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Farming for Wildlife in Washington’s Skagit Valley

Dave Hedlin and his family have been farming in the fertile Skagit River Valley north of Seattle for a century, in recent years raising cabbage, pickling cucumbers and winter wheat in a region that’s also world-famous for its tulips. But this year, Hedlin and two other local farmers will be nurturing an entirely new crop: habitat for migratory shorebirds whose populations are in decline.

Under a new partnership, The Nature Conservancy will pay the three landowners to flood some of their fields and create other bird-friendly habitat conditions. Scientists working for the Conservancy will study which areas prove most attractive to shorebirds, and there are plans to work with additional farmers in the future to replicate these conditions.

Shorebird habitat—already diminished by decades-old dikes in the region—has continued to shrink as residential and commercial development has expanded northward toward the Skagit Delta from Seattle’s suburbs. As a result, a number of the birds that travel through the Northwest, including the western sandpiper, killdeer and dunlin, have been designated regional species of high concern because of their declining numbers.

As a potential enticement to farmers, the scientists will track soil fertility, which is expected to improve with habitat rotations. “There are 100,000 acres in the river delta, and most of it is in private ownership,” says Kevin Morse, the Conservancy’s Skagit Delta project manager. “The only way we’re going to achieve our conservation goals is if it works for farmers.”

Hedlin says the program is a natural fit for him. “You’re involved with wildlife just by being in this valley,” he says. “We’re looking for ways to produce top-quality food and get good wildlife outcomes.” Hedlin, organic dairy farmer Alan Mesman and potato farmer Gail Thulen committed about 70 acres each to the pilot program for three years. Together, they will be paid $350,000 over the period, which the farmers say makes their participation economically viable.

Ultimately, conservationists and farmers share a common goal: halting the spread of concrete into the river valley. “That’s the 800-pound gorilla,” Hedlin says. “Many people would like to make this their home as well.”

—Oakley Brooks

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Nature picture credits: Photo © Kirsten Morse