Clallam: Farmland futures fund uses federal grant to double its money (almost)

PORT ANGELES — The fund started last year with $250,000 from the county’s capital facilities fund to buy farmland development rights has received a $221,650 federal matching grant.

That’s the word from county commissioner Steve Tharinger, D-Sequim.

“The $250,000 is in the 2002 budget and we need that federal grant to match, so we doubled our money,” Tharinger said.

Now the county can use that money to negotiate with the owners of farmland threatened with development, Tharinger said. The additional money is enough to buy development rights on almost 88 acres, he said.

The county is negotiating with the owners of three properties for the possible purchase of their development rights in 2004, Tharinger said.

————–

The rest of this story appears in the Monday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.