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 North Olympic Land Trust used this grant to purchase a permanent agricultural conservation easement on 132 acres and extinguished eight development rights on a portion of the land that the Smith family farms. They refer to these tracts as Wonderland and the Eighty. In addition to other properties that the Smith family leases and owns, this property provides all the forage for their cattle and is an integral part of their dairy operation. The Smith family operates one of two remaining dairies in Clallam County, and this 132 acres of farmland is critical to the operation of their dairy. The property is located on Port Williams Road in eastern Clallam County and contains all prime and prime, if irrigated, farmland soils. The site is also a popular birding spot, is potential habitat for the Taylor Checkerspot, an endangered species of butterfly that breeds in the area, and is popular with the Dungeness herd of elk.