For Michael Terrell, service didn’t end at sea.

While dedicating 30 years of active and reserve service to the United States Navy, he also built a career shaping the land, opening his own landscape architecture practice, Michael Terrell Landscape Architecture PLLC, while balancing life in the Naval force. 

Today, with his firm newly registered as a veteran-owned business, he continues to plan and build parks and neighborhoods throughout the Inland Northwest.  

In his 38-year career, he estimates he has been personally responsible for the design of over 100 parks throughout the region. His firm also has been responsible for designs that involved the planting of over 10,000 trees from Post Falls to Coeur d’Alene, Liberty Lake, and Spokane. 

“The difference between architects and landscape architects,” he says, “is that when the building is complete, the architect’s work is done. But for the landscape architect, it’s not complete yet. We’re a patient profession. We watch the trees grow. We watch the neighborhoods develop.” 

For instance, Terrell has been involved in the planning of Liberty Lake since about 1997 and has been involved in the planning of Kendall Yards since 2010. Fifteen years later, he estimates he’ll be working on that plan for the next 10 to 15 years.

“It’s been great to be involved in it,” he says. “And I’ve been super fortunate. You don’t get to this point without being fortunate, working and collaborating with a lot of really great people.” 

Located in the Liberty Square building, at 1421 N. Meadowwood Lane in Liberty Lake, Michael Terrell Landscape Architecture was established in 2002 and provides master planning and landscape architecture services for both public and private facilities throughout the Inland Northwest.

The practice is comprised of three landscape architects: Staci Heathman, Jeff Stiltz, and Terrell, who are all certified playground safety inspectors and are collectively licensed to practice in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. Terrell’s wife, Kara, who also has a degree in landscape architecture, is the office’s chief financial officer. In the coming weeks, Terrell looks forward to adding an intern from Washington State University. 

“I taught classes at WSU for a few years, and taught one class at Eastern,” he says. “I really enjoy teaching, having somebody in the office that’s young, and you can say, 'here’s why we do the things we do.'” 

Terrell declines to disclose annual revenue projections. While he is keeping an eye on the economy, he says he has a good workload and a slate of interesting projects to keep him and his team busy. 

Michael Terrell Landscape Architecture focuses on project design and collaborates with contractors on bids and takes part in progressive design-build teams. The firm's approach to projects includes immersing themselves in the community, meeting people, possibly setting up in a park, and receiving feedback on what residents would like to see, what’s missing, or how the park can be improved, he says.

For example, the firm helped to create the master plan for Camas Meadow Park, which is currently under construction on the West Plains. During the planning process, the practice did community outreach to get input about what residents would like to see. One brainstorming session included giving local grade school children paper and crayons and asking them to draw their dream park. 

As previously reported by the Journal, Camas Meadow Park is a 10-acre parcel located at 9817 W. Melville Road, just south of The Plains Golf Course. The project is funded by a $6 million award from the American Rescue Plan Act for the acquisition, planning, design, permitting, and development of a 10- to 20-acre community park. 

The same method was applied when the company was doing the master plan for an inclusive playground at Travers Park, in Sandpoint, Idaho, he says. The project aimed to create a playground that is inclusive to people of all ages and abilities, he says. 

Recently, he received a video from a parks manager of a grandmother and her grandkids at the park. The grandmother was in a wheelchair and was shown rolling onto a merry-go-round that is flush with the ground and allows for wheelchair access. 

“They rolled her in and she was on the merry-go-round participating with her grandkids,” he says. “That’s why I do this job.”

Terrell's practice has also helped design large planned community developments, such as Kendall Yards. The planned mixed-use community encompasses approximately 78 acres of land on the north bank of the Spokane River and is being developed by Liberty Lake-based development company Greenstone Corp. 

Terrell, who has worked with and for Greenstone over the years on multiple projects, says the Kendall Yards master plan called for the creation of a diverse urban forest canopy that would minimize the risk of certain bugs or diseases from killing all the trees in the district. 

“The benefits of trees are phenomenal,” he says. “It creates places where people want to walk, creates shade, and reduces urban heat. The neighborhoods that have the best appreciation in most cities—South Hill is one—have the best trees.” 

In addition, Terrell and his team designed the parks, trails, and gathering spaces, such as the Nest Plaza and shade sail structure at Cedar Street and Summit Parkway. West of the Nest, the firm designed the Olmsted Brothers’ Green park, a stormwater treatment facility that prevents discharge into the Spokane River. During major storm events, stormwater from the Monroe Street corridor and some eastern portions of Kendall Yards is pumped into the park to be treated in the rain gardens and swales, he says. 

The name of the park is a nod to the Olmsted Brothers company, a landscape architectural firm that traveled the country in the early 20th century and created master plans for many cities, including the original Spokane parks master plan, he says. In the original plan, the Olmstead Brothers zeroed in on the Spokane River Gorge and its potential. However, the opportunity was not being realized because there was a lot of dumping of waste discharged into the river at the time, Terrell says. 

“Part of the job is to research what has happened before and try and come up with new twists and ideas, but it’s all working on the shoulders of great men and women who have come before,” Terrell says. “In the landscape architecture community, I would say all of us really lean on Frederick Olmsted and Olmsted Brothers.” 

Terrell is also involved in preparing the master plan for the River District, a 730-acre planned community partially located in unincorporated Spokane County and partially in the city of Liberty Lake. Terrell designed Half Moon Park, a signature park with integrated stormwater and play areas, as well as all the future trail connections to the Centennial Trail. According to Greenstone's website, the River District has over three miles of paved trails, 30 acres of parks and open spaces, and 250,000 square feet of local businesses. 

In terms of sustainability projects, Terrell’s team did the climate resiliency landscape master plan for Eastern Washington University’s campus. The plan is focused on reducing water use and Eastern’s carbon footprint, he says. Next to the university, the school also owns 150 acres of farmland, which Terrell’s company was approached to create the master plan that would turn the farmland into a prairie restoration project involving native plants. 

In the coming weeks, he says he looks forward to helping the sustainability club at Mount Spokane High School, where his youngest son is a teacher, with a rewilding project on the school's campus. 

Terrell attended the University of Idaho, where he studied landscape architecture and was enrolled in the U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Officers' Training Corps program. After graduating, he was commissioned into the Navy and was deployed to a ship based out of California, where he completed about three years of active service.

He was called to active duty again after the 9/11 attacks and served as a commanding officer where he was responsible for the security of ships and submarines in the Puget Sound. 

After he came off duty, the economy was unstable, and the firm he had been working for didn’t have any work for him, so he moved back to the Inland Northwest and opened his own practice. He retired as a Captain in the Navy in 2006 and formally retired from the reserves in 2016. 

As someone who grew up on a farm in Idaho and loves all things outdoors, his company’s logo features the fan-shaped leaf of a Ginkgo tree overlayed on a square representing the urban environment. Ginkgo trees are native and prehistoric to Washington state, he says.