Thurston County land conservation program accepting 2020 applications
Thurston County is now accepting applications for its program that sets aside land for conservation by allowing landowners to sell property or future development rights to organizations such as land trusts.
The county’s Conservation Futures program is funded by a property tax levy. In 2019, taxpayers paid a rate of about 4 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value into the program, according to a county news release.
Landowners sponsored by “eligible entities” such as a land trust or city government can apply for the program. Eligible properties have to contain “unique or valuable wildlife habitat, agricultural, forestry, historic, or recreational features,” according to the news release.
A ranking committee made up of advisory board members and technical experts visits potential sites, ranks them, and makes recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners, which selects which properties it will fund.
Four applications sponsored by land trusts were submitted in 2019, and two awards were granted last year, according to Community Planning Manager Jennifer Davis.
The Nisqually Land Trust was awarded $400,000 for 88 acres that includes salt and freshwater wetlands and mature forested uplands, Davis wrote in an email to The Olympian.
And $151,839 was awarded to Capitol Land Trust to acquire 76 acres that includes 3,600 feet of riparian area on Bloom’s Ditch and a side channel. It “provides habitat for salmon and the Oregon spotted frog, a federally listed species,” Davis wrote.
According to the county’s website, $18.6 million in Conservation Futures funds have been used to help set aside 5,300 acres for conservation and recreation since 1990.
Applications for 2020 are due by 5 p.m. March 2 and can be submitted in the following ways:
Via email: andrew.deffobis@co.thurston.wa.us
Via mail: Thurston County, ATTN: Andrew Deffobis, CPED, 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW, Olympia, WA 98502
In person: Board of County Commissioners Office, Building 1 at the Thurston County Courthouse complex, Room 269
The application and more information on the program is available online at http://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/planning/pages/incentives-conservation-futures.aspx.
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