Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – Fri-Yay/Good News

~ John W. Howell
A bull moose passing through Gary Verbrugge’s yard – credit, supplied by Verbrugge to the Spokesman-Review

Today’s good news story comes from the Good News Network.

Man Gathers Up Family Acres Home to Moose and Mountain Lion and Returns Them to Indian Tribe

By Andy Corbley –

Early in May, GNN reported how Australian and US 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 urban areas 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 his relatives bought after moving from Iowa in the early 20th century.

After taking early retirement to help with his parents’ ailing health, he bought more land and a neighbor’s cabin and went home to see what had happened to his father and uncles’ forest.

It turns out that the forester they entrusted with managing their land was more interested in making money from timber sales than in 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.

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.

Today’s good news story points out that individuals with a heart can make a difference in preserving valuable natural resources. Today’s JohnKu talks about individual effort in conservation. I hope you have a restful weekend.

Effort by John W. Howell © 2026

It doesn’t take much,

To help the Earth get healthy . . .

Recycle does work.

62 thoughts on “Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – Fri-Yay/Good News”

  5. What an awesome story and a brilliant idea to give the land to the Kalispel Indians. They will do a a good job managing the land. I’d love to see more of this. Thanks for this uplifting piece, John.

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  11. Great share, John. How wonderful that land will be given back to a tribe. Your Johnku is perfect “it doesn’t take much”. 😊

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  15. LOVE this news story! It’s a little Yellowstone-ish without those midnight trips to the “Train Station.” Conservation easements make my heart go pitter-patter with happiness, especially when the land returns to original owners. 💙

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