About River Farm
River Farm lies within the ancestral homeland of the Nooksack Indian Tribe, along the South Fork Nooksack River. European American settlers first began clearing the ancient cedar and spruce forests of this river valley in the late 1800s, when the South Fork was brimming with salmon and huge logjams spanned the river every mile.

A homestead claim was made on the River Farm in the 1890s, and a farmhouse built along Hardscrabble Creek among the bear, beaver, and elk that lived here. The homestead was a beautiful mix of forested hillside, salmon streams, wetlands, and (after pulling up the enormous stumps) thirty acres of fertile cropland.

In the 1970s, a group of young farmers moved up from Oregon, bought the River Farm, and began a cooperative venture in organic agriculture. Additional homes were constructed and the community thrived, but in 1979, a landslide buried the gardens and buildings in four feet of mud and debris. The community dug themselves out and repaired the damages, but just over a year later another landslide buried the farm again. Discouraged, the community disbanded and the property went to one member, Ethel Watson. In 1983, Ethel donated the farm to the Evergreen Land Trust Association so that original vision of a cooperative organic farm would continue in perpetuity.

In 1983, a new generation of stewards began to cultivate and protect the land. Guided by the Trust and Use Agreements, they began growing food, restoring habitat, practicing homesteading skills, and developing systems for living together in community.

Today, a community of twelve adults and children live at the River Farm. The Farm regularly hosts educational events, tours for schools, and summer interns. In addition to organic farming, animal husbandry, and food preservation, River Farm is actively engaged in ecoforestry and habitat restoration.

River Farm Habitat Restoration Program
The habitat conditions of the South Fork valley have been radically altered over the last century. The valley floor was cleared for farming, and logjams were removed from the river to float logs downriver to sawmills. In the 1950s, the Army Corp of Engineers and others began to straighten the river to make more land available for grazing and farming. Rock dikes went up along the riverbanks to try to keep the floodwaters out, which changed the natural dynamics of the river system. The River Farm was no exception, and a dike was built along the river to protect what had become active farm fields.

These changes were tough on the valley’s fish and wildlife, especially salmon. After decades of decline, the South Fork Nooksack early chinook was listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1999, with habitat loss as the primary cause. Critical problems for salmon in the South Fork Nooksack River are high summer water temperatures, and the lack of logs and logjams that form pools and give fish places to hide.

Restoration Projects
To help restore some of what has been lost, River Farm has been pursuing ecological restoration for the past twenty years. Two salmon bearing creeks, Hardscrabble and Oak-Park, flow through River Farm, along with five smaller streams that feed a wetland at the center of the Farm.

In 2000, with help from federal grants and partnerships with Lummi Natural Resources Department and Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, River Farm embarked on a major reforestation project covering about 18 acres (22%) of the property. In pasture areas next to the river and wetland, workers planted native conifers (cedar, spruce, grand fir), hardwoods (alder, maple, cottonwood) and shrubs (including rose, nine-bark, salmonberry, willow, and hawthorn) to re-establish a diverse forest.

For the first few years, grasses around the trees were mowed to keep down competition. Now, many of the hardwoods are more than 30 feet tall, and most of the conifers more than 10 feet. The trees are beginning to shade out the grasses, and the newly established forest is becoming increasingly abundant with wildlife.

Eventually, the trees will grow tall enough to shade the river, and some will fall into the river and naturally form logjams for fish to hide under. In a few hundred years, the habitat will resemble the old-growth forest that once stood at the banks of the South Fork Nooksack River. With this long-range view in mind, River Farm maintains its course to serve both as a working farm and wildlife sanctuary, and do one small part to help restore the Northwest salmon.