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
This project extinguished four development rights through acquisition of three conservation easement to preserve prime farmland in the Trout Lake Valley of Klickitat County. The newly protected farmland hosts the primary infrastructure for a certified organic cow dairy that is a member of the Organic Valley cooperative as well as irrigated summer pastureland. The proximity of the pastureland to the dairy infrastructure is critical to the dairy’s operational and financial viability. The land had been legally short-platted and subdivided into the maximum number of residential parcels by the previous owner putting it at high risk of loss of its agricultural values.