Conservation District presents at Airway Heights City Council

The Airway Heights City Council was so busy at their Monday, May 20, meeting that several agenda items were pushed back to a later meeting date as council members heard a presentation from the Spokane Conservation District.

District Director Vicki Carter gave the council a brief history of the organization and said the conservation district was created in Spokane in 1941, along with many others formed nationwide in the aftermath of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.

She drew a significant distinction between a conservation district and other environmental agencies like the Department of Ecology.

“Conservation districts work directly with landowners on a voluntary basis, so we have no regulatory authority whatsoever,” Carter said.

The district’s goal is to provide assistance and resources to help property owners protect natural resources. Carter says the organization has several programs devoted to that goal, including educational curriculum, long-range work plans and a variety of programs dedicated to specific conservation goals.

For example, Carter said, the district’s Family Forest Fish Passage Program is a voluntary program where landowners can receive financial and technical assistance for the removal of fish barriers on their property. 

The Spokane Conservation District currently encompasses all of Spokane County, including more than 500 miles of rivers and streams and 68 lakes. Carter said she hopes to eventually expand those boundaries.

“Ultimately we’d love to have a West Plains Conservation District, too,” she said.

Following the presentation, the council discussed some financial agenda items and indicated that the process to create Highland Village, an alternative housing area for residents living in Fairchild Air Force Base’s Accident Potential Zone in south Airway Heights, is moving forward slowly but surely.

No action items were tackled at the meeting, with a presentation from Avista on smart meters and some consent agenda discussion postponed to a later date.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].