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 State Conservation Commission proposes to acquire a conservation easement on 1,326 acres to preserve the agricultural conservation values in perpetuity. The farm is located in Klickitat County, roughly a one-hour drive to Hood River and a fifteen-minute drive to Goldendale. The property is located on the south side of Pleasant Valley with expansive views of the Simcoe Mountains to the north and Cascade Range to the west. One mile of Luna Creek, as well as several tributaries, travel through the property and support an ESA listed native steelhead run. The property also includes oak forest, shrub steppe habitat, and hosts Golden Eagles and the Townsends Big Eared Bat. Agricultural operations on the property are a mix of crop land production, forage pasture and rangeland grazing. To the north of this property is 1,850 acres that has a conservation easement placed on it and held by the SCC. The two properties will combine to create a contiguous block of 3,176 acres of preserved farm and rangeland. The Central Klickitat Conservation District (CKCD) and the State Conservation Commission (SCC) developed this project in partnership. SCC will hold and steward the easement backed up by the full resources of Washington State. SCC and CKCD have a successful track record of completing and monitoring conservation easements. SCC and CKCD are both governmental organizations founded in Washington State law with good governance practices in place to assure sound management of funds.