Community Farm Land Trust

FUND FUTURE FARMS

What Happens When Farmland Has A Future? 

Every farm has a story.

Some farms have been stewarded by the same families for generations. Some nourish communities through food, education, and connection. Others create opportunities for farmers, support wildlife habitat, and preserve a way of life that is becoming increasingly rare.

One of the opportunities currently being explored by Community Farm Land Trust is a historic farm in the Evergreen Valley. Through the voices of those who have cared for this land, we are reminded that farmland preservation is about more than acreage. It is about stewardship, community, heritage, and ensuring future generations have the opportunity to farm.

When farmland has a future, so do farmers.

For nearly 30 years, Community Farm Land Trust has worked to ensure that local farmland remains available for farming, food production, and future generations.

Today, 216 acres are permanently protected across the South Sound. Those farms are producing food, supporting farmers, restoring habitat, creating opportunities for learning and connection, preserving agricultural heritage, and strengthening communities. What began as farmland preservation has grown into something much larger: opportunities for farms, farmers, and communities to thrive. 

At Scatter Creek Farm & Conservancy, protected farmland now supports multiple agricultural enterprises while creating space for salmon habitat restoration. At GRuB, one protected acre helps grow healthy food, youth leadership, and community connections. Oyster Bay Farm continues a farming tradition that stretches back generations. At the James Family Historic Farmland, Common Ground CSA, one of the region's longest-running CSAs, continues a decades-long commitment to local food production while investing in the future.

Today, Community Farm Land Trust is exploring opportunities that could protect approximately 230 additional acres of local farmland. These opportunities are at different stages and may involve different conservation approaches, but they share a common goal: keeping farmland available for farming, food production, stewardship, and community benefit for generations to come. 

Farmland preservation doesn't begin when a property is protected. It begins years earlier through relationship-building, project evaluations, conservation planning, partnerships, and community support.

When opportunities arise, Community Farm Land Trust must be ready.

Your gift to Fund Future Farms helps provide the flexibility needed to move future farmland preservation opportunities forward and leverage conservation funding when it becomes available.

Protected farmland allows both established and emerging farms to invest in the future with confidence. Together, we can ensure that farming continues to thrive in our communities for generations to come.

We Protect All That the Land Provides.

Follow Along

Throughout this campaign, we'll share stories from the farms, farmers, and communities that have shaped nearly 30 years of farmland preservation, along with opportunities that could help shape the future of farming in the South Sound.

We invite you to follow along as we explore what happens when farmland has a future.

Care for What We Have. Protect What Comes Next.

(Special thanks and photo credits to: Fletcher Ward, James Family Sisters, & Lisa Charaba)