PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Land Trust on Friday will host a holiday open house to celebrate the accomplishments of 2016.
The open house will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the land trust office at 1033 Lawrence St., in Port Townsend.
Richard Tucker, land trust director, will provide baked goods and coffee for the event, which is meant to bring the community together and to promote the land trust and the work it does across Jefferson County, according to a news release.
Works with willing landowners
The land trust is a private nonprofit that works with willing landowners to conserve wetlands, floodplains, farmlands and wildlife corridors while still allowing landowners to meet their financial goals, according to the Land Trust website at http://www.saveland.org/.
Across Jefferson County, land trust efforts have protected 12,000 acres of land including more than 1,077 acres in the Chimacum Creek Watershed, 320 acres of the Quimper Wildlife Corridor, 314 acres around Snow and Salmon Creeks and 1,216 acres in Dabob Bay and the Tarboo Valley.
Combinations of wildlife habitats
The protected areas are a combinations of marine wildlife habitats, protected salmon areas, wetlands, tribal lands and protected wildlife areas, as well as farmlands, local landmarks and public access areas.
In 2016, the group protected the Short Family Farm in Chimacum. The Short Farm is one of the largest active farms in Jefferson County at 254 acres and — now protected — cannot be subdivided or converted from agricultural use, the land trust said.
Dedicated to grass for cows
Currently much of those 254 acres is dedicated to grass for the farm’s grass-fed beef.
This year the group also added 9 acres to the already protected land around Snow Creek and four lots, or roughly a half acre, to the Quimper Wildlife Corridor.
These properties were bought using a community donations matching project.
