Pine Bluff – Protected Forever

Today we’re sharing a story written by Emalee Gillis, one of our Conservancy volunteers, who wrote about Pine Bluff – a property owned and cherished by Peggy Clemons and Mary Foutz near Riverside State Park’s Trail 25 – one of the longest trails in the park system, at around 25 miles. Our organization works with private land-owners across the Inland Northwest – in Washington and Idaho, who want to protect their property in perpetuity and secure what they love about their land.

By Emalee Gillis, Conservancy Volunteer

“I never wanted to see an apartment complex on our land,” said Peggy Clemons who along with Mary Foutz owns a cherished 60-acre parcel that they recently preserved as open space in cooperation with Inland Northwest Land Conservancy (INLC). 

“We think it is really important to preserve spaces that are unencumbered with development, especially near urban centers,” said Clemons.

The land that Foutz and Clemons preserved, referred to as the Pine Bluff property, is beautiful. There are gorgeous views of Mount Spokane and the Spokane River. Some areas of the property are forested with ponderosa pine and Douglas Fir. The land includes rocky bluffs, big mossy rocks and open fields. Wildflowers bloom there every year, and the plant life is diverse. 

Not only is the land beautiful, but it provides abundant habitat for wildlife. Clemons and Foutz have seen bear, moose, mule and white-tail deer, hawks, owls, pileated woodpeckers- and many other bird species- on the land.

Foutz added, “Habitat is shrinking for wildlife. There is a great deal of human encroachment.”

The Pine Bluff property borders Riverside State Park near Nine Mile Falls. The combined properties form an uninterrupted corridor for wildlife.

“We have seen how much development is occurring in our area,” said Clemons. “All that development shrinks the space for wildlife. By preserving our land, we hope to make a little dent in the available open land for wildlife.”

“I believe we have a responsibility to the earth to care for it,” added Foutz. “By protecting our land, we are helping to care for the flora and fauna of the earth.”

Foutz and Clemons said although they can control the open space character of the Pine Bluff property while they own it, before they began their work with INLC they had no say in how the property would be developed or protected in the future. Putting the conservation easement together allowed them a say in the future uses of the property. It allowed them to extend the value they place on protected spaces to future generations. The two landowners were inspired to preserve their land after they heard about others who worked with the Conservancy.

Future owners of the land will be unable to put any additional structures on it, for example, and INLC will walk the land at least once a year to make sure the wishes of Foutz and Clemons to maintain the land as open space are respected.

Foutz and Clemons shared values with INLC, so the two found it easy to work with the organization, though the process did take a few years.

“We are excited that our process is complete,” said Clemons. “We feel really good about it and hope others will be inspired to preserve their land, including our neighbors who own similar properties. It’s giving back to the earth.”

For more information about conservation agreements and resources for land owners, visit our website.