Sarah Spaeth, the Land Trust’s Director of Conservation and Strategic Partnerships, on a site visit to the newly-acquired 75-acre forested property.
Please join us in celebrating the Land Trust’s most recent acquisition: a 75-acre forested property near Thorndyke Bay south of the Hood Canal Bridge. Directly adjacent to land protected by the Department of Natural Resources and the Navy, the property contains mature forest, wetlands, freshwater streams, and pristine wildlife habitat.
In the summer of 2020, the former landowner approached the Land Trust to explore the possibility of selling the land, which had been in the family for generations.
The property includes wetlands and freshwater streams that eventually flow into Hood Canal.
“The family has a really strong connection to this property, and they felt it was important for the existing forest to be protected,” says Blaise Sullivan, the Land Trust’s Conservation and Stewardship Coordinator.
After discussions with the landowner, site visits, and a thorough assessment, our Conservation Projects Committee (made up of staff members, board members, and volunteers from the community) determined that the conservation values of the property strongly support the Land Trust’s mission and conservation vision.
“Another thing that drew us to this project was its proximity to other protected lands,” Blaise adds.
Surrounded by forestland that is already protected or in the process of being protected, these 75 acres are one more piece in a much bigger conservation puzzle: protecting the habitat upon which the health of wildlife in the Hood Canal area depends.
“The streams on the property are just a few hundred feet away from feeding into the Hood Canal,” explains Blaise. “This is an important opportunity to protect water sources that flow into the canal, and we’re really excited about the possibilities for continued phased protection in this area.”
With final board approval and funding from the Navy’s REPI program and individual donations to Jefferson Land Trust, our conservation team closed escrow on the property in late November. We’re grateful for the landowner’s willingness to work with us on this project and for our community’s ongoing support of wildlife habitat protection in sensitive ecological areas like this one.
