Jefferson LandWorks Collaborative

Conservation that Feeds our Future

Help Fund the Collaborative

Jefferson Land Trust is heading up an innovative, new partnership of local organizations, called the Jefferson LandWorks Collaborative. The purpose of the Collaborative is to achieve a "triple bottom line" by coupling land preservation with rural economic development. The goals are to:

keep prime agricultural and forest land available in large enough tracts that food and timber operations can be economically viable, and keep that land available and affordable over time;
provide farmers and small-scale foresters access to the business training, capital, and know-how to be profitable; and
ensure that both consumer demand and robust markets are in place to accommodate local food and timber products.

The founding Collaborative partners are strong, established organizations already working individually to preserve working landscapes, support producers, and make connections with local markets:

Jefferson Land Trust – Farm and Forest Land Protection

Jefferson County Farmers Market Association – Food Producers and Markets

Port Townsend Food Co-op – Wholesale and Retail Food Markets

Northwest Natural Resource Group – Timber Producers and Markets

Washington State University – Training, Education and Outreach

Sunfield Farm and School – Training, Education, and Outreach

ShoreBank Enterprise Pacific – Business Planning and Capital

Representing expertise in market-based incentives, finance, farm and forest planning, land preservation, and market development, the LandWorks Collaborative as a unified group intends to create a support network for both new and established food and timber producers—connecting them with land, business and technical resources, and local consumers. By forming this partnership and funding initial activities, a valuable new tool will be demonstrated that can contribute to the long-term environmental and economic health of the region. The operating agreements and organizational framework of this Collaborative will provide a model which can be replicated in other areas throughout the Northwest and beyond.

The Collaborative is based on the same successful partnership model as the Chumsortium, a coalition of organizations led by Jefferson Land Trust that has met monthly since 2001 and has jointly raised more than $5 million to protect 300 acres of salmon habitat along Chimacum Creek and more than 100 acres of estuary and watershed habitat along Snow and Salmon Creeks.

The Collaborative has already submitted more than $1 million worth of proposals to state agencies and private foundations, and will be submitting more. But we need seed money, to get started NOW!! Help us get this Collaborative "on the ground"!

Please give as generously as you can through JLT’s Conservation Opportunity Fund.

Make a donation now to help fund the collaborative