History

A handful of community leaders with a vision for the future founded the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust in 1985. From 1985-1999 CDLT was an entirely volunteer organization that played a major role in the local and regional effort to protect access to the Peshastin Pinnacles climbing area, Spider Meadows, and the Columbia River Loop Trail.

In 1999 the CDLT board decided that CDLT could play a much greater role in local conservation efforts if they hired an executive director and opened an office. At that time CDLT had 40 supporting members, owned no property, and had an operating budget of about $2,500 per year. Currently, CDLT's membership is over 2,000 households and we have protected over 26,600 acres of land.

Visit our Timeline to learn more about our local conservation successes!