Sequim lands group seeks state funding

The following article appeared in the July 11, 2006 Jefferson County edition of the Peninsula Daily News.

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Sequim lands group seeks state funding
Lost tax effort won't slow farmlands bid

By Jim Casey
Peninsula Daily News

SEQUIM — When a funding window with a scenic view of Dungeness Valley farms closed last fall, proponents of saving Clallam County agricultural lands opened a door.

Friends of the Fields lost its bid for a real estate buyer's excise tax when voters rejected it Nov. 8.

Now it has applied for a grant from the state Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation.

The tax would have raised about $2.7 million yearly to keep Clallam County farms in farming.

The grant — endorsed Monday by Clallam County commissioners — would total $311,000 that Friends of the Fields would have to match with an additional $332,300.

Although the amounts of money and land are drastically smaller, their aim is the same; to buy agricultural conservation easements on farms and to deed them to the North Olympic Land Trust. The easements would guaratee the land would remain in agriculture.

The 24 acres that Friends of the Fields seeks is located south of Dungeness Village.

They are owned by the Hutt and Wilson trusts, represented by Dorothy A. Hutt, 4620 Dungeness Way.

Organic farmer Nash Huber leases and farms the land, but its future is uncertain. It is zoned for residential development on five-acre lots.

Friends of the Fields hopes to raise the matching money required by the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program's Farmland Preservation project. Sources include donors, businesses, the land trust and Friends of the Fields.

The group is "pretty confident that they have those dollars," said Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness.

Clallam County would make no contribution to the effort beyond the 20 hours of staff time already deveoted to processing the application.

"The county values the farms greatly," says a Friends of the Fields' draft document, "not only for what they do for its economy but also for the pastoral scenery they provide."

"While the residents value development in the county, they are concerned about the county becoming another metropolitan area."

Three quarters of Clallam County's farms have been developed, the application noted, primarily as subdivisions.

Reporter Jim casey can be reached at 360-417-3538 or at jim.casey@peninsuladailynews.com.