ADVOCACY ***TRAIL MAINTENANCE***CONSERVATION
The Inland Northwest Trails Coalition was formed by multi-purpose trail users to stay informed on common issues and projects. The stated purposes and goals can be found on the PURPOSEpage of this web site.
PARTNER TRAIL PROJECTS:
TRAIL MAINTENANCE
The Washington Trails Association was founded 40 years ago as a clearinghouse for trail information for hikers in the Puget Sound area. From its humble beginnings the WTA has grown to one of the leading statewide hiking organizations in the nation. The mission of the WTA is to act as the voice of hikers in Washington, protecting hiking trails and public lands through lobbying and grassroots advocacy, inform and educate the public about trail issues, perform many thousands of hours of volunteer trail maintenance and promote hiking as a healthy, fun way to explore our beautiful state.
WTA also has a trip report section. Hikers can look for information before going on a hike or even find a nearby hike. We would like to see more Inland Northwest hikes listed so please post your favorites too.
http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports .
This year the WTA will perform approximately 90,000 hours of volunteer trail maintenance in our National Forests, National Parks and State Lands. This is trail work that might not be done otherwise due to massive budget cuts funding our public lands. Hikers are kept informed about trail issues and conditions through a wonderful monthly magazine and an awesome website http://www.wta.org.
One can also volunteer for a multitude of trail work parties on line. These are popular fun trips and fill up fast! There are youth oriented programs to introduce young people to the wonders of nature and a program encouraging families with small children to get out in the woods. Every year members of the WTA Hike the Hill in Olympia and Washington D. C. to encourage our elected officials to maintain adequate funding of our precious public lands.
Anyone who loves to hike and cares about the future of Washington’s forests should check out the WTA website and consider becoming a member. You will be adding your voice to thousands of other hikers who want to leave an outdoor legacy for future generations.
Are you a resident Washington military veteran?
Do you want to help the environment, contribute to the community, and earn job skills in the environmental field? Then the Veteran Conservation Corps can assist you with volunteer opportunities throughout the state on projects that help protect and restore Washington’s rivers, streams, lakes, marine waters and open lands.
For more information, please visit http://www.dva.wa.gov/veterans_conservation_corps.htm or contact Seth Maier 509-869-4236.
CONSERVATION
Land Trusts
Land Trusts are private, nonprofit organizations that work cooperatively with private landowners to conserve land for its natural, recreational, scenic, historical or productive value. Properties sought for conservation include farms, wetlands, wildlife habitats, ranches, forests, urban gardens and parks, coastline, watersheds, river corridors and trails. The 1,500 U.S. land trusts have conserved more than 34 million acres of important lands nationwide.
Conservation Easements 
A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a private landowner and the Inland Northwest Land Trust. The conservation easement specifies what activities are allowed, which can include farming, forestry, recreation, and limited construction. The conservation easement also defines what activities are permanently restricted, such as development, subdivision, surface mining, dredging, and other actions that would damage the conservation values of the property, in order to protect wildlife habitat, scenic vistas, productive farmland, and important wetlands or forests. Each conservation easement is tailored to meet the specific needs and conservation purposes of the landowner and the Inland Northwest Land Trust. It is a way for landowners to protect their land while retaining ownership. The easement stays with the property no matter who owns it. It is like a road or utility easement in that respect. Future owners of the property are bound by the easement's terms. The Inland Northwest Land Trust ensures compliance with the terms of the easement by committing to regular monitoring and annual visits to the property.
Conservation Futures is a property tax on all lands within Spokane County. Enabled by the Washington State Legislature in 1971, Spokane County adopted and began a local program in 1994. The Program allows up to a $6.00 tax per $100,000.00 value on all properties within Spokane County. This equates to approximately $1 million dollars a year.
Spokane County’s Conservation Futures Program is intended to protect, preserve, maintain, enhance, restore, limit the future use of or otherwise conserve selected open space land, farmland, forests, wetlands, wildlife habitats, and other lands having significant recreational, social, scenic or aesthetic values within the boundaries of Spokane County. Acquired properties will not be developed but kept in an enhanced natural area consistent with the Revised Code of Washington (RCW Chapter 84.34).
This is a fancy way of explaining how Conservation Futures funds are used towards acquisition of property and/or property easements that ensure public access and enjoyment of our greatest resources in perpetuity. To date, more than 3,300 acres of open space lands have been acquired in Spokane County with Conservation Futures funds. Spokane County Conservation Futures Website
For more than two decades, The Lands Council has been the leading voice for preserving and revitalizing Inland Northwest forests, water and wildlife. The Lands Council collaborates with a broad range of interested parties - communities, businesses, recreational groups, government agencies, elected officials, and others - to seek smart and mutually respectful solutions to environmental issues.
When necessary, we use litigation to protect our forests and enforce key environmental rules. In fact, in the past decade, we have won several landmark cases to protect tens of thousands of acres in Washington, Idaho, and Montana.
 In 2004, we stopped the "Iron Honey" timber sale, proposed for the north fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. This court decision is one of the most far-reaching in recent memory and will likely lead to dramatic changes in management of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest and other national forests We created a wildfire protection program for rural residents and forests in Eastern Washington.
Since 2003, we have met with more than 1,000 rural residents and written 125 wildfire protection plans to help these people prepare for wildfire A century of mining has left the Coeur d'Alene basin, including the Spokane River, laced with lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals.
We created the Get The Lead Out program to educate citizens, and local and federal officials about the need for cleanup Our years of advocacy work helped build support for one of the largest Superfund projects in the nation in the Coeur d'Alene Basin. To date, thousands of tons of contaminated soil have been removed from homes and yards, protecting children from lead contamination.
In 2006, work began on cleaning up contaminated beaches along the Spokane River Since 2004, we have educated over 6,400 people, primarily low-income and non-English speakers about reducing their risk of exposure to toxics from Spokane River fish and sediments
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