Preservation Grants

August 3rd, 2009

An important goal of the OFP is to work with existing local farmland preservation programs. However, there are not many local programs in existence and in some cases the existing programs are not working at a level they would prefer.

To that end, in 2008, a limited number of technical assistance grants were made available to Washington counties for the development of farmland preservation programs. The legislature provided a one time opportunity to fund these assistance grants with funds made available through the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program’s Farmland Preservation Program category.

The grants were intended to assist counties in creating a farmland preservation program or increase capacity of existing programs. A primary objective of the grants was to help counties develop strategies that could lead to future grant applications seeking funding for acquisition of agricultural easements.

In June of 2009, OFP submitted a final report to the Recreation and Conservation Office. The report is now available.

County Assistance Grants Final Report to RCO

County Assistance Grants Final Report to RCO

Below you will find final reports from several of the counties that have completed their work, the rest will be updated as they are returned.

Clark County

Clark County Agriculture Preservation Strategies Report

Jefferson County

Jefferson County Final Report

Klickitat County

Keeping Farmland Available for Klickitat County Agriculture: Report to the Klickitat County Commission

San Juan County

San Juan County Final Report

Whatcom County

Whatcom County submitted four papers to Washington State’s Office of Farmland Preservation. These documents were developed under a technical assistance grant and constitute the final report.

  • Purchase of Development Rights Assessment
  • Public Involvement Summary
  • Summary of Impediments and Opportunities to Agricultural Planning in Whatcom County
  • Feasibility of a Transfer of Development Rights Program