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
Washington Farmland Trust will use grant funding to place an agricultural conservation easement on approximately 130 acres of prime farmland near Chehalis, WA. The Spencer Farm is surrounded on three sides by nearly 2.5 miles of frontage on the Newaukum River, and its proximity to the urban growth area of Napavine, WA makes the property threatened by the potential for low density rural development. The goal of this project is to extinguish 12 development rights and protect the agricultural values through the purchase of an agricultural conservation easement, and permit the current landowner, Tracy Spencer, to continue farming his family’s farm. There is also the potential for this property to support habitat restoration activities identified by the Chehalis Basin’s Aquatic Species Restoration Plan. If this project is successful, it would add permanence to an agricultural corridor along the Newaukum River.