

• 📞 Contact your representatives and oppose public land sell-offs and irresponsible timber mandates. 

• 💚 Donate to The Lands Council to support local advocacy and conservation. 

• 📣 Spread the word—forward this story, talk to your neighbors, and raise your voice. 

We need your help to protect what makes the Inland Northwest so special. 

In solidarity, 
The Lands Council Team 
Protecting the Inland Northwest Since 1984 

New Neighborhood Tree Owners Share Their Joy

By Justyce Brant
Urban Forestry Program Director for The Lands Council

After a season of planting trees along the Appleway Trail in Spokane Valley, The Lands Council and our CoolCanopy partners at the Spokane Conservation District are shifting our focus to residential plantings. 

This switch to neighborhoods, with the help of incredible volunteers, means high-quality trees are benefiting people right at their homes – for free!

In May, local residents Lindy, Melissa and Jim, Laurie, Al, Mark, Skip, Brook and Shawn, and Kolbie received their new green friends after demonstrating a commitment to caring for these trees. After all, newly planted trees can only help take care of us if we take care of them! 

Laurie lives in Airway Heights with her rescue pup. She just completed construction on her dream home, located next to the trailer she previously lived in. She is passionate about creating a more shaded, beautiful space — not just for her and her 5-year old granddaughter, but for the whole community. Laurie specifically requested flowering trees so her neighbors could also enjoy their beauty.

We planted her trees with the incredible students from Cheney WIN Academy — such a kind and enthusiastic group!

Jim and Melissa live in Spokane Valley and have spent years working to beautify their home. They care deeply for the local wildlife — especially the marmots that often visit their yard! A few years ago, Melissa lost her beloved lilacs to blight, which devastated her; those lilacs had served as both a visual joy and a privacy screen.

They were overjoyed to receive six flowering trees, which we planted along their hillside with students and teachers from Innovation High School — one of our longest-standing school partners. Jim was so excited he joined the planting himself, and Melissa thoughtfully recorded all the names the students gave to the trees. They were incredibly helpful and we plan to return and plant more trees soon!

Student volunteers from The Community School at Lindy’s

Lindy lives in Spokane Valley in a home with very little vegetation. It gets extremely hot in the summer, and he was excited to plant trees along his back fence to add shade, privacy, and beauty, not just for himself, but for his neighbors too.

Students from The Community School joined us for their “Spring Into Action Day” and planted all of the trees in Lindy’s backyard. When we returned to finish up the front yard planting, Lindy had already installed a timed irrigation system!

He later sent us this lovely note:

“The trees look GREAT! Nice job once again. I’m going to set up my timers and get the everyday watering going. Thanks again for all you do.”

“It’s an awesome legacy. This home deserves to be forested again. I love the thought of those serviceberries giving people shade and encouraging wildlife to visit. Can’t wait to watch them grow. It would have been financially unfeasible to do this on my own. I know what you all have done here and love the connection we’ve made to make the neighborhood better.”

Volunteers with Travelers Insurance with Mark

Mark was one of the most memorable residents we worked with on this particular week. He’s a Gulf War veteran and soon will undergo his 18th procedure on his back — a long recovery journey after a shrapnel blast injury. Despite this, Mark is incredibly warm, positive, and full of life.

He spends his days walking around his property and feeding peanuts to his beloved squirrels, Rocky and Rocky 2. He also treasures his 65-year-old maple tree and wanted to add more trees for the squirrels to enjoy.

He stayed with us the entire time we planted on his property. When we were leaving, I asked if I could give him a hug and he looked genuinely moved and gave me a long, heartfelt embrace. He said, “Thank you so much, and I hope to see you soon, sweetie.” It really stayed with me.

On Track Academy students with Al

Al lives in a small home in Airway Heights, one that originally belonged to his son, who needed more space as his family grew. So Al swapped houses with him to stay close by and visit his five grandchildren often.

Al has a deep love for trees and was thrilled to add more color and life to his property. When On Track Academy students helped plant his tree, they affectionately said he looked like Santa Claus, which made him laugh out loud. He even offered to buy all the students ice cream. We declined because we had more planting to do, but we were genuinely touched by the gesture.

Volunteers from Travelers Insurance with Brook, Shawn, and Martha

Brook, Shawn, and Martha live in a new development in Airway Heights where there’s almost no vegetation. With summers getting hotter each year, they were deeply grateful for the opportunity to receive free trees.

We talked about how meaningful it will be for their daughter, Martha, to grow up alongside these trees and see them flourish over the years.

We planted their trees with volunteers from Travelers Insurance Agency — a joyful and committed group of folks who were excited to be a part of this work.

Skip and Kolbie were both kind and enthusiastic about their trees (we didn’t get photos this time around). 

