Thurston County opens application window for Conservation Futures

Thurston County is accepting 2026 Conservation Futures applications from landowners seeking to preserve their properties. Interested parties have until 5 p.m. on Friday, May 22, to apply. 

Conservation Futures is a county land preservation program that funds the purchase of property or future development rights from landowners through qualified organizations, including land trusts, city governments, nonprofit historic preservation corporations and nonprofit nature conservancy associations. 

Eligible properties must have unique or valuable wildlife habitat, agricultural, forestry, historical or recreational features, said the county in a news release on Monday, March 23. 

The program is backed by a Conservation Futures tax levy first authorized by the Washington State Legislature in 1971 under Revised Code of Washington 84.34, and later amended in 1988.

Per the program's administrative guidelines, state law caps the levy at 6.25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, with up to 25 percent of annual revenues available for maintenance and operation of acquired properties. 

Thurston County began collecting the levy in 1989, among the first counties in the state to do so, and has since preserved approximately 5,900 acres of farmland, historic sites, recreational land and wildlife habitat. 

The county has also updated its administrative guidelines for the 2026 cycle to clarify how the program is administered, and address specific situations and questions that have arisen over time. 

To pursue Conservation Futures funding, applicants may email or submit in person the Atrium Building, 3000 Pacific Ave. SE, Suite 200 in Olympia. 

Completed applications may also be mailed to Thurston County, ATTN: Andrew Deffobis, CPED, at 3000 Pacific Ave. SE Olympia, WA 98501