Save Our Farm
History of
Clarke Rhododendron Nursery, circa 1995.
The farm has been zoned agricultural for many years with many incarnations. It’s been a cranberry farm, it’s had cattle, and was the rhododendron nursery for over sixty years. Coast Seafoods still farms oysters and manila clams in the bay off the property, and it was homesteaded in the Oregon Territory days, then again in early statehood days. (My family settled pre-statehood in Washington, in Bickelton, Klickitat County.) I’ve been told the cousins of the owner of the Ilwaco Coffee Company are descendants of the early Washington State homesteaders who lived here.
When I first stepped on the property, I was struck by all the broken clam shells on the driveway, dropped by smart, hungry crows who would eat the tasty morsels inside. Originally, I wanted the name of the farm to be “Crows Dropping Shells” in the Chinook language, but that beautiful language is difficult for most to spell and pronounce, so with reluctance, I headed in another direction. Because of its amazing history, it has been named, for now, the Willapa Bay “Heritage” Farm. (Likely to morph some day soon to the Willapa Bay “Educational” Farm, as that is more reflective of what it is today.)
Whatever it may be called, I am but the caretaker and steward for this instantiation of the farm, with its long heritage stretching from prehistoric times up through the Chinook nation, whose people had aquaculture beds and grew maize, on to the present day. Hopefully into the future, however uncertain it looks right now.
Our Petition
We the undersigned support Willapa Bay Heritage Farm in its requests for the following items from the Pacific County Board of Commissioners and the Department of Community Development:
- Suspend enforcement of the current cease‑and‑desist position as applied to the Harvest Hosts agritourism program at Willapa Bay Heritage Farm, pending agritourism policy review.
- Allow interim continuation of the Harvest Hosts program at all County agricultural properties with such a program in place on or prior to June 1st, 2026, while an agritourism policy is under development.
- Continue work toward an administrative, permitting and/or policy resolution of overnight agritourism visits that is lawful, practical, and consistent with the long‑term preservation of working farmland in Pacific County.
- Consider establishing an agricultural advisory council and an agritourism policy committee for Pacific County.
- Review and adapt as applicable the findings of the Washington State Department of Commerce study on agritourism to the special needs of Pacific County.
- Establish a clear, transparent, and formal escalation path for complex permit and regulatory matters, for example, if a permit process exceeds six months and/or >$10K in permitting fees.
- Provide advanced customer‑service training for front‑line and supervisory staff in the Department of Community Development.
Our Signatories
To View Personal Message(s) – Click on the Text under the Personal Message column.