Many Thanks

Huge thanks go to volunteers from The Community School, Cheney WIN Academy, Innovation High School, Travelers Insurance Agency, and On Track Academy for coming out to help these home owners give their new trees a solid start. 

As partners with the Spokane Conservation District, we are dedicated to assisting with tree plantings and working towards increasing canopy coverage in these neighborhoods by 2030. Our collective efforts seek to promote environmental justice and foster healthier communities.

Kat (Hall) and I feel so grateful to be a part of this work — and I’m personally so thankful for the leadership, care, and collaboration you all bring to the table. Every tree we plant is part of something much bigger — and it's so special to share that with our residents, students, and all of you.

Explore the Spokane Conservation District website to find out more about this program and determine if you qualify for a complimentary tree on your property!

The Second Life of Eddie Vedder’s Canoe

Having Eddie Vedder’s well-loved canoe as a featured item at the 2025 April Showers Auction drew some new folks into the circle of The Lands Council’s friends. 

Paul and Jody Knutzen are two of them. 

Paul is founder of Knutzen Engineering, a civil engineering firm in the Tri-Cities. He learned about the unique opportunity to bid on a collectible of Pearl Jam’s frontman from his firm’s attorney, Bill Hughbanks, who is married to TLC administrative director Teresa. 

There was a bit of a bidding war, against another guest at the same table no less, but Paul was not about to let the canoe slip away. His enthusiasm was remarkable, so we followed up to ask a few questions. 

What drew you to TLC's auction this year? 

Bill Hughbanks, who is representing us in a Benton County civil matter, mentioned his wife’s connection to TLC and the prospect of having the canoe, since he knew how much I liked Eddie Vedder & Pearl Jam. I would say what drew us was several things: The prospect of meeting our attorney (and his wife) in person (not Zoom); the opportunity for my wife and I to have a date night, never having done a charity/auction dinner out of the Tri-Cities area; the opportunity to purchase Ed’s canoe and whatever silent auction items interested us; and supporting a good cause. 

Bill also told us at the last minute that Krist Novaselic (the bassist for Nirvana) was coming, too, although at that point we were already excited to be coming and would have come if Krist didn’t come. 

One funny anecdote – we purchased one thing from the silent auction, a painting which my wife and I both loved a lot. Turns out it was painted by none other than Bill’s mother-in-law.  Small world.

What inspired you to bid on the Eddie Vedder canoe? 

Owning something that was personally connected to EV.  Also, secretly hoping that Eddie would reach out and afford us the opportunity to meet him or his band at an upcoming show, but I’m not holding my breath.

Any specific ideas yet on how or where you might use it? 

We were thinking of mounting it to a wall in our house so I can place all my various Eddie & Pearl Jam memorabilia within it. I doubt any other Pearl Jam fan has their collection in Eddie’s own personal canoe!

What did you enjoy about the auction?

It was so much fun! Having engaging conversation with the people at our table, enjoying a great meal, meeting our attorney and his wife and her mom, meeting Krist, meeting Bob Whittaker. Auctions themselves are also fun, so fast paced, and get you excited to participate.  

What did you learn about The Lands Council?  

Before the event I knew nothing of The Lands Council. Now I do and it’s opened my eyes to the fact that my business really should be sharing a similar mission to TLC. I am a civil engineering business owner and we do land and site development for clients in the Tri-Cities. We learned from those seated at our table about various overlapping issues in our industry (land banks, critical areas, green design certification). 

Further, purchasing the canoe has introduced me to Bob Whittaker who has been going above and beyond showing thoughtfulness towards me, even sharing some text messages he had with Ed about me and the canoe which none of my friends can say Ed has thanked them in a text message! Bob’s connections are possibly putting me in position to work on a project that is being advocated by Pearl Jam, a skate park on land of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville.

the town of Inchelium 

So, while I would say I enjoyed the event first and foremost, I feel that it’s opened my eyes to what TLC is and I support that mission. I’m very grateful that we were invited, we had a good time and would come again.

Bobby Whittaker, who formerly worked in the grunge music scene, invited Nirvana bassist Krist Novaselic (at right) to attend The Lands Council’s auction, which featured the canoe of another friend of Whittaker’s - Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.

Learn more about Bobby Whittaker’s connection to Eddie Vedder here.

Confrontation, Negotiation, Compromise. Repeat.

Mark Solomon: Executive Director, 1995-1999

In celebration of our 40th Anniversary, The Lands Council highlights the contributions of those who have served as its executive directors. 

By Kate Vanskike, TLC Board President

If John Osborn was the visionary for The Lands Council, Mark Solomon was the architect. 

