Category Overview
Farmland Preservation protects valuable farmland and habitat for recreationally important animals, like salmon, birds, deer, and elk. These projects allow families to continue farming the land they have worked on for generations, and provide Washingtonians with healthy local food and a diverse economy. WWRP is the only source of farmland preservation funding in the state budget.
Project Highlights
The purpose of this acquisition project was to permanently protect prime, working historic farmland from development. The Whidbey Camano Land Trust (WCLT) used this grant to acquire permanent agricultural conservation easements on 139.14 acres of prime, productive, working farmland north ofPenn Cove on Whidbey Island. The easements extinguished 13 development rights in total. The properties are located in northern Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, which is renowned for its productive and culturally-significant agricultural lands. The 3 Sister’s Family Farms serves as an anchor site for future protection of farmland, which is threatened by the expansion of nearby cities. A wide variety of crops have been profitably grown on the properties, including seed crops, non-irrigated alfalfa, wheat, barley, corn and produce. The Warner conservation easement and Vande Werfhorst conservation easements protected additional farmland near the 3 Sisters Family Farm. All of the properties also support livestock and poultry operations.