BLANCHARD — The Idaho Department of Lands announced it has preserved 22,000 acres of forest across Bonner and Kootenai County thanks to a partnership with Trust for Public Land, the USDA Forest Service and Inland Empire Paper Company.

The land, which surrounds Mount Spokane, is owned by Inland Empire Paper Company and will now remain permanently accessible to the timber industry, public and wildlife. Jennifer Barker, IDL’s Forest Legacy program manager, said the company and the land trust approached IDL, which helped them submit an application for the federal grant for $26 million to move the project forward. 

“We put in an application for federal funding to purchase conservation easements,” Barker said. “These willing landowners, come to us with a land trust partner and their goal is to protect these lands and keep them working forests in perpetuity... we identified what lands we were able to go ahead and take care of it.” 

Through the Spirit of Mountain Spokane Project, the company sold off its developmental rights on the land while maintaining ownership and paying taxes on the land. Barker said the Inland Empire had remained committed to allowing public use on the land; however, if they sold prior to this decision, a new owner could have reversed course. 

“Now it is so the public will have access to these properties in perpetuity, as for the non-motorized public access,” Barker said. “It gives us the opportunity to go up into these lands, and hunt and recreate and hike and do all the things that we like to do here in North Idaho.” 

Barker said the company will continue to manage the motorized access, which is available through a permit process. These changes will allow the timber industry to continue using the lands and contributing to the local economy, Barker said. 

In the press release, IDL officials said that the land also covers a portion of the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, which provides water to both Spokane County and Kootenai County. Dustin Miller, director of IDL, said in the release that projects like these help prevent urban sprawl from hurting the region’s forests and water. 

“Keeping large forest landscapes intact helps limit expansion of the wildland-urban interface and reduces vulnerability to catastrophic wildfire,” Miller said. “By preventing fragmentation and development in these forests we can support active management and help ensure fire protection can be provided with fewer resources.” 

Due to the rising price of land, Barker said IDL had to break the project into two phases. The application for the second phase has been submitted and the IDL is waiting to hear back. If given the funds, the IDL would be protect another significant portion of land in Kootenai County. 

“It's a great project, and I'm really excited that these lands will be available for the public to recreate on, and for it to remain in timber and timber economy for our region,” Barker said. “I think it's kind of an awesome ability to work on projects like this for North Idaho.”