Five months after the Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust announced it was seeking a farmer to lease the historic Matsuda Farm, the organization has decided not to lease the farm and will instead focus on developing it further.
“After interviewing some very talented farmers with exciting proposals, we realized that instead of rushing into a lease, we preferred to retain closer management of the project,” Land Trust Executive Director Tom Dean said in a statement to donors last week.
In a recent interview with The Beachcomber, he said nine farmers applied for the opportunity to bring the former strawberry farm back into agricultural production and that the Land Trust had been in discussions with a finalist, but decided that the farm ultimately “isn’t ready to farm.” Dean said that the property has no fences, irrigation, trails or shelter for animals. The 85-year-old farmhouse also needs to be restored.
The organization will begin work on a formal farm plan to create the necessary infrastructure along with public trails. Trails through the property can help further the Land Trust’s goal of connecting the island with trails from endto-end. Dean also said that the organization wants to develop the habitat, as four rare birds have already been spotted on the property.
“That’s really cool,” Dean said about the bird sightings. “We want to develop that. We have big dreams for Matsuda Farm, and they extend beyond simply returning the land to food production. While that remains a priority, we want to determine specifically how to incorporate various public benefits into the project as well.”
He said he is applying for a $50,000 grant from the King County Conservation District, but the project to develop the property will cost more than that.
“(The grant) could move the process forward quickly, but the $50,000 budget is the low end,” Dean said.
Next winter, the organization will start planting native plants to enhance the soil, and in the spring, will plant cover crops. The Matsuda Farm is the Land Trust’s first venture into farmland preservation. The 12-acre farm was 50 acres in its heyday and was a strawberry farm run by JapaneseAmericans from the 1930s through its last harvest in 1985.
The Land Trust finalized the purchase of the farm in September of 2015 for $510,000. The organization’s supporters raised $100,000 to secure the property. Another fundraiser for the farm is scheduled for late July.
Meanwhile, the Land Trust recently closed on two other island land purchases with the goal of conservation in mind. One nearly 5-acre parcel is at the intersection of 204th Street and 111th Avenue and includes a 700-foot stretch of the salmon-bearing Judd Creek. The other parcel is located on Vashon’s south end at Spring Beach.
The Judd Creek parcel purchase closed last Wednesday after months of watchful observation by the Land Trust, Dean said.
“It was a parcel we had our eye on for awhile,” he said. “The owner died years ago, and we thought it would go on the market, but the owners decided to rent it out. It went up for sale suddenly, and we were caught off guard.”
The organization quickly jumped on the opportunity to secure the land as part of the preserve as two other buyers were also vying for the property. The sale closed in four weeks with the Land Trust paying $451,000.
“It was the fastest closing I’ve seen,” Dean said.
Because of the last-minute listing and speed of the sale, the Land Trust could not fundraise for the purchase. Dean said that is the next step for the organization as the purchase is 100 percent financed.
“It’s a troubled property,” Dean said of the house and un-permitted outbuildings that sit on the 4.92 acres. “There’s no usable well or septic, and the house is sliding off its foundation. It will be torn down and be a major (natural) restoration project.”
Another restoration project in the works is along the Spring Beach shoreline. The Land Trust recently bought a $250,000 parcel on the northern end of the Spring Beach Natural Area with the intent to later sell it to King County. The purchase was fully funded by an anonymous island donor who loaned the organization the funds. The parcel is the last of three that Dean was approached about buying last fall.
“Spring Beach has been part of the Land Trust’s plan since 1996. That’s how long we’ve known about it,” Dean said. “It is one of the top 10 priorities on Vashon.”
At the county, Vashon’s water basin steward, Greg Rabourn, said that the purchase is important for ecological preservation, especially because the parcel contains bluffs that deposit sediment that is useful for feeder fish and salmon.
“My responsibility is Chinook salmon recovery,” Rabourn said. “Shoreline is important for forage fish which eat the bugs that fall into the water. The salmon eat the forage fish. It’s very important (salmon) have somewhere to spawn and eventually hatch.”
He said the partnership between the Land Trust and King County is “very valuable” as the county could only afford to buy two of the three parcels. This last parcel will be turned over to the county once it can repay the Land Trust, hopefully in the winter.
“It takes a lot of time for the county to fundraise,” Rabourn said. “The Land Trust can raise money and secure land a lot quicker thanks to private donors.”
Spring Beach is accessible to the public only from the water. A private road leads to a small community of roughly one dozen homes.
Party at the Matsuda Farm:
The Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust will host a fundraiser and celebration of the farm’s preservation on the evening of July 23 at Matsuda Farm. The farm will be open for all to explore.
Tickets are $35 for adults and $15 for children. Ticket prices include dinner, beer, wine, non-alcoholic beverages, homemade pie and local ice cream.
Entertainment will be provided by Kevin Joyce & Martha Enson and island band Some’tet. All proceeds raised at the event will go to support the farm and the Land Trust’s trail projects.
