FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Skagit County to Acquire Haller Farm for Estuary Restoration Project
On Earth Day, April 22nd, at 11:00 a.m., the Skagit Board of County Commissioners will consider approval of an option agreement to acquire the Haller Farm, a 584-acre property at the mouth of the Skagit River north fork, approximately one mile southeast of the Town of La Conner.
Haller Farm includes the majority of the top-ranked Skagit Chinook recovery project on the Skagit River estuary. The option agreement allows the area to be restored to estuary, providing critical salmon habitat as well as other environmental and infrastructure benefits.
The Haller Farm property also includes the Fishtown area, a 107-acre undeveloped upland area abutting the Skagit River that is a cultural site important to the Swinomish and other Skagit tribes.
Skagit County representatives have been working on the acquisition agreement since October 2024, in consultation with Skagit tribes, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and representatives of Skagit County dike and drainage districts.
The option agreement requires the portion of the Haller farmland not restored to estuary, totaling approximately 180 acres, to be placed under a Skagit County Farmland Legacy Easement, protecting some of the Skagit Valley’s best farmland for future generations.
The option provides that the County’s purchase price will be just over $10 million.
The public can join the hearing in the Commissioner’s Hearing Room at 1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon. The public is invited to attend in person, or by zoom at the link on the Commissioner’s website below. For further information please contact Jenn Rogers, Skagit County Communications Manager, at [email protected]
www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/CountyCommissioners/main
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