Inland Northwest Land Conservancy

INLC's goal is to conserve the natural heritage of the Inland Northwest (eastern Washington and northern Idaho) for the benefit of wildlife, our community, and future generation.

To do this we protect the sanctuaries and connecting corridors that nourish and sustain wildlife. We also work with willing private landowners to conserve working forests that provide wildlife habitat and protect the clean air and clean water of our region as well as provide an economic benefit to rural communities.

We also work with our community partners to connect people with nature so that they understand and appreciate the importance of nature and protected land.

We work with willing private landowners to conserve their own land through donated conservation easements. We also work with other agencies to protect land through fee purchase or purchased easements.

We also work to engage the community with conservation - connecting people with nature through a series of events designed to get people experiencing and enjoying the outdoors. In this way they will learn to love the land and work to protect it for future generations.

Finally, our core responsibility is to protect the lands under conservation easement entrusted to us. We monitor each property at least annually to ensure the conservation restrictions are followed. If necessary, we would file suit to enforce those restrictions.

Conservation Director Chris DeForest has been with INLC since 1997. Over the years Chris has developed deep trust relationships with local landowners - so that when they are ready to protect their land they know that INLC will treat them as valued partners rather than adversaries.

INLC's other staff bring a wide variety of skills and talents. INLC's volunteers are also an important part of our strength - including a GIS specialist who comes in 2 days a week .

INLC has over a $1 million in assets, the income of which can support INLC's core activities into the future. INLC also has a stewardship fund, a special projects fund, and a small endowment.

In early 2020 we hired our Philanthropy and Communications Director, bringing our staff to 6.8 FTE.

As of June 30, 2020 we have protected nearly 22,000 acres of land through 62 conservation easements, 38 partner projects, and 2 preserves.

In November 2020 we purchased land to create the Waikiki Springs Nature Preserve.