There has been a community-wide conversation regarding the future of the 48-acre Kampa farm south of Vinegar Flats in Spokane, Washington for several years with many voices favoring preservation over development. JRP Land LLC, owner of the property, hosted a tour of the land in late October 2020 for representatives from several conservation organizations, the landowners, City of Spokane officials and a Spokane County Commissioner. They gathered to discuss a future that didn’t include 94 new homes that a conditional permit was recently issued for. Instead, community leaders presented an outline for preserving the property as a valuable public resource that will benefit residents of Spokane for decades to come. If the land was purchased using public and private funds it would complete the 2014 Spokane County Regional Trail Plan, create a public agrarian arts center, the City’s first community farm, and develop a riparian restoration project. After the tour, the landowners expressed their continuing interest in selling the property to the City or County if a suitable plan were to be offered.
The Latah Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries Heritage Project (LEAF) grew out of that gathering.
Members of the LEAF Heritage Project in alphabetical order by first name:
Addie Candib, American Farmland Trust
Brian Estes, The Local Inland Northwest Cooperative (LINC)
Brian McClatchey, Director Political and Intergovernmental Affairs, City of Spokane
Chrys Ostrander, Spokane Farmland Preservation Working Group
Dave Schaub, Inland Northwest Land Conservancy
Doug Phelps, Spokane Conservation District
Erik Poulson, Manager of Intergovernmental Affairs, City of Spokane
Ian Cunningham, private citizen
Jerry White, Spokane Riverkeeper
Kai Huschke, Latah-Hangman Neighborhood Council
Kirsten Angell, Sustainability Action Subcommittee of the Spokane City Council
Marc Gauthier, private citizen
Pat Keegan, Friends of the Bluff
Paul Kropp, Inland Northwest Trails Coalition
Todd Dunfield, Inland Northwest Land Conservancy
Trevor Finchamp, Friends of the Bluff
Vicki Carter, Spokane Conservation District