Volunteer Land Stewards: Janice Petrin

Pat Loomis, Conservancy Volunteer

After retiring from Bemiss Elementary School in Spokane, 40-year education veteran Janice Petrin hasn’t slowed a bit. During her teaching career, she taught with the Department of Defense Education Activity Program in Okinawa, Japan where she met her husband Joe. She also taught in Ecuador and Germany before moving to Spokane in 1987 when Joe relocated to Fairchild AFB.

Since retiring Janice enjoys hiking, exploring the many Spokane County Conservation areas, learning to play golf, and taking her British Labrador Retriever trauma therapy dog Daisy to Bemiss to meet with the kids on a weekly basis. Janice and Joe live near Waikiki Springs and hiked the trails for years before it became part one of Inland Northwest Land Conservancy’s preserves.  As one of Rose Richardson’s Volunteer Land Stewards, she enjoys being a part of, as she says, “the many eyes to keep the area clean and safe for others to enjoy.” Of note to visitors, Janice says, are the seasonal changes, eagle sightings, and the many trails throughout the area. Recently, she was thrilled to witness the release of 51 adult Chinook salmon into the Little Spokane River by Spokane Tribal Fisheries, in partnership with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Inland Northwest Land Conservancy.

As Janice reflects about her family, two children and three grandchildren, she hopes her legacy will be to leave a protected land for our children and grandchildren so they will be able to witness eagles nesting, the joys of native plants and animals growing and thriving, and all the joys of hiking our protected Conservancy lands.