A rare wetland. A critical moment.

You can help.

Deadline
extended to August 31st!
New
$150,000 Match Announced

$150,000 Matching Challenge

Every new gift will be matched dollar for dollar.

Help protect Okanogan County’s largest peat wetland.

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For the Fen!
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Why Bonaparte Meadows Matters

A rare peat wetland at the headwaters of Bonaparte Creek, storing carbon, holding water, and anchoring a complex, thriving web of life.

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A Rare Opportunity

Bonaparte Meadows is one of Eastern Washington’s rarest habitats, a peat-rich, alkaline fen storing carbon, holding water, and sheltering wildlife at the headwaters of Bonaparte Creek. Here, you can help protect:

• Rare Habitat – As a calcareous fen – one of the rarest wetland types in the U.S. – Bonaparte Meadows supports uncommon plants and plant communities and is a haven for birds, mammals, amphibians, and many diverse wildlife species. Every living thing in this wetland, from the willows thickets to the spotted frogs and dragonflies, is an important thread in the web of life.
• A Natural Climate Solution – Worldwide, peatlands store more carbon than all other habitat types combined. When peatlands stay wet, they hold that carbon for millennia. But when they’re drained or disturbed, the balance flips, and carbon returns to the air. Help us keep this peat in the ground.
• Water Storage – This wetland functions as a natural reservoir and living filter. Wetlands hold water when it is plentiful and release it slowly in dry seasons. As summers get hotter, snowpack melts earlier, and snow gives way to rain, wetlands become more important than ever. Protecting this place builds resilience and water security in our arid landscape.

• The Opportunity to Restore – Together, we can protect large tracts of intact wetland and act onthe opportunity to restore disturbed parts of the fen. This peat has formed over thousands of years. Now is the time to protect this wetland and begin restoring it to its full function and capacity for future generations

We have until August 31, 2026 to secure the funding to conserve Bonaparte Meadows. Your gift helps raise $1.5 million to protect this rare peat wetland forever.

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How Your Gift Helps

One chance to keep this rare peat wetland whole, protect it forever, and begin to heal it.

Your Impact

Your Gift at Work

Bonaparte Meadows is at a succession point: the current owners are ready to pass it on, and we have one chance to keep this rare peat wetland whole and protected for future generations. With your gift, you help:

• Protect the land forever – Purchase Bonaparte Meadows and place it under permanent conservation, preventing future peat mining and intensive subdivision.
• Keep water and carbon in the ground – Keep the peat and meadow intact so it continues to store carbon, hold groundwater and snowmelt, and feed cool, clean water into Bonaparte Creek.
• Support restoration and long-term care – Begin healing areas where peat was removed and lay the groundwork for thoughtful, relationship-based stewardship into the future.

• Protect the land forever – Four anonymous donors have created a $150,000 matching challenge. Right now, every new gift will be matched dollar for dollar until the full challenge is unlocked.

One gift. Twice the impact for Bonaparte Meadows.

We have until August 31, 2026 to secure the funding to conserve Bonaparte Meadows. Your gift helps raise $1.5 million to protect this rare peat wetland forever.

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Keeping Land Connected

Protecting Bonaparte Meadows keeps its peat wetland, meadow, and forest connected as one complex, functioning ecosystem.

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One Connected Landscape

Bonaparte Meadows links peat wetland, wet meadow, springs, and upland forest in one continuous landscape at the headwaters of Bonaparte Creek. If it’s carved up, that connection is lost for good. Protecting the whole property now keeps habitat intact, peat in the ground, and water moving naturally through the meadow. With your gift, you help:

• Keep a whole headwaters system intact – Protect peat wetland, meadow, springs, and forest as one connected landscape so wildlife can move and adapt.
• Strengthen a natural fire and climate refuge – An open, wet meadow between forested slopes can help slow fire and holds water and carbon in the ground as summers get hotter and drier.
• Protect downstream water and fish habitat – Keeping Bonaparte’s headwaters healthy supports cool, clean flows into Bonaparte Creek, which provides habitat for resident fish and, the Okanogan River where salmon and steelhead depend on infusions of cold water.

We have until August 31, 2026 to secure the funding to conserve Bonaparte Meadows. Your gift helps raise $1.5 million to protect this rare peat wetland forever.

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A major vote of support

Four donors have created a new $150,000 matching challenge

Acting on their commitment to see this extraordinary landscape conserved, four anonymous donors have pooled a combined $150,000 and pledged to match every new donation dollar for dollar.

Beginning immediately, every new contribution will be matched until the full $150,000 challenge is unlocked. If fully met, the challenge will raise $300,000 and bring the campaign to approximately 93% of its $1.5 million goal.

One gift. Twice the impact for Bonaparte Meadows.

This is an incredible moment for Bonaparte Meadows. The generosity behind this matching challenge, combined with the extended timeline from the Jones family, creates a tremendous opportunity to bring this campaign across the finish line and secure permanent protection for one of the region’s most unique landscapes.

