Mike Petersen offers TLC to forests, wildlife

Graduate from a decently funded and teacher-heavy high school at 17 or 18, and then go into the wild with experts giving hands-on training in a multiplicity of conservation skills. This sort of corps of young people restoring wetlands and cataloguing wildlife is the vision of 58-year-old Mike Petersen, now going on nine years as Executive Director of The Lands Council, a group that started in 1984 as the Inland Empire Public Lands Council. Mike is atypical in some ways for this position — his roots are in Colorado, with a stint in the Navy (1972-75), and a mechanical engineering degree from Colorado State. His biggest environmental asset might be efforts 40 years ago to stop forest decimation in Colorado with groups like Earth First, and he sometimes returns there, metaphorically, recalling the direct action he participated in while in high school. His skin first molted as an environmentalist in the cancerous reach of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a 20,000-acre site where chemical munitions like white phosphorus, napalm, and mustard gas were manufactured, alongside Sarin gas. Think rocket fuel spills and unregulated brews of chemicals lethal enough to kill all of Denver 1,000 times over. Then a 12,000-foot deep well was dug where these toxins and the organophosphorus compound, nerve gas, labeled the most toxic substances ever created, were injected into Mother Colorado. That was a galvanizing moment, thanks to Petersen’s science teachers. “When I was young I didn’t have a lot of spare change for environmental groups, but I became inspired when conservation leaders inspired me to become an advocate for the Earth,” he said. “It’s always a challenge for established groups to inspire others, when they often spend their day at dull council meetings or filing legal papers.” He started at TLC 18 years ago as a half-time field specialist, which he did for 6 years. He went full-time in the Forest Watch program before taking the executive director reins. These days, he works with passionate young people like Amanda Parrish, 24, and Joe Cannon, 36, who head up the Beaver Solution. He lives in West Central neighborhood with Salt Lick, the cat, and his significant other. He bikes to his office in Spokane’s Saranac Building. “I spend about half my time on programs– helping move our forest collaborations forward, attending policy meetings, writing papers and comments, and the other half with administrative duties like grant writing and working with staff.” He reports to a board, and has 1,500 members he preens. There is political and marketing finessing that environmental groups must do, especially today since money is scarce. The AmeriCorps program, which the Lands Council has relied upon for years, is on the federal chopping box, as is the Environmental Protection Agency. Petersen winces at the proposed cuts to the Corporation for National and Community Service, which houses the AmeriCorps Program, which last year funded 105,000 service volunteers. He’s looking for ways to accomplish goals, including “collaboration” – which for Petersen is one phalanx of stakeholders litigating to stop forest, wetlands and river intrusions when push comes to shove. He’s always hunting for unconventional allies. Petersen’s vision includes changing how agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service, view public lands. It’s holding onto the last stretches of old growth reserves – and trying to stop the bifurcation of up to five million acres for wildlife habitat. “My whole thing now is to try and not be too cynical in the face of overwhelming problems,” Petersen said. While getting arrested for direct action protesting almost four decades ago served one purpose for Petersen, today he is engaged in challenges of building capacity, organizing fund-raisers and educational outreach, political lobbying, and basic program administration, like river restoration projects, lead in children testing, and relocating beavers. Petersen participated in the City of Spokane’s Sustainability Action Plan and is a director of the Northwest Climate Change Center. If asked to give an ‘elevator speech’ to high school students about what The Lands Council means, he’d describe it as watching over our region’s forests, wildlife and rivers. “We challenge bad forestry projects, look for common ground like where and how to log, and work restoring our waterways and the urban Ponderosa Pine forest,” he said. “We come up with innovative ideas, like our Beaver Solution, to fix damage to rivers. We care about people exposed to toxins in rivers, and have a blood lead testing program. We learn how agencies work, we insist on the best available science, we sometimes go to court, we negotiate, and we work to pass legislation. We try to do this in a way that respects others.” In the end, The Lands Council’s real clients are lynx, caribou and goshawk. “Forests around us provide water, air and recreational experiences. Managed responsibly they provide a living for rural communities and a refuge for urban dwellers.” Petersen answered critics who wonder why The Lands Council can take money from groups which may be antithetical to true environmental protection organizations, like Sea World. He sees all money as somehow tainted, and, secondly, TLC uses funds for projects that restore wilderness and actively facilitate the engagement of projects, like the Beaver Solution. You may see Petersen running rivers, hiking, skiing, and biking. He travels for work and for recreation and actively pursues water and wilderness on his own time. Seeking that unlimited viewshed where wildlife is unobstructed by human road construction, energy extraction, building and industrial design – is his nirvana. How has Spokane changed since you arrived? We seem to be in an era of more progressive politics, at least in Spokane. I hope that is not just a temporary trend. To me Spokane has always been a city with huge potential, and there are initiatives that hold the promise of it becoming a great city. But it takes active citizen participation and civil communication. If you had a wish list and a powerful figure in Olympia or the White House who would consider it, what would you include? At the Spokane/CDA level it would be great to see a true regional transportation system with electric mass transit, better active transportation choices, and low-impact development that protects native vegetation and water quality and greater equity for under-represented people in our community. At the Olympia/Boise level I’d like to see increased commitments to renewable energy, and growing urban cores while keeping sprawl from consuming open spaces. At the national level, new Wilderness for the National Forests in our region, an old growth reserve system to protect endangered wildlife species, and a plan to wean us off fossil fuels.