If home is where the heart is, you’ll find Kat Hall with The Lands Council, under a canopy of Ponderosa Pines, exploring the banks of the Spokane River, filling her lungs with fresh mountain air.
You see, when Kat Hall is closest to Mother Nature, she feels right at home. As a young girl growing up 45 minutes from New York City, she longed for long walks in the great outdoors- dreaming of less concrete and more snow-capped peaks.
Her passion for nature and environmental stewardship has led Kat from Alaska to West Africa, where she worked in the Peace Corps planting trees to improve soil fertility for local farmers.
It’s deep in the forest, where she finds peace, energy, and solitude. It’s a spiritual experience. Divine intervention, she’ll tell you. Her connection to trees, especially her favorite species, the Australian Whistling Pine, inspires her to live a life of purpose.
The Australian Whistling Pine can survive the harshest conditions, yet gives so much back to the soil. Like the whistling pine, Kat asks for very little and gives as much back to the community as possible. And, boy is she ever.
In the past 11 years at The Lands Council, Kat has organized the planting of more than 10,000 trees. She also plants seeds of confidence in at-risk youth by introducing them to the snowshoe trails of Mount Spokane. It’s here where young, vulnerable hearts, are transformed one step at a time.
“It’s incredibly fulfilling,” said Kat.
Last month, when hundreds of volunteers gathered in Highbridge Park to plant thousands of trees, Kat was there too. She was there long after the last tree took root in the rocky soil. It’s her way of welcoming each and every tree home.
“I definitely feel an attachment to the trees. I usually reflect and have my own moment,” said Kat.
“I send energy to the trees. ’Alright, I hope you grow, be well,’” said Kat.