104 North Laurel,
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Port Angeles, WA 98362
Phone (360) 417-1815
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Friends of the Fields' Campaign to Protect Finn Hall Farm is SUCCESSFUL!

From the rich and productive soils of Finn Hall Farm, one can see the magnificent Olympic Mountains to the south and the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the north. The farm, owned by the family of John and Carmen Jarvis since the 1920s, has been
managed mostly as a dairy and currently as a cow/calf and hay operation.

Finn Hall Farm is unique. Its soils are designated prime by the USDA. The climate allows for agricultural production year round, and there is irrigation infrastructure on the farm, as well as a constructed wetland. The acreage is flat and well drained. The Jarvis family has lovingly and diligently cared for this exceptional property for five generations.

To guarantee another generation of the Jarvis family farming Finn Hall, the entire Jarvis family, including John and Carmen’s daughter and granddaughter, is in favor of protecting the farm in perpetuity.  The success of our efforts to purchase development rights on any piece of agricultural land depends on the partnerships we establish with landowners and their heirs, and the commitment to obtaining the required funds.

In May 2008, Friends of the Fields was awarded a Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) grant, which requires matching funds, to purchase the development rights on Finn Hall Farm, 60 acres of prime farmland located on the bluffs in Agnew. An application was submitted to to the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program to cover part of the matching funds but was not successful largely due to ranking criteria not favorable to Clallam County.

The timeline for raising the matching funds for the 2008 RCO grant expired so we are currently applying for another grant under the 2010 RCO funding cycle. Because the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program is not a viable funding source for our county, we must raise the entire $636,000 matching locally.

While housing values have slowed in their appreciation, the cost of farmland on the North Olympic Peninsula is still on the rise, and the threat of development continues.

In May 2008, Friends of the Fields was awarded a Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) grant, which requires matching funds, to purchase the development rights on Finn Hall Farm, 60 acres of prime farmland located on the bluffs in Agnew. An application was submitted to to the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program in 2009 to cover part of the matching funds. On May 5, 2010, it was announced that it was successful.

This success frees some of the funds that Friends of the Fields has worked so hard to raise to go towards the next farm project. While that project has yet to be decided, the need to continue efforts in farmland protection is self-evident. Local housing values have slowed in their appreciation, but the cost of farmland on the North Olympic Peninsula is still on the rise, and the threat of development never stops. New residents still come to the beautiful Sequim-Dungeness Valley to live. We take heart from our success with Finn Hall Farm that we can continue to protect our area's best farmland to provide all of us with healthy local food and to maintain the quality of life that makes the North Olympic Peninsula unique.

Please join us in this effort. Make a contribution to Friends of the Fields today.

“A good farmer could grow anything on that land,” says Nash Huber. “It has excellent soil for producing important seed crops and would grow terrific vegetables!”