SEQUIM – The folks at North Olympic Land Trust are celebrating raising over $407,000 toward the purchase of the 104-acre River’s Edge property near the mouth of the Dungeness River.

Thanks to donations from over 250 community members, and in conjunction with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, the Land Trust is ready to close the deal which will guarantee the preservation of 64 acres of prime farmland for agricultural purposes only. The other 40 acres, adjacent the river, will be owned by the Tribe to become part of a larger restoration project.

Mike Auger, Conservation Director at NOLT, calls it a win/win.

“On the land that we’re going to buy, our intent is to sell those with conservation easements to farmers. So it will continue to be working farm land. So on the land that the Tribe will own, as of right now, it’s farmland and that will be restored to make it habitat for salmon.”

The conversion of the Tribe’s portion of the land is part of the project involving multiple state and federal agencies to move the existing levee near Towne Road and restore 110 acres floodplain habitat.

In the final stage of the project, the Land Trust intends to sell the conserved farmland for farming. If successful, a large percentage of the donations that were made to purchase the land will then become available to support the next community conservation project.