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April 22, 2025 Commissioners Approve Option Agreement to Acquire Haller Farm for Estuary Restoration Project On Earth Day, April 22nd, the Skagit County Board of Commissioners approved an option agreement to acquire Haller Farm, a 584-acre property at the mouth of the North Fork of the Skagit River, approximately one mile from La Conner. Haller Farm encompasses the majority of the highest ranked Skagit Chinook recovery project area identified by the 2017 Skagit Estuary Restoration Strategic Assessment (“Skagit ERSA”), a strategic approach to Chinook recovery and estuary restoration jointly developed by federal, state, tribal, and local governments. The option agreement identifies approximately 110 acres that will be restored to estuary, which will include replacement of a failing pump station that drains 2,200 acres of prime farmland east of La Conner. “This agreement will allow a win for salmon, Treaty rights, local infrastructure, indigenous land rights, and Skagit farmland,” said Skagit Board of County Commissioners Chair Lisa Janicki. “This is a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring our community together around all the things that make the Skagit special, and we look forward to working with Skagit tribes and Skagit dike and drainage districts to make it happen.” The agreement anticipates the Haller Family will transfer 114 acres of the property to the Gielow Pickle Company prior to closing with the County. Gielow grows cucumbers and ferments them into pickles on the Haller Farm and then processes them at a Port of Skagit facility near Bayview. “Gielow is a great company that goes from seed to a finished product, all right here in the Skagit Valley, providing good jobs and adding to our agricultural economy” said Skagit County Commissioner Ron Wesen. “This deal will help protect farmland, restore salmon and improve infrastructure, while allowing Gielow to remain in business without disruption to their operations.” The option agreement requires that the remaining Haller farmland – approximately 180 acres – be placed under a Skagit County Farmland Legacy easement, protecting some of the Skagit Valley’s best farmland for future generations. The agreement provides that the County has 2.5 years in which to acquire the Haller property, paying $200,000 for the first year of the option. After the land transfer to Gielow, the County’s purchase price for the rest of the Haller Farm will be approximately $10 million. The Haller property also includes 107 acres of undeveloped uplands abutting the Skagit River, which includes the area known as Fishtown. The area is a pre-colonization cultural site important to Skagit tribes, who have been working with the County on this agreement for the past several months. “We anticipate continuing to work with the Swinomish and other Skagit tribes to fund this acquisition and restore the Fishtown portion of the property to tribal ownership,” said Skagit County Commissioner Peter Browning. “The only way we can protect the Skagit and its natural resources is local and tribal governments working together as a team.” For further information please contact Jenn Rogers, Skagit County Communications Manager, at jrogers@co.skagit.wa.us. |
