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Bonaparte Meadows
News, background, research, photography, and campaign updates related to the effort to permanently protect Bonaparte Meadows in the Okanogan Highlands of North Central Washington.
For the Fen! | Campaign Complete
The campaign is complete. The next chapter begins.
Thanks to an extraordinary community of supporters, the $1.5 million campaign goal to protect Bonaparte Meadows has been reached. Okanogan Land Trust will continue sharing updates as the project moves through acquisition, restoration planning, research and monitoring, and long-term stewardship. Stay tuned as the next chapter of Bonaparte Meadows takes shape.
A rare opportunity
Bonaparte Meadows has been part of the Jones family story for decades. The 745-acre headwaters landscape in the Okanogan Highlands includes approximately 265 acres of peat wetland and nearly 500 acres of surrounding forest, meadow, riparian habitat, and uplands.
At a succession point for the property, the family chose to work with Okanogan Land Trust with the hope that the land could remain intact and its ecological values could be protected. Their decision created a rare opportunity for conservation. Rather than seeing the property divided into smaller parcels, the project offers a path to protect the wetland, surrounding uplands, and the connections among them as one landscape.
The campaign brought that family legacy together with local science, conservation partnerships, and extraordinary community support. With the $1.5 million campaign goal now reached, the work moves into its next phase: acquisition, permanent protection, restoration planning, research and monitoring, and long-term stewardship.
A bigger story
One of the most important aspects of this project is the connected landscape. Bonaparte Meadows is more than the 265 acres of rare peat wetland at its center. The property also includes nearly 500 acres of surrounding forest, meadow, riparian habitat, and uplands that function together to support the Okanogan watershed.
These habitats do not function as separate pieces. Deep peat in the wetland stores water and supports the cold-water flows necessary for downstream fish habitat and watershed health. Wildlife also depends on connections among the wetland, meadow, shrubs, forest, open water, and uplands to feed, nest, rest, raise young, and move safely.
Protecting the full 745-acre property is the best way to preserve those connections for people and animals, strengthen landscape resilience, and help keep the broader ecological system functioning as a whole.
A landscape kept intact
The conservation effort at Bonaparte Meadows was about more than protecting the wetland itself. It was about keeping the full 745-acre property together so the fen, surrounding uplands, forests, meadows, riparian areas, and headwaters could continue functioning as one connected landscape.
Without permanent conservation, the property could have been divided into smaller residential or recreational parcels. Roads, wells, septic systems, and increased human activity could have fragmented habitat, disrupted wildlife movement, and affected the way water moves through the wetland and surrounding landscape.
The history of peat extraction at Bonaparte Meadows, which continued until 2023, also underscored the limits of regulatory protection alone. Permanent conservation provides a way to protect the ecological values of the property over the long term.
Keeping Bonaparte Meadows intact creates the foundation for the work ahead: restoration, research, monitoring, and stewardship across the landscape as a whole.
What comes next
With the $1.5 million campaign goal reached, Bonaparte Meadows is moving into its next phase: acquisition, permanent protection, restoration planning, research and monitoring, and long-term stewardship.
Restoration planning will focus in part on areas affected by past peat extraction, with the goal of supporting the wetland’s hydrology and protecting the remaining peat, headwaters, wildlife habitat, and other ecological functions of the landscape.
Protecting the full 745-acre property as one connected landscape creates the conditions needed for that long-term work. It allows restoration, monitoring, and stewardship to be planned across the wetland and surrounding uplands rather than parcel by parcel.
The campaign may be complete, but the work at Bonaparte Meadows is entering a new chapter. Okanogan Land Trust and project partners will continue sharing updates as conservation, restoration planning, research, monitoring, and stewardship move forward.
Media Contact
Kate Miller
Executive Director, Okanogan Land Trust
971-272-3540
kate@okanoganlandtrust.org
Working together
Project Partners
Bonaparte Meadows is a collaborative conservation effort. Okanogan Land Trust is working alongside organizations bringing ecological, restoration, wildlife, watershed, and community knowledge to the project as it moves into permanent conservation, restoration planning, and long-term stewardship.
Project partners include the organizations listed here, among others.
Trout Unlimited
Okanogan Conservation District
North Central Washington Audubon Society
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
Sparrow Song Consulting
Watch and learn
Bonaparte Meadows Video Playlist
Explore videos about Bonaparte Meadows, its rare peat wetland, wildlife, headwaters, scientific research, and the community effort working to protect it.
View Playlist on YouTubeListen, read, and explore
Bonaparte Meadows in the Media
Explore interviews, reporting, and publications about Bonaparte Meadows and the community effort working to protect it.
Radio
Spokane Public Radio · August 26, 2026
Conservation Group Finds Cash to Preserve Okanogan County Wetland
Spokane Public Radio speaks with OLT Executive Director Kate Miller and restoration practitioner Julie Vanderwal about Bonaparte Meadows, the successful campaign, and what comes next for conservation and restoration.
Listen to the StoryPodcast
Voices of the Methow
Protect Bonaparte Meadows: Save the Fen
Listen to a conversation about Bonaparte Meadows, the rare fen at the heart of the property, and the effort underway to permanently protect this headwaters landscape.
Listen on Apple PodcastsPodcast
Explore Washington State · August 12, 2026
Not a Bog, a Fen: Kate Miller and the Save of Bonaparte Meadows
Okanogan Land Trust Executive Director Kate Miller talks with Explore Washington State about Bonaparte Meadows, conservation easements, the campaign to protect the 745-acre property, and what makes its rare calcareous fen so significant.
