Salt Creek on Westwind Farm
July 1, 2015 – For the past decade, Peter and Jane Vanderhoof have shared a vision of conserving the farmland, fish habitat and forests on their 56-acre Westwind Farm for future generations. Core to their vision is that their farm soils remain available for farming, that their 38-acre forest be kept in its natural state and that their ½ mile of Salt Creek, near Joyce, remains healthy for future fish.
In June, their vision became a reality when they, like 74 other local landowners before them, donated a conservation easement to North Olympic Land Trust. “This agreement meets the Vanderhoofs’ goals and brings the total private land conservation in the Salt Creek drainage to over 220 acres,” said Land Trust director Tom Sanford.
Funding to support the Land Trust’s future monitoring of the property and agreement were provided by a State Shoreline Block Grant administered by Clallam County. Since awarded to the County in 2001, this fund has assisted 32 private landowners to leverage the conservation of almost 800 acres along local critical salmon-bearing rivers and creeks.
“Local landowners are proud to do right by our fish,” said Sanford. “This grant has been crucial to protecting our salmon runs and meeting our shared responsibilities.”
2015 marks 25 years of community-driven land conservation by North Olympic Land Trust. The Land Trust is dedicated to the conservation of open spaces, local food, local resources, healthy watersheds and recreational opportunities. To date, the Land Trust has permanently conserved over 450 acres of working farmland, 11 ½ miles of quality salmon habitat and 1,800 acres of forestland, including 450 acres of working forests.