NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, March 20.
PORT ANGELES — The North Olympic Land Trust will host its sixth annual Conservation Breakfast at 8 a.m. today.
The breakfast, which kicks off the North Olympic Land Trust’s 25th year, will be at the Red Lion Hotel, 221 N. Lincoln St.
Seats were reserved before the breakfast. Admission is free, though donations are accepted.
At the breakfast, the North Olympic Land Trust will present the Jefferson Land Trust with its second annual “Out Standing in the Field” award.
“Our sister land trust from Jefferson County is one year older than our organization and has served as a mentor as both nonprofits have matured side by side,” said Tom Sanford, executive director of the North Olympic Land Trust.
The trust’s first “Out Standing in the Field Award” went to Ron Allen, Jamestown S’Klallam tribal chairman and CEO, and the tribe’s natural resources staff for leadership in community efforts to maintain and restore the health of the Dungeness River.
The Conservation Breakfast is an opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate the conservation of open spaces, local food, local resources, healthy watersheds and recreational opportunities, Sanford said.
The Jefferson Land Trust, founded in 1989, protects from development more than 12,000 acres in Jefferson County, including some 250 acres it owns.
Which lands included
Lands include ecological, agricultural and historical sites.
Tamanowas Rock, a sacred Klallam site near Chimacum, was purchased in 2012 by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe and preserved by the Jefferson Land Trust.
The Quimper Wildlife Corridor stretches across the North Quimper Peninsula, providing walking trails and wetlands wildlife habitat, established in 2005.
Chimacum Dairy, a 50-acre farm in Center Valley, was established as a working farm in the 1850s and preserved in 2009.
The North Olympic Land Trust, formed in 1990, has conserved lands across Clallam County, with conservation agreements in place from the Bogachiel River to the Miller Peninsula.
Late in 2014, it acquired 280 acres abutting the mouth of the Lyre River and about a half-mile of Strait of Juan de Fuca shoreline. It is preparing the property for public day-use later this year.
The Lyre property includes the 3,000th acre that the North Olympic Land Trust has directly conserved in Clallam County.
Other properties the land trust has conserved are on Elk Creek, Siebert Creek and the Pysht River.
Both land trusts conserve land through voluntary conservation easements with private landowners.
For every dollar donated by supporters to run the North Olympic Land Trust, the organization has conserved $16 of land in Clallam County, Sanford said.
More information on the North Olympic Land Trust can be found at www.NorthOlympicLandTrust.org.