We are grateful to everyone who has helped bring the campaign this far, and we hope this final push inspires more people to join the effort.

Kate Miller, Executive Director, Okanogan Land Trust
260
Approximate acres of rare peat fen habitat
More than a meadow

A rare headwaters wetland supporting an entire ecosystem

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photography: Karen Edwards

Protect Bonaparte Meadows

A Rare Opportunity

Bonaparte Meadows sits high in the Okanogan Highlands, where Bonaparte Creek winds through a broad, open wetland before spilling into its narrow channel. The 745-acre property includes approximately 260 acres of peat fen, making it one of the most significant wetland conservation opportunities in the region.

Located below Mount Bonaparte and near Bonaparte Lake, Bonaparte Meadows contains Okanogan County’s largest known peat wetland. The site is a calcareous fen, a rare wetland type fed by mineral-rich groundwater. This is one of the rarest wetland types in Washington State, and among the rarest in the United States.

As the Columbia Basin is increasingly affected by drought and warming temperatures, this deep peat water storage is an important part of long-term watershed and wildfire resilience.

In a region (the Columbia Basin) with dwindling water available, most of that water rapidly warming, and in one of the most important salmonid watersheds in North America, Bonaparte Meadow and Creek serve an outsized ecologic role, even before you talk about carbon sequestration and biodoversity of terrestrial flora and fauna.
Jordan Fields, Aquatic Resiliency SpecialistTrout Unlimited
Not only are fens of this type vanishingly rare on the Western Landscape, but they are also among the most biodiverse and carbon-dense landforms per acre that we know of, globally. From a riverine perspective, Bonaparte Meadows serves a truly critical function in delivering cold, clean water to this headwater stream that hosts salmon and steelhead.
Jordan Fields, Aquatic Resiliency Specialist
Trout Unlimited
As a former USFS Tonasket District Wildlife Biologist, I know that [Bonaparte] meadow ecosystem and its ecological richness, and know it is absolutely worth the energy it is going to take to protect it. 
Kent Woodruff

Bonaparte Meadows also supports rare plants and plant communities adapted to these highly unusual conditions, and many wildlife species prioritized for habitat protection in Washington, including Species of Greatest Conservation Need such as Columbia spotted frogs, Western toads, Barrow’s goldeneye, Cinnamon teal, Bald eagle, Lesser scaup, and others.

Together, these species reflect a larger, interconnected ecosystem that depends on the wetland, meadow, forest edge, open water, and upland habitats found across the property.

By supporting For the Fen!, you can help Okanogan Land Trust acquire, protect, and begin restoring Bonaparte Meadows, keeping this rare landscape intact for water, wildlife, plant life, and generations to come.

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Leadership Pathways

Considering a larger or multi-year gift? Explore Bonaparte Meadows leadership giving.

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How to Help

Bonaparte Meadows is one of Eastern Washington’s most unique calcareous peat fens — a rare wetland fed by mineral-rich groundwater that stores carbon, holds water late into summer, and supports plants found almost nowhere else.

We have until July 31, 2026 to raise $1.5 million to bring Bonaparte Meadows into permanent protection by Okanogan Land Trust, keeping this rare peat fen intact forever and supporting its long-term care.

Both one-time and monthly gifts can be made using the “Donate Online” button below.

  • Give a one-time gift today to help fund the protection of Bonaparte Meadows.

  • Set up a monthly donation to support long-term stewardship and restoration.

  • Pledge to boost matching opportunities by responding when challenge gifts are announced.

  • Share this campaign with your friends, family, and online communities. #BonaparteMeadows

  • Sign up to receive campaign news and updates, including opportunities to volunteer.

photo: PNTA

Leadership Gifts & Partnerships

Help Secure Funding for Bonaparte Meadows

Bonaparte Meadows is among a handful of calcareous peat fens in Washington State, a rare groundwater-fed wetland that accumulates peat over millennia, quietly stores carbon, buffers water supplies, and supports rare plant communities—an ecosystem that, once damaged, cannot realistically be restored.

Leadership gifts of $10,000 or more can help unlock matching opportunities and bring Bonaparte Meadows closer to permanent protection before the July 31, 2026 deadline.

  • Close the funding gap with a leadership gift toward the fee-simple purchase of Bonaparte Meadows and its permanent protection.

  • Create an anchor or challenge gift for the purchase, encouraging community giving and helping unlock additional private and public funding for the acquisition.

  • Make a multi-year pledge toward the campaign, allowing us to confidently move forward with the purchase while planning for restoration and long-term care.

  • Underwrite critical transaction and due diligence costs so more campaign dollars go directly to securing the property.

For the Fen!
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745

acres

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Every new gift will be matched dollar for dollar

Help move Bonaparte Meadows closer to permanent protection before the extended August 31 deadline.

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