Ninety three percent of Spokane residents desire to protect wildlife habitat, conserve native plants, sensitive landscape and forests, and preserve areas with beautiful or unique natural habitat, according to the 2022 Park and Natural Lands Master Plan community survey.

Despite rapid development of natural land within and immediately adjacent to the City of Spokane, City Parks does not currently have a comprehensive strategy for the acquisition and maintenance of park natural lands, nor does it allocate dedicated funding to acquiring additional natural lands for preservation.

In response to community affinity for natural land, this program element will:

• Create a citywide ‘Natural Lands Acquisition and Management Plan’. The plan shall include significant community input from subject matter experts, partner agencies (Spokane County, WDFW, etc.), citizen scientists, and community members.
• Create a dedicated fund for acquisition of priority natural lands identified within the acquisition and management plan, allocating approximately $125,000 annually plus yearly escalation for property acquisition.

Key Improvements:

• Natural Land Preservation
• Restoration & Conservation of Natural Landscapes
• Wildfire Risk Reduction

Category

• Acquire & Develop New Neighborhood Parks & Natural Lands

Master Plan Goal, Objective, and Strategy

• Second Tier
• Goal C, Objective 1. Initiate Framework for Natural Land Acquisition Decision Making
• Goal C, Objective 2. Further Regional Partnership for Land Acquisitions
• Goal C, Objective 3. Initiate Interdisciplinary Partnerships for Land Management