Early in May, GNN reported how Australia and USA citizens have amassed 85 million acres of private land specifically for conservation.
From the Spokesman-Review comes the story of a man in Washington state who’s about to make it 85,000,885 by donating his own patch, to the Kalispel Indian Tribe.
Having spent his whole working life in urbanity during a 30-year career with the Social Security Administration, Gary Verbrugge longed for the natural world he remembered from his youth, where he lived on land that was bought by his relatives after moving from Iowa in the early 20th century.
After taking an early retirement to help with his parents’ ailing health, he bought some more land and a cabin owned by a neighbor and went home to see what had happened to his father and uncles’ forest.
It turns out that the forester they entrusted the management of their land to was more interested in making money from timber sales than ensuring the health of the woodland.
A year later, in 2007, Verbrugge partnered with the Inland Northwest Land Conservancy to turn 605 wooded acres he owned into a conservation easement. In 2025, he bought another 280 acres directly abutting his own land from his nieces and nephews, and added them to the package.
The idea, explained by the INLC’s conservation director Michael Crabtree, is that the Conservancy acts “kind of like the third party that makes sure the rules are being followed,” on behalf of the owner, who has stipulated he wants to see the land preserved in a natural state.
MORE MERITFUL DONATIONS:
- Prince William is Selling 20% of His Duchy Landholdings to Build Affordable Housing and Restore Nature
- Man Donates Empty Field to His Town So it Can Be Made Community Orchard
- Visionary Ranchers Help Conserve Nebraska’s Sandhills – And Save a Way of Life
Though Verbrugge, who lives alone at 72 years old in the forest, has no heirs to pass the property to, he found a suitable inheritor in the Kalispel Indians, who said they would carry the responsibility of keeping the land in good health forward with “profound gratitude.”
As to the land itself, the Little Spokane River runs through it, along with several creeks home to bull trout. In a subdivided and developed area, Verbrugge’s woodland is a haven for elk, deer, moose, wolves, cougar, bobcat, and eagles.
“To see the wildlife, where they’re not aggressive, they’re not scared, they’re just at home, is the reward,” Verbrugge told the Spokesman-Review, who enjoys catching glimpses of his sylvan neighbors with trail cams.
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