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.