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North Olympic Land Trust’s annual meeting to include a tribute to Dr. Harry Lydiard
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North Olympic Land Trust’s annual meeting Thursday (Dec. 1) will include a tribute to Dr. Harry Lydiard, who completed his fourth conservation agreement with the organization shortly before his death last week.
The newest agreement protects 150 acres of sustainable timberland west of Port Angeles. Previous agreements permanently protect 40 acres of farmland north of Sequim and 148 more acres of timberland west of Port Angeles.
During a 5 to 6 p.m. social hour preceding the meeting and program, the Land Trust will recruit volunteers to help plant trees to replace those harvested earlier this fall. The tree planting probably will be in February or March, said Robbie Mantooth, a Land Trust volunteer.
Thursday’s event, at The Bushwhacker Restaurant, is open to all Land Trust supporters, Mantooth said, but children cannot be accommodated because the route to the meeting room is through the restaurant’s lounge.
Although the most recently protected land currently is producing timber, Dr. Lydiard told Land Trust representatives Wednesday that the land also could be used for food production.
“This land will grow anything,” Dr. Lydiard said. “It’s great for growing trees, but if people need to grow food on it in the future, it will be available for that too.”
Nash Huber leases the land north of Sequim for his Nash’s Organic Produce business.
The 338 protected acres are the most a single property owner has covered through agreements with the local Land Trust.
Although he’d continued planting trees until recently despite poor health, he had told Land Trust volunteers he would be glad for their help.
He also emphasized the importance of protecting land through conservation agreements, known technically as conservation easements.
“As population grows, we must set aside land for timber and food production,” he said.
Since moving to the Port Angeles area in 1950, Dr. Lydiard focused his energies on much more than trees. He was a longtime veterinarian and active in civic work. Among his many community activities, he served two terms as a Clallam County Commissioner, was a longtime leader of the Olympic Conservation Council and served on the Board of Olympic Park Associates and the Olympic Park Institute.
His first agreement with North Olympic Land Trust was only its third since local citizens formed the organizations in 1990. Now North Olympic Land Trust has completed more than 50 agreements with landowners, protecting more than 1,500 acres. Four more agreements, protecting 115 acres, are nearing completion. With 95 acres the organization owns and another five offered as a donation, the total acres protected by year’s end or soon after should be more than 1,600, said Ken Sweeney, Land Trust president.
Sweeney said the agreements, which landowners and Land Trust representatives create together, specify permitted and prohibited uses for each property. Agreements become part of the property titles with the Land Trust assuming responsibility for making sure the agreements are upheld in perpetuity.
In addition to making sure sustainable timberland and farmland always will be available, agreements may focus on habitat for salmon and other wildlife, clean water and air, scenic vistas, open space and cultural heritage, he said. Like Lydiard, most landowners have donated development rights that might have been more financially lucrative than keeping the land available for production or meeting these environmental and cultural objectives.
Tax laws permit deductions based on the difference between the appraised value of land before and after being protected with the permanent legal agreements, technically known as conservation easements, Sweeney explained.
But conservation easements meant much more to Harry Lydiard as well as the other landowners who have protected special qualities through conservation agreements,
Sweeney said.