PORT TOWNSEND — The Citizen Oversight Committee of Jefferson County’s Conservation Futures Fund submitted three recommendations for the funding of land conservation at the Jefferson Board of County Commissioners meeting Monday morning.
No actions were taken at the meeting but a hearing is likely to be scheduled for June, commissioner Heidi Eisenhour said.
The committee’s vice chair Ron Rempel presented the recommendations for the board’s review.
The committee recommended funding Northwest Watershed Institute (NWI) in purchasing two pieces of land and Jefferson Land Trust (JLT) in purchasing a conservation easement, Rempel said.
The three conservation projects are called Upper Yarr Creek, Toandos Forest and Deerfoot Forest.
The grants recommended for NWI would be met by a 50 percent match from the conservation nonprofit, according to the associated BOCC agenda document.
NWI would purchase Upper Yarr Creek, more than an acre of property at 12 Old Tarboo Rd., Quilcene, for $26,000.
“It’s where the culvert for Yarr Creek comes under the road,” Rempel said. “That (property) has some road access, and there was real concern that the area would end up with garbage being dumped, or somebody trying to live on that little ridge.”
The property has a nice riparian corridor running through it which supports cutthroat trout, Rempel said.
“Just downstream, there’s a natural barrier, and that’s as far as the salmon come up,” Rempel said. “But it’s the same water, it’s only going a few feet to get over to where the salmon spawn. So that’s a really nice little piece.”
NWI would also purchase Toandos Forest, a 6.38-acre property on 1125 Toandos Rd., Quilcene. NWI applied for a total of $94,500, $79,500 to purchase the property and $15,000 for cleanup and restoration, the BOCC document said.
The property has a lot of trash lying around and areas of the property have been cleared because of fire danger, Rempel said.
NWI’s restoration would include replanting parts of the property and closing skid trails and roads built into the area.
JLT would purchase a conservation easement at Deerfoot Forest, a 37-acre property located at 11500 Center Rd., Quilcene, Rempel said.
JLT applied for $110,000, $98,000 to secure the easement and $12,000 for operations and maintenance; JLT would provide a 51 percent match, the document said.
“The owners would take the responsibility of managing that area in the future,” Rempel said. “Any future owners would have that responsibility.”
The three recommendations add up to $230,500. This county’s budget included $323,200 in conservation futures funds this year, according to the document.
To view the three applications or learn more about the Conservation Futures Fund program go to https://www.jeffersoncountypublichealth.org/560/Conservation-Futures-Program.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com
