Jefferson Land Trust provided stewardship to 12 acres in 2005. Today, it stewards 7,500 acres, not including easements. And hundreds of acres of farmland and forestland are currently in the works to protect.

That level of growth, combined with a goal of taking on new partners, has prompted the nonprofit, headquartered at 1033 Lawrence St. in Port Townsend, to announce staff changes.

Executive director Sarah Spaeth is moving into the position of director of conservation and strategic partnerships, while Chris Clark, formerly with Conservation Northwest, has joined the Land Trust as development director.

The search for a new executive director is under way, and once completed, would allow Spaeth to focus on upcoming conservation projects.

“Sarah has been doing every bit of the executive director and conservation job for a number of years, and it’s worked pretty well,” said Steve Moore, president of the Land Trust’s board of directors. “But we have some really big projects coming up, and they are complex and involve a lot of partners. So we want to be sure we have the resources to do that work; we’ve split that [executive director] job.”

“Sarah is brilliant at what I call three-dimensional or four-dimensional chess. She works well with landowners and funding partners and other conservation partners and keeping it going for years. She’s really good at pulling all those pieces together so that a deal completes and everyone gets what they want,” Moore said of Spaeth.

Spaeth said that is the part of the job she likes best. She said it's been great to be executive director, but she's looking forward to focusing on the one job of building capacity now.

Moore said the Land Trust was lucky to find Clark, who was hoping to move to Port Townsend at the same time the Land Trust was seeking a development director.

Clark has a background in fundraising, grant writing and organization income, Moore noted.

In the meantime, Ann Baier, who had been finance director, has been tapped to fill in as deputy director, Moore said. However, Baier would like to resume working as the finance director on a part-time basis, which is another reason for the opening of the executive director position, Moore said.

UPCOMING PROJECTS

Several new partnerships have been in the works that will allow the trust to expand its stewardship arm.

Projects are being discussed with partners such as the Trust for Public Land, Ecotrust Forest Management, the state Department of Natural Resources, the Nature Conservancy, Jefferson County and private landowners.

Proposed projects include an 860-acre working community forest in the vicinity of Chimacum, 500 acres of farmland in East Jefferson County, a river corridor across the Olympic Mountains, and farm incubator and housing options on Chimacum Creek.

“These large projects involve more people, but they rely on the same types of community donations, partnerships and creative land-protection methods we have been using for over 25 years,” Spaeth said.

“The Satterberg Foundation’s three-year support for strategic conservation recognized the enormous potential of these large projects to the community and the need for full-time staff support,” said Baier, deputy director.

The national Land Trust Alliance also granted strategic planning funds to Jefferson Land Trust in 2014.

MORE SPACE, TOO

Space in the Land Trust office in Uptown is being remodeled to accommodate the growing staff. Among the businesses working on the project are Wallyworks, Carl’s Building Supply, Peninsula Flooring, MD Design as well as individual donors.

When the Jefferson Land Trust started in 2005, it had the full-time equivalent (FTE) of 2.3 employees. Today, it has 7.6 FTE – almost three times that of when it began.

Other numbers that showcase this growth include the following:

• In 2005, there were 593 conservation easements; in 2015 there were 2,558 easements, a 331 percent increase.

• In 2005, Jefferson Land Trust held 151 acres in preserve; today, it has 269 acres.

• In 2005, JLT stewarded 12 acres owned by another organization; today it stewards 7,542 acres.

Since incorporating in 1989, Jefferson Land Trust has played an innovative role in permanently preserving more than 650 acres of farmland in Chimacum, Quilcene and Discovery Bay.

Its support for the agricultural community and economy includes the protection of Red Dog Farm, Finnriver Farm, Boulton Farm, Glendale Farm, Sunfield Farm, SpringRain Farm, Compass Rose Farm and the Brown Dairy.

Today, the Land Trust stewards or preserves more than 10,000 acres, including stewardship of more than 7,500 acres owned by the City of Port Townsend, Jefferson County, the Hoh River Trust and other partners.