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Healthy Lands Initiative

Submitted by Jay Kehne, RC&D Coordinator, North Central Washington RC&D

The Initiative for Rural Innovation and Stewardship (IRIS) as a standing committee of the North Central Washington RC&D has completed the Healthy Lands Initiative to bring together conservation, agriculture and economic development interests to craft new and innovative approaches for combining biodiversity conservation with the maintenance of productive and profitable agricultural enterprises. The initiative includes all of North Central Washington including Douglas, Okanogan, Chelan counties and the Colville Indian Reservation. It has been an 18-month pilot project funded by the Washington Biodiversity Council that was completed in May 2007.

The Healthy Lands Initiative helped citizens design a shared vision for how biodiversity conservation can be integrated with economic and social needs to enhance the health and vitality of North Central Washington. The initiative was specifically designed to bring together the land conservation, agricultural and economic development communities to:

1.)    Build a collective understanding of biodiversity resources in the region.
2.)    Create a collective understanding of regional tools and resources for enhancing conservation.
3.)    Discover new ways to combine biodiversity conservation with the maintenance of productive and profitable agricultural enterprises. 
4.)    Develop plans for implementing incentive programs, such as habitat farming and grassbanking, that benefit riparian and shrub
        steppe systems in the Wenatchee River watershed, Moses Coulee, and the Methow Valley. 

The RC&D through its (IRIS) committee served as the overall project manager coordinating work plans carried out by partner staff and contractors.  Partners included The Nature Conservancy, North Central Washington Resources Conservation &  Development Council  (NCW RC & D), the Okanogan Conservation District, Foster Creek Conservation District, the Community Foundation of North Central Washington, Washington Biodiversity Council, and private landowners and citizens throughout the region.

The Governor created the Washington Biodiversity Council in 2004 after civic and environmental leaders recognized that the state’s conservation strategies were largely reactive and crisis driven and thus costlier and less effective than they should be. The Council is comprised of 23 members representing a wide range of interests. 

  The goals of the BioDiversity Council are to:

• Develop a 30-year prioritized strategy to protect biodiversity in Washington State for future generations.
• Create educational materials and programs that show the importance of biodiversity to our future economy and health.
• Assess existing incentive programs and generate new ideas for non-regulatory ways to assist private landowners in maintaining healthier landscapes at all scales.

The Washington Biodiversity Council selected two pilot projects, one on the east side of the Cascades and one on the west, to demonstrate new approaches to landowner stewardship programs.  The North Central  Washington (NCW) proposal was selected because of the emphasis on collaboration with agricultural and economic development interests and the focus on exploring new and innovative approaches. One product of the project is a fully narrated 20 minute power point presentation on ," The Nature of North Central Washington."  This is being made available to NCW schools and organizations as a DVD for use in education about the importance of preserving Biodiversity while promoting sustainable agriculture and allowing smart growth.  Another benefit resulting from the project was the creation of the NCW RC&D website located at www.ncwrcd.org.  The DVD and other items of Biodiversity interest will be posted at this site.

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