CONSERVATION --  The Inland Northwest Land Conservancy is celebrating its 26th year of preserving the region's water quality and the open values of working farms and forests with a fundraising banquet on Friday, Sept. 22.

So far, the regional land trust has helped landowners preserve more than 16,000 acres including wildlife habitat and 40 miles of shoreline through agreements and conservation easements beneficial to landowners and the public.

The group is looking forward to more progress with a new executive director, who'll help host the "Appetite for Conservation" banquet and auctions that will open at 6 p.m. Friday at the McGinnity Room, 116 W. Pacific Ave. in Spokane.

Dave Schaub has been hired to lead the three-person staff, interns and board to accomplish the conservancy's goals.

"As a local land trust that is non-political, non-adversarial, and non-governmental, Inland Northwest Land Conservancy is well positioned to work with a broad range of land owners, businesses, and government agencies," the group says on its website.

Schaub is a teacher who describes himself as an outdoorsman with deep ties to Spokane. He's a graduate of Leadership Spokane, a past president of  the Dishman Hills Conservancy and a member of the Spokane County Parks Advisory Committee. He's also a former NOLS Alaska instructor who's hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada.

Buy tickets for the Appetite for Conservation fundraiser online.