Spirit of Spokane

Drive thirty minutes from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho or Spokane, Washington toward the Idaho-Washington state line and you’ll enter a beautiful ridgeway with long stretches of foothills, forestland, and breathtaking views of Mount Spokane.

For decades, many of the timber companies operating in this region have allowed the public to use their land for hiking, hunting, fishing, and other activities. But this access has been guaranteed through little more than a handshake agreement. These informal arrangements mean that wild places could be closed to public access and lost to private development.

TPL has teamed up with Inland Empire Paper Company to protect these lands with a conversation easement. To preserve working forests and the economic resilience those lands bring to rural communities, some of our work happens through a process called conservation easements. TPL buys development rights from timber companies, protecting both open space and public access in perpetuity. This safeguards wildlife corridors, retains good-paying jobs in timbering and tourism, and preserves recreation access. All of that means more forest for more people—to work in, to play in, or both.

This easement of approximately 41,449 acres across two states will allow the company to continue using their property for sustainable commercial timber, providing jobs that will contribute to the local economy. TPL completed the first phase of this project, approximately 22,000 acres, in 2026 with more to come. Protecting this land will also have multiple benefits for locals in the area, guaranteeing permanent public access for hunting, biking, wildlife viewing, and even berry picking. These new outdoor recreational activities will allow locals to further explore the outdoors in new ways and bring the benefits of the outdoors close to home.

The protection of important wildlife habitats and the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer will also ensure safe drinking water for over 675,000 people in Spokane County, Washington and Kootenai County, Idaho. And the ecosystem will benefit too, with nearby protected lands like Mount Spokane State Park and Idaho state lands within a two mile radius, it will link protected habitat for beloved local species like moose, the mighty elk, deer, turkey, westslope cutthroat trout, and the black bear. From safeguarding clean drinking water to expanding access to the outdoors, this project helps ensure the region’s natural beauty is protected and enjoyed for generations to come.