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Land Trust helps Lazy J owner protect farmland, salmon stream
Steve Johnson protects Siebert Creek and Lazy J Tree Farm through North Olympic Land Trust Lazy J Tree Farm owner Steve Johnson stays busy producing Christmas trees, apple cider, garlic, potatoes and mulch. But the salmon and steelhead in Siebert Creek, the stream that flows through the farm, also are important to him.
Just this year he planted about a thousand Western Red Cedar seedlings along the creek. He’s worked with fisheries staff from the Lower Elwha Klallam and Jamestown S’Klallam tribes to improve fish habitat with huge logs and stumps.
Now he’s completed an agreement with North Olympic Land Trust to protect about a half mile of Siebert Creek and a portion of his farmland permanently.
The local Land Trust’s Conservation Committee chairperson, John Willits, said the portion of the Lazy J Tree Farm covered by the new agreement is especially significant because it is the third property the Land Trust is protecting along Siebert Creek.
A Salmon Recovery Fund grant purchased 33 acres upstream from Johnson’s property and development rights to protect an estuary and another 39 acres about a half-mile downstream. Johnson’s property is located on Gehrke Road, just off Old Olympic Highway, between Port Angeles and Sequim.
Johnson noted as “outstanding land steward”
Willits said Johnson’s generous donation of development rights made the Lazy J agreement possible. “Steve Johnson is an outstanding steward of the land, and with this new commitment, the Land Trust can make sure land that he wants to remain available for farmland and land that is important for fish habitat will be protected forever.”
Johnson said he likes the way the agreement let him decide what rights to retain, while making sure conservation values would be protected, and helping provide opportunities for adult children, Graeme and Hailey, to have a future on the land. “I like land to be used,” he said. Good use of land, in his opinion, extends from fields of Christmas trees, freshly plowed fields waiting plantings of potato and garlic, orchards that will produce the farm’s famous apple cider, mulch he makes from prunings and other wood and stumps that will contribute to stream restoration. “I started the mulch operation because it makes good use of what otherwise might be waste,” he said.
The farm got its start when his father, the late George Johnson, and mother, Eloise Johnson, bought about 28 acres in the mid-1950s. They started off with strawberries and raspberries, then added Christmas trees in about 1960. While transitioning into farming, George Johnson continued his logging business.Steve Johnson expresses strong appreciation for his logging, as well as his farming heritage.”My father’s logging business made the farm possible,” he said. He also credits his mother, who still lives on her part of Lazy J, for helping keep the farm intact, especially after his father began having health problems and then died in 1970.A red-tailed hawk swooped around the sky, surveying the protected lands as Johnson talked about some of his ideas for the future.
“People might want to have weddings and other events here,” he said, pointing to a grassy meadow. “Or we could use this land to grow trees for wreaths and other greenery.”
Up a hill from the stream, an arena for equestrian events might be a possibility. “Hailey is very good with horses and is continuing learning about training them,” he noted. Graeme already has a leadership role in farm production and sales. nJohnson even included a provision in the agreement for a solar collection system on a south-facing slope that could be used to heat permitted agricultural buildings someday.
In addition to the red-tailed hawks, Johnson said eagles often soar above the property. Other visitors include coyotes, river otters, weasels and an occasional bear.
Agreement with North Olympic Land Trust to protect Johnson farm land
The permanent legal agreement between Johnson and North Olympic Land Trust states that the agreement’s purpose is “forever conserving the open space character, scenic qualities, agricultural productivity, riparian and wildlife habitat.” The agreement also notes that the property is in the same watershed as Olympic National Park, where Siebert Creek has its headwaters, and the protected stream and wetlands “provide essential habitat to wildlife that use the National Park” and a nearby shoreline “of state-wide significance.”
The Land Trust will take responsibility for making sure terms of the agreement are upheld in perpetuity, regardless of who owns the property in the future. The local nonprofit organization protects more than 1,300 acres with such special qualities as sustainable timberland, clean water and air, scenic vistas, open space and cultural heritage, in addition to farmland and habitat for salmon and other wildlife. Most are protected through agreements with property owners, who usually donate development rights. The Land Trust owns 95 acres through gifts and grants.
More information about North Olympic Land Trust is available from northolympiclandtrust.org or the local office, 417-1815.
This entry was posted on Monday, May 7th, 2007 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Latest News.