The Land Trust plans to sell 47 acres of protected farmland in Chimacum.
Jefferson Land Trust plans to sell 47 acres of protected farmland in Beaver Valley, Chimacum, through an open application process that’s now underway.
Interested parties should read the Request for Proposal (RFP) and complete a pre-application questionnaire before midnight November 17, 2024, (from which up to 10 applicants will be selected and invited to submit full RFPs). You can view the RFP and questionnaire, get details about the application process, view a virtual information session, and more by visiting saveland.org/beaver-valley-farmland-RFP.
Family farms are an essential part of our region’s cultural, economic, and physical landscape. But with farmland prices soaring and a generation of farmers eying retirement, farmland is becoming more vulnerable to being lost to development, across the nation and here in Jefferson County.
Farmland conservation in a fast-moving real estate market often demands quick capital. That’s why the Land Trust has been looking at the Buy+Protect+Sell farmland conservation model used by many land trusts across the country. With this model, a land trust buys important farmland, protects it with an agricultural conservation easement, and then sells the land to the next farmer or rancher at a price that‘s reduced because of the conservation easement.
The Land Trust bought two adjacent farmland parcels (together totaling 47 acres) in Chimacum’s Beaver Valley in 2023 and 2024. We’ll soon be combining the two properties under one agricultural easement that permanently protects the property’s prime agricultural soils and ecological habitat values, and also establishes a building envelope that will allow future structures to be built.
After reviewing pre-applications in November 2024, the volunteer community selection committee will invite up to 10 applicants to submit full proposals, which will be due in late February 2025. Applicants invited to submit full proposals will be notified during the first week of December, and will have the option to visit the property on Saturday, December 7.
To learn more, please visit saveland.org/beaver-valley-farmland-RFP.
All are welcome to apply.
This opportunity is funded in part by two Washington state programs (the Farm Protection and Affordability Investment program and the Farmland Protection and Land Access program) that aim to protect important at-risk farmland in order to keep it in production while lowering barriers to land access for farmers or ranchers who are defined as: “Limited Resource, Beginning, Socially Disadvantaged, or Veteran” by the USDA.
If you have questions, please reach out to Jefferson Land Trust by emailing info[at]saveland.org.
