374.07 Acres in Yelm, WA - $25,000,000

The 270 irrigated acres of sandy loam soils allow for a growing season starting March and lasting through the end of the growing season do to the road system and sandy loam soils allowing for early access to planting. Ecological Assets Assessment can enhance future revenue streams substantially for use as a mitigation bank. The report presents a total gross value of roughly $21.7M in present day ecological asset value available for development as mitigation credits on roughly 107 acres of the Property. This value includes $12.8M in wetland mitigation credits (on 65 acres), $8.1M in salmonid conservation credits (34 acres), and $850K in Oregon white oak conservation credits on about 7 acres.

Improvements

The main home on the farm is over 3600 sq ft and is going through and extensive remodel with impressive upgrades. There are 2 other remodeled homes located on the farm that are located on the banks of the Nisqually River that would make great Airbnb rentals or farm managers housing. The farm is a USDA certified international export facility for livestock. There are newer corrals, hydraulic chutes, holding and sorting areas as well as top of the line loading chute. The wedding venue with full Mt Rainier view is impressive when the mountain is in full view. 2 horse barns with 10 stalls each and an indoor arena plus numerous other outbuildings are just a few of the amenities this farm has to offer.

Recreation

The Nisqually boasts some of the best salmon and steelhead habitat in Puget Sound. It is home to seven native salmonid species: fall Chinook, winter steelhead and bull trout , as well as coho, winter chum, pink salmon and coastal cutthroat trout. The Nisqually River is a great river with the opportunity to catch many fish species as it empties into the Puget Sound. Success can be had from the banks of the river or using a small jet or drift boat. There is also good fishing at the mouth of the river for flounder and getting Dungeness crabs. This property has been the home to fish hatcheries in past years and would be the ideal setup for a new hatchery.

Agriculture

There is approximately 270 irrigated acres under 6 pivots and wheel lines. The sandy loam soils allow for access and growing starting the end of March and continuing through the growing season. Current crops include rhubarb, cabbage, lettuce and corn but the opportunities are endless. There are approximately 15 acres in Christmas trees planted near the entrance to this unique farm.

Region & Climate

Yelm, Washington gets 48 inches of rain, on average, per year.The US average is 38 inches of rain per year.

Yelm averages 6 inches of snow per year.The US average is 28 inches of snow per year.

On average, there are 139 sunny days per year in Yelm.The US average is 205 sunny days.

Yelm gets some kind of precipitation, on average, 167 days per year. Precipitation is rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground. In order for precipitation to be counted you have to get at least .01 inches on the ground to measure.

Weather Highlights

Summer High:the July high is around 76 degrees

Winter Low:the January low is 35

Rain:averages 48 inches of rain a year

Snow:averages 6 inches of snow a year

History

The Nisqually river begins in the Western Central Cascades of Washington as melting snow on the southern slope of Mt. Rainier, and flows 78 miles downstream into Puget sound.

Alder and LaGrande Dams are both constructed above existing natural barriers and do not block anadromous fish populations. In 2003, the Nisqually River Project was certified as Low Impact by the Low Impact Hydro power institute’s voluntary certification program. The project provides Power to approximately 43,000 homes.

Bordered by National forest land, Joint Base Lewis McChord, the Nisqually Indian Reservation, and the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, the river enters Southern Puget Sound. The Nisqually is one of the healthiest and least developed rivers in southern Puget Sound.

Land use and ownership patterns in the upper watershed is 78% forestry and recreation, 18% national park lands, 2% agriculture and 2% urban. In the lower watershed 22% forestry, 18% forest/prairie (military-owned), 4% agriculture, 49% rural/residential, 3% residential, 2% urban.

Located in Thurston, Pierce and Lewis counties, cities in the watershed include Eatonville, Roy and Yelm

In a Trust for Public Land study released in 2001, the Nisqually river basin was listed among the ten most important rivers in Puget Sound for salmon recovery. This is in part due to the fact that the lower portion of the river is considered among the best remaining intact salmon habitat. Between river miles (RM) 4.5 and 12.7, the river meanders freely across the valley floor; large woody debris is present in large amounts, and there is a healthy riparian zone. The Nisqually River also has the largest undeveloped delta in Puget Sound.

The 76%, or 64 of the approximately 84 miles, of the Nisqually’s riparian area in the anadromous portion of the river are in permanent conservation protection.

After a century of diking off tidal flow, the Brown Farm Dike was removed the restoration of tidal hydrology to 1,878 acres of the Nisqually River estuary. the Nisqually Delta represents the largest tidal marsh restoration project in the Pacific Northwest to assist in recovery of Puget Sound salmon and wildlife populations.

In November 2009, 5 miles of dike surrounding portions of the Nisqually River estuary were removed, restoring 760 acres of historical tidelands to tidal influence. Together, the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and its partners (Nisqually Indian Tribe and Ducks Unlimited) have restored over 35 kilometers of historical tidal slough systems. These efforts are expected to substantially increase the ecological health of the Nisqually River estuary and the south Puget Sound.

Thirty to forty years ago, steelhead spawning runs averaged in the range of 6,000 fish, but the population crashed by 90 percent in the 1990s and continued on a downward spiral through the first decade of this century. No hatchery-origin winter steelhead have been released into the watershed since 1982, and the number of wild steelhead spawning in the river increased to more than 1,000 fish in 2015 and more than 2,000 in 2016 from a low of 269 in the 2012.

In August 2016 theNisqually was designated by the WDFW as a wild steelhead gene bank. Gene banks are rivers managed exclusively to protect, restore and sustain wild steelhead. Hatchery steelhead are excluded from rivers with this designation, to protect wild fish from the harmful effects of hatchery-raised fish such as interbreeding and competition for food and habitat.

Tacoma Power fully funds the operation of the Nisqually Tribe’s Clear Creek Hatchery. This hatchery produces approximately four million Chinook smolts and one million coho smolts each year. These planted hatchery fish result in adult returns to the hatchery of approximately 12,000 adult Chinook and up to 4,000 adult coho annually. The harvest management portion of the recovery plan is based on the hypothesis that achieving the natural escapement goal of 1,100 combined natural and hatchery origin fish will provide sufficient natural spawning to create a sustainable, locally-adapted Chinook run in the Nisqually River.

Location

SeattleTacoma International Airport (37.7 miles / 60.7 kilometers)

Seattle Boeing Field (43.1 miles / 69.4 kilometers)

Paine Field (68.4 miles / 110.1 kilometers)

William R. Fairchild International Airport (91.6 miles / 147.4 kilometers)

Portland International Airport (93.6 miles / 150.7 kilometers)