Reiner Farm

From Salish Sea Wiki


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Dale Reiner was a pioneer in river restoration and supporter of floodplain farmland, and arranged for the sale of his 260 acre family farm in the Lower Skykomish Floodplain to the Washington Farmland Trust and Tulalip Tribes upon his death.

Notes

  • The Reiner Farm is located at the head of Haskell Slough in the Lower Skykomish Floodplain across the river from Al Borlin Park
  • Restoration of river flow through Haskell Slough to improve fish habitat has been a subject of restoration planning since before 2000.
  • https://wafarmlandtrust.org/our-work/protected-farms/reiner-farm/ - Washington Farmland Trust description of the Reiner Farm Acquisition project
  • Snohomish County manages the Haskell Slough Levee on the east side of the property and prevents the river from reoccupying the Haskell Slough.
  • Tulalip Tribes completed an extensive cultural resources survey effort to prepare for restoration activity and meet NHPA and State requirements.

Chronology

  • 1996 - The Reiner property is the site of a natural river levee spillover during the floods of 1996, spreading sand and gravel across many farm fields, which led to the prototype installation of Flood Fencing. Subsequence racking of wood has reduced river flow along that avulsion pathway during flood.
  • 1999 - visit by candidate George Bush Jr. profiling voluntary stewardship.
  • 2002-2003 - Initial underplanting of conifers by Dale Reiner.
  • 2018 - Acquisition of Reiner Farm by Washington Farmland Trust
  • 2022 Fall - Site of the first Biocultural Restoration Field Station

Camp Skykomish

The Ecosystem Guild is prototyping Biocultural Restoration Field Stations at the Reiner Farm site. The following resources describe that work.

Stewardship Units

The site is divided into stewardship units for the purposes of coordination and record keeping: