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 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. 

  • 📣 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!