Listen to the episodePublication
WOS News, Washington Ornithological Society
Bonaparte Meadows: A Rich and Rare Place
The Washington Ornithological Society feature explores the ecological richness of Bonaparte Meadows, its importance for birds and other wildlife, and the campaign to protect this rare wetland landscape.
Read the WOS News featureNews coverage
Methow Valley News
Preserving a Unique Wetland in Okanogan County
Reporter Marcy Stamper explores the ecology of the calcareous fen, field research at the meadow, and the campaign to protect the property.
Read the articlePartner perspective
North Central Washington Audubon Society
Bonaparte Meadows: A Rare Conservation Opportunity
NCW Audubon shares why the 745-acre property and its connected bird habitat represent an unusual conservation opportunity.
Read the articleRegional news
KPQ
Wildlife Habitat Protection Expanded in Okanogan County
Regional coverage highlights support from North Central Washington Audubon Society and the effort to protect Bonaparte Meadows.
Read the articleLatest news
News and campaign announcements
Current updates, funding milestones, campaign deadlines, and announcements from Okanogan Land Trust.
August 12, 2026
Bonaparte Meadows Campaign Reaches $1.5 Million Funding Goal
The For the Fen! campaign has reached its $1.5 million fundraising goal, bringing the capital campaign to a close and allowing the next phase of acquisition, permanent conservation, restoration planning, and long-term stewardship to move forward.
August 4, 2026
$150,000 Match Met for Bonaparte Meadows
Supporter generosity unlocked $300,000 and brought the campaign to 93.7% of its $1.5 million goal, with $94,298 remaining to raise by August 31.
July 13, 2026
Extended Deadline Opens Final Push to Protect Bonaparte Meadows
A $150,000 matching challenge and an extended August 31 deadline created a major opportunity to move the campaign closer to its $1.5 million goal.
June 18, 2026
Major Milestone Brings Rare Peat Wetland Closer to Protection
Community support and a $50,000 pledge from North Central Washington Audubon Society helped move the campaign beyond a major fundraising milestone.
March 5, 2026
Okanogan Land Trust Raising Funds to Save an Ecological Jewel
Okanogan Land Trust announces the campaign to permanently protect Bonaparte Meadows, a 745-acre property containing approximately 260 acres of rare peat fen habitat.
Background and context
Understanding Bonaparte Meadows
Explore the campaign, the science beneath the meadow, and the connections between this headwaters wetland and the larger Okanogan River watershed.
Campaign overview
Protect Bonaparte Meadows
The central campaign page includes the case for permanent protection, fundraising progress, restoration goals, project partners, and ways to support the effort.
Explore the campaignPeat and natural history
Understanding Peat at Bonaparte Meadows
Learn how peat forms, why deep peat matters, and how wet peat helps store water and carbon over thousands of years.
Read the storyWater and watershed
Why Protect a Headwaters Wetland?
Explore how water storage, groundwater recharge, moderated streamflow, water temperature, and habitat connect Bonaparte Meadows to the larger watershed.
Read the storyCommunity support
A Generous Pledge for Birds, Wetlands, and Connected Habitat
North Central Washington Audubon Society explains its $50,000 commitment to the campaign and the importance of protecting connected habitat.
Read the storyBirds
Birds of Bonaparte Meadows
A detailed look at the documented bird community, conservation classifications, and the connected habitats birds rely on across the property.
Explore the bird storyButterflies
The Silver-bordered Fritillary
Decades of butterfly observations help tell the story of rare wet-meadow habitat, hydrology, violets, nectar plants, and conservation.
Read the species featureAmphibians
A Small Frog, A Bigger Story
The Columbia spotted frog offers a window into wetland connectivity, habitat quality, and the importance of protecting an entire living system.
Read the species featureField notes
May Field Notes From the Fen
Seasonal updates from survey teams and restoration partners, including wildlife observations, plant identification, and discoveries from the field.
Read the field notesDownloads
Media resources
Download campaign background and press materials for editorial use.
Campaign Fact Sheet
Key facts about the property, rare peat fen, headwaters, wildlife, campaign, and restoration goals.
View fact sheetMarch 5 Press Release
The launch of the campaign to permanently protect Bonaparte Meadows, a 745-acre property containing approximately 260 acres of rare peat fen habitat.
View press releaseJune 18 Press Release
Campaign milestone, community momentum, and North Central Washington Audubon Society’s $50,000 pledge.
View press releaseJuly 13 Press Release
Extended deadline, current fundraising progress, and the new $150,000 matching challenge.
View press releaseAugust 4 Campaign Announcement
Supporter generosity completes the $150,000 matching challenge, unlocking $300,000 for Bonaparte Meadows and bringing the campaign to 93.7% of its $1.5 million goal.
Read the announcementAugust 12 Press Release
The For the Fen! campaign reaches its $1.5 million funding goal, moving Bonaparte Meadows into the next phase of permanent conservation, restoration planning, research, monitoring, and long-term stewardship.
View press releasePhotography
Bonaparte Meadows Media Gallery
Approved photographs from Bonaparte Meadows are available for editorial coverage upon request. Please retain the photographer credits and captions supplied with each image.
Campaign complete
The $1.5 million campaign for Bonaparte Meadows is fully funded
Thanks to an extraordinary community of supporters, the For the Fen! campaign has reached its fundraising goal. The work now moves into its next chapter: permanent conservation, restoration planning with project partners, continued research and monitoring, and long-term stewardship of Bonaparte Meadows.