Mark Solomon’s experience for the job with The Lands Council was vast and varied. He’d been County Commissioner for Latah County, a grizzly bear lobbyist in the Bitteroots of Montana, held a Ph.D. in water resources, and led the University of Idaho’s Water Institute. 

It was while he was working as a blacksmith and volunteering as a water quality activist focused on the Clearwater River basin that John Osborne (TLC founder) asked Mark to join this young board in Spokane. He was serving as the board’s VP when in 1995 he was asked to be the executive director. 

The Lands Council under Mark expanded beyond its forest-related activism and litigation work — which had been wildly successful in scaling back logging in the National Forests of the upper Columbia River Basin — to include water quality efforts, particularly in the Coeur d’Alene / Spokane watershed. Despite the fact that TLC had a small staff and budget, Mark guided the production of a “Get the Lead Out”  campaign that, among other things, distributed 10,000 VHS tapes to educate residents and leaders on the toxins flowing into the waters of the basin from mining in the Silver Valley. 165 billion pounds of lead-contaminated sediments were washing down the Coeur d’Alene River into Coeur d’Alene Lake and into the Spokane River. 

The video campaign brought massive attention to this issue — along with controversy. “The mining companies had the money and were heavily invested in Spokane,” Mark explains. “Plus, people just didn’t want to believe what was happening.” 

That’s one of the reasons Mark insisted that The Lands Council join the Spokane Chamber of Commerce, where, hopefully, TLC representatives could influence matters. 

During Solomon’s era, founder John Osborn continued to publish the newsletter “Transitions” to provide education to the public.

Alongside this massive undertaking, Mark says his first priority in becoming executive director was to hire staff (there were only two full-time employees) and to find ways to engage the membership. He started annual conferences and meetings, and offered role-playing workshops with activists, demonstrating how to find solutions with those who advocated against environmental causes. 

“I wanted people to be well aware of how the process works and identify whether they were capable of compromise,” Mark says. “It was particularly illuminating for the staff, some of whom believed that compromise was ‘selling out’ before the exercise. That changed.”

Amid these big-picture advances, it was Mark who led the organization to shorten its original name — the Inland Empire Public Lands Council — to The Lands Council, while maintaining the original mission: protecting the forests and waters of the Inland Northwest.

First Di Bernardo Environmental Heroes Award Honors Educator

Deb Di Bernardo

At its 30th annual April Showers auction held April 5, The Lands Council presented its first Deb Di Bernardo Environmental Heroes Award. Di Bernardo, founder and owner of Roast House Coffee, was an avid supporter of The Lands Council, Spokane’s longest-serving environmental nonprofit. 

Executive Director Amanda Parrish shared with more than 250 attendees how Di Bernardo and husband Jim Haynes started Roast House with a mission to source only certified organic, earth-friendly coffees. “But Deb’s impact went far beyond coffee,” Parrish said. “She knew that caring for the planet also meant caring for people. She championed local causes, lifted up her community, and never hesitated to promote The Lands Council as an organization that aligned with her values.”

Parrish continued: “Deb didn’t have to commit to sustainable coffee practices. She didn’t have to uplift women-owned farms or give so much to local nonprofits. But she did, because she lived her values. And so, we can think of no better way to honor Deb and her legacy than by creating an annual award in her name, given to a fellow environmental hero.”

LISA MaTTSON

The first recipient of the award is Lisa Mattson, who has worked in Spokane Public Schools for more than 30 years, and since 2009 has been the principal of On Track Academy, an alternative high school built to support students who might not thrive in a traditional school setting. 

“Under Lisa’s leadership, On Track Academy has flourished as a nurturing environment where students are empowered to take charge of their education. But like Deb, Lisa’s commitment to her students — and her community — goes far beyond the job description,” said Parrish. “Lisa wants every student who walks through On Track’s doors to build a personal connection with nature. Each year, her students host free tree giveaways for the whole community. When The Lands Council wanted to build stormwater gardens in public schools with student involvement, Lisa was the first principal to say yes.”

Mattson understands the vital role urban trees play in placemaking, in calming traffic, in reducing asthma rates, and knows that the neighborhoods her students live in — where 75% of families are in poverty — are less likely to be healthy,  green, shaded neighborhoods. She regularly attends tree equity conferences or urban planning meetings to champion equity and climate justice for those areas. 

Receiving the award, Mattson noted the need for community members to get behind efforts like The Lands Council, especially as it and other organizations face the realities of federal funding decisions. 

The Lands Council celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, having been founded in 1985 by John Osborn, a physician who challenged corporate and government actions responsible for destroying forests. Its April Showers fundraiser featured a canoe that belonged to Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder; other items from Vedder will be sold in a nationwide online auction later this year. Visit this page to see details.

Read more about The Lands Council’s 40th Anniversary here.