Trust for Public Land Preserves 400-Acre Whidbey Island Farm

COUPEVILLE, WA-The Engle Farm on Whidbey Island was settled in 1850 or thereabouts and farmed continuously ever since. The historic plot is part of the 17,000-acre Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve, and the National Park Service joined the Trust for Public Land to plunk down $2.9-million to preserve it for posterity.

The San Francisco Trust for Public Land is a non-profit group pledged to help organizations that strive to purchase and preserve the state’s historic and ecological treasures. The trust negotiated the deal with the Engle family. The funds came out of the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is funded by lease revenues from those who develop resources on federal land. The Engle Farm had been in bankruptcy, but the family will continue its dairy farming under government lease.