FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PCC Farmland Trust purchases Ames Creek Farm in Carnation for organic farming
Farm purchase puts vital King County farmland into the hands of community farmers
Seattle, Wash. (May 19, 2006) — 178.5 acres of prime farmland in Carnation will remain in the hands of local farmers for generations to come and will be farmed organically. It is the prime mission of the PCC Farmland Trust, a local non-profit 501(c)(3) land trust, to purchase farmland, then lease or sell it at affordable prices, to local farmers. The Trust places an organic easement on all such purchases, which legally binds the farmers, or any subsequent owners, to farm the land organically. The land purchased was owned for many years by the Van Ess family, and was formerly used as pasture land for a family-operated dairy.
The U.S. loses two acres of farmland every minute. More than 118,000 acres of farmland in Washington State were lost to development between 1992 and 1997. By placing legally binding organic easements on the Ames Creek Farm, the PCC Farmland Trust has assured that the land will remain organic farmland in perpetuity.
The entire 178.5 acre site is now to be known as the Ames Creek Farm, and is the first farm purchased by PCC Farmland Trust in rural King County. The Trust is believed to be the only land trust in the United States dedicated to creating and protecting organic farmland. The Trust currently owns two other farms in Washington: The Delta Farm in Sequim and The Bennington Place in the Walla Walla Valley.
The 178.5 acre Ames Creek Farm will now be farmed by three separate farm families: Andrew Stout and Wendy Munroe — known widely in the Puget Sound for their Full Circle Farm organic produce in Carnation — have purchased 127.2 acres of the Ames Creek Farm, and will continue growing a wide variety of organic fruits and vegetables at this additional location. Michaele Blakely, operating as Growing Things Farm, and her family will lease 31.3 acres of Ames Creek Farm; they will live in the farmhouse on the land, now their sole farm location. She will continue, as she has for many years, to grow varied fruits and vegetables and some small livestock and sell at local farmers markets. The remaining 20 acres will be leased by Fong Cha and Ma Thao, well-known members of the Hmong immigrant community who are known by their many customers for the beautiful flowers and produce they have grown on Shong Chaos, or Children's Garden Farm — named for the education it provided their children.
"Prime farmland in King County is rare; it is our mission to bring the market prices of such a precious heritage down to a level that it is accessible to those who cultivate the land," said Goldie Caughlan, a PCC Farmland Trust board member. "After placing the legally binding organic easement on the land, restricting the future use of Ames Creek Farm to organic farming, in perpetuity, The Trust then controls and is able to lower the resale value of the land. This makes it possible for the Trust to pass that more affordable price on to the farmers, whether they become purchasers or lessees, and helps keep organic farmers doing what they do best: farming. The Trust then turns to our donor community, relying on generous individuals, businesses and organizations, to come forward and donate the necessary funds for this and future farms."
Ames Creek Farm is located adjacent to Ames Creek and the Snoqualmie River, located some seven miles from Redmond, and close in to Carnation. The Ames Creek may become a site for future salmon habitat restoration projects as well.
"Without fertile land to farm we wouldn't be able to continue to put fresh organic food on the tables of local folks," said Andrew Stout of Full Circle Farm. "As farmland becomes more and more scarce, the work by PCC Farmland Trust to preserve the land for farmers like us is even more urgent than ever."
About PCC Farmland Trust
PCC Farmland Trust is an independent community-supported 501(c)(3) land trust, donations to which are 100% tax deductible. Founded in 1999 by PCC Natural Markets, the Trust is a separate, non-profit land trust, whose mission is to preserve threatened farmland in Washington State and move it into organic production. It is believed to be the only land trust in the United States dedicated exclusively to preserving organic farmland. The PCC Farmland Trust buys local farmland, places an organic easement on the land, then leases or sells it to local community farmers at a reduced and more affordable rate. An organic easement is a legally binding obligation that the land will be farmed exclusively organically, in perpetuity.