Clear-cut on the Spokane River

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Occasionally something bad happens, and you need to call it out for what it is. As shown in this slide show, a couple with a home upstream of the T.J. Meenach Bridge decided to improve their view by clear-cutting trees all the way down to the river.

Said Mike Petersen, Executive Director of the Lands Council, “Every conifer, including Ponderosa Pine and Grand Fir, has been cut down, some over two feet in diameter and some just a few feet from the water line. Walking the area made me feel sick.”

The couple who owns the home reportedly spends half their time in California and the other half in Spokane. The home itself is listed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places. Said Spokane Riverkeeper Bart Mihailovich, “Anyone with the sophistication to get through the process of restoring a historic home knows you can’t just clear cut trees to the shoreline. It looks like a flagrant act of willfulness that puts their desires above community etiquette and regulatory requirements.”

The Washington Department of Ecology is taking the lead in working with the homeowners on a remedy. Said Mike Maher, Ecology’s Compliance Coordinator, “Ecology will issue an order and penalty in the next thirty to sixty days which will require the owners submit a restoration plan.” Maher also noted that Ecology is working in concert with the City of Spokane and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“The shame of it is that nothing is going to bring those trees back,” said the Forum’s Executive Director Andy Dunau. “The least we can do is join hands across the community to acknowledge something bad happened and be clear we don’t want to see it happen again.”