The Spokane Audubon Society Donates Ten-Thousand-Dollars in Support of the Glen Tana Purchase!
November 22, 2024
By Liz Melville
I watched in wonder as the flock of Canada Geese flew low across the sky before landing smoothly on the water, where they joined twenty-five swans and an assortment of ducks, including Mallards, American Widgeons, Gadwalls, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser and Green-winged Teals.
Luckily for me, my friend Stuart Wilson, a self-described casual birder, agreed to join me on my excursion to Reardan’s Audubon Lake.
As I looked through the spotting scope, I identified the birds with phrases like: “the one with the swoop down its nose,” “the pretty gray one with a stocky neck and a thick head,” and “the funny black-headed bird with a white spot by its eye.” It was only with Stuart’s expertise that these birds could be named properly.
Just that morning, I met with Alan McCoy, the Spokane Audubon Society (SAS) president, to learn more about their recent $10,000 donation to Inland Northwest Land Conservancy (INLC) through the Glen Tana, Adopt an Acre program. Alan told me that SAS is a conservation organization that focuses on birds. To save birds, you have to save the habitat they depend on. And, as the SAS is not in the business of buying land, it makes perfect sense for them to support INLC, an organization that is in the business of buying land needed for wildlife corridors.
These two organizations first joined forces more than twenty years ago when an anonymous person contacted Joyce Alonso, a member of SAS, to tell her that Reardan’s East Lake was up for sale. Joyce thought that perhaps her contact only knew to call her because Norma Trefry, another SAS member, had been diligently talking with landowners and community members about the value of Reardan’s little lakes and wetlands. Without Norma informing the community that these ordinary-looking ponds were lifesaving resting spots for migratory birds, the sale might have happened before anything could have been done about it.
Joyce immediately called Chris DeForest, then the Conservancy’s executive director, to convince him to get the Conservancy involved in protecting the property. While these small lakes had not been on Chris’s radar, Joyce would not take no for an answer. She showed him the property and convinced him of the importance of these ponds. He then took a gamble and backed the project.
Saving this land from development was not easy. The Conservancy immediately had to come up with $51,000 for the option-to-purchase.
Luckily for everyone, Lindell Haggin (another SAS member who had spent hours on the project) collected and tracked the incoming funds from SAS and other Audubon chapters across the state, conservation groups, and individuals. Once the deposit money was raised, the Conservancy could take a short breath before taking out a loan to pay the total $350,000 purchase price. Later, with the help of the grant writing and influence from Howard Ferguson, the Conservancy sold the property at cost to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to become the Reardan Audubon Lake Wildlife Area, a place for birds and birders to enjoy.
In 2015 and 2018, the Conservancy bought two adjacent parcels: first the 150-acre Deep Creek Preserve and then the 159-acre Mikklesen property. The Deep Creek Preserve then became part of the Reardan Audubon Lake Wildlife Area.
Stuart and I took one last look across the wildlife area at the swans, geese, and ducks before heading back to the car. As we walked down the paved trail through native bushes and grasses, a flock of quail burst up around us, adding one more piece of wonder to end our day.
I had a similar experience of wonder just a few weeks earlier when I walked the forested hillside above the Little Spokane River on a piece of land that connects Riverside State Park to Waikiki Springs Nature Preserve. Here too I saw a promise made to future generations and wildlife. A promise the SAS was able to contribute to by adopting ten acres of the Glen Tana Property.
I am inspired to see the accomplishments of the ongoing partnership between the SAS and the Conservancy. Twenty years ago the SAS directed the Conservancy as to where to best use their resources. Now, in the midst of the spectacular Glen Tana project, the SAS is following the direction of the Conservancy as to where to best give SAS’s resources. As reflected in these projects, partnerships between organizations and individuals with shared values lead to powerful accomplishments.
Looking forward, I am excited to spend time along the Little Spokane River and at Reardan’s Audubon Lake, where in the spring, just maybe if I am lucky, I will see Pintail Ducks or Tundra Swans taking a rest before flying north for the summer.
If you are searching for a gift to give a loved one, perhaps adopting a piece of Glen Tana in their name is just the answer.