November 2024

Farmland Preservation in the news

• Jefferson Land Trust recently announced the permanent protection of a historic 67-acre Farmland Near Quilcene Bay.
  
  
• Washington Farmland Trust has recently protected 74-acres in Lake Stevens with funding from WA Department of Ecology, Snohomish County, and the Community Floodplains Solutions program. They also secured funding for acquisition of 260-acres in Elma through WSHFC's FarmPAI program. Read more here.
  
  
• American Farmland Trust has released a summary of state PACE (Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement) programs. Dive into the data here.
  
  
• The priorities of salmon habitat and farmland protection are at odds over tidegates in the Skagit Delta. Read the full story here: Federal stance jeopardizes agriculture in Skagit Delta | Capital Press.
  
  
• The first NRCS Buy-Protect-Sell Easement was recently closed in Vermont. Learn more about it here.

Agriculture in the News

• The $28.5 million that the state set aside to partially refund farmers and truckers that paid cap-and-trade taxes on fuel has dispersed less than 7% of those funds. Read the full story here: Washington's cap-and-trade rebate pot still mostly full | Capital Press.
  
  
• This post from the Farmland Access Hub highlights the path to farm owner for a beginning farmer utilizing the FSA program: A Midwest Farmland Access Success Story | Farmland Access Hub.

Trainings

• On November 20 at 12:00 Pacific Time, the National Agricultural Land Network will be hosting a virtual Buy-Protect-Sell Roundtable.
  
  
• USDA will have webinars for military veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses to provide information about USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher programs on November 13 and 14. Click here for more information. 
  
  
• AgWest Farm Credit will be hosting a Family Business Succession Workshop on January 16. Find out more and register here.

NRCS Updates

• NRCS-WA upcoming ALE application batching is December 20. The next projected ALE batching will be Fall 2025. NRCS-WA Agricultural Land Easement (ALE)
  
  
• Have a potential ALE project? The NRCS-WA easement team is available to meet with eligible entities to discuss their project’s eligibility and answer any questions about the process. Contact NRCS.WA.Easements@usda.gov or Carlee.elliott@usda.gov if interested to schedule.  
  
  
• LTA has teamed up with NRCS to create positions to assist land trusts in application and acquisitions! Josh Holmes (jholmes@lta.org) is Washington’s representative.
  
  
• We’d like to showcase the wonderful easement work that Washington NRCS, landowners, and conservation partners have collaborated on and continue to grow interest in federal easement programs. Our public affairs team has created a mapped story board and we are lacking conservation easement stories. You can find the mapped story board here: Washington's Conservation Stories. There is no deadline to submit outreach success stories. Stories can be submitted to the general easement inbox at: NRCS.WA.Easements@usda.gov or Carlee.elliott@usda.gov
  
  
• To view and confirm existing easements, please visit: Stewardship Lands Easement Locations Public Viewer.
  
  
• Interested in learning more about NRCS easement statistics? Check it out here: Easement Program Data Overview | Farmers.gov

Job Announcements

• Viva Farms is hiring for a Farm Business Development Coordinator and a Business Administrator. Find out more and read the job descriptions here.
  
  
• Several opportunities to work with conservation districts across the state are listed on the SCC's Job Board.
  
  
• Jobs with land trusts across the state are listed on the WALT Job Board.

Subscribe to the Farmland Preservation Monthly Newsletter, brought to you by the Office of Farmland Preservation. 

The Washington State Conservation Commission administers the Office of Farmland Preservation to address the rapid loss of working farm and forest lands in our state. Learn more: www.scc.wa.gov/ofp.