Welcome to Jefferson Land Trust

Helping the community preserve open space, working lands and habitat forever

Jefferson Land Trust is a private, non-profit, grass-roots organization. Our mission is to help the community preserve open space, working lands and habitat in Jefferson County on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.

WILD FOOD FORAGING AND CUISINE with Best-Selling Author Jennifer Hahn When it comes to eating within your own foodshed, wild foraging is as local as it gets. May 23 at 7 p.m. at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Port Townsend, come explore 50-plus common edible wild foods from mountain to sea--with award-winning author, WWU adjunct professor and wilderness guide, Jennifer Hahn. Jennifer will share slides and stories from her best-selling book PACIFIC FEAST: A Cook’s Guide to West Coast Foraging and Cuisine. (www.pacificfeast.com) Discover a host of delicious and nutritious wild and weedy greens, trees, ferns, berries, flowers, mushrooms, sea veggies and shellfish that thrive along the Pacific Coast. Enjoy a refreshing blend of natural history, First Nation uses, personal anecdotes, nutrition, I.D. tips, sustainable foraging guidelines and r ... more »

Protection and Restoration of Quilcene Bay by Selden Mckee Quilcene Bay on the Hood Canal is the scene of a resurgence of aquatic life thanks to a coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to returning it to the thriving ecosystem it once was. During the last hundred years the land on the bay has been altered to make it suitable for agricultural uses. The rivers were straightened and confined with dikes or culverts, and the ground made level. The natural flow of rivers and tidal waters was curtailed, and the native salmon could no longer reach their spawning ground. Twenty years ago people with the goal of restoring the bay to its natural state formed a coalition of conservation groups, spearheaded by the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group (HCSEG). Today that goal is becoming a reality. Cri ... more »

Big Picture Conservation on Dabob Bay: shoreline protected by cooperative conservation deal Dabob Bay is one of the least developed and biologically important saltmarsh estuaries remaining in Puget Sound, and a partnership that includes DNR, Northwest Watershed Institute, Jefferson Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy of Washington, and willing local landowners, continues to make progress on shoreline conservation here. This December, renowned nature photographer Keith Lazelle and his wife and artist agent Jane Hall realized their vision for the long-term protection of their 18 acres of shoreline property on Dabob Bay. They sold two undeveloped parcels, one on each side of their house, to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to be permanently protected as part of the Dabob Bay Natural Area. Then they sold a conservation easement--the “Kingfishers’ Bluff” easement-- co ... more »