The Pacific Rim Institute for Environmental Stewardship is facing a Dec. 2 deadline to purchase the 175-acre property in Coupeville that it has leased since 2009.

The Christian-based nonprofit is $102,000 shy of the $443,000 it needs to buy the property from the Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies, which closed its campus at the site nearly five years ago.

Robert Pelant, director of the Pacific Rim Institute, wrote a letter to supporters earlier this month, thanking them for assisting with the purchase and asking for additional help to sew up the deal.

He also explained that no more legal obstacles stand in the way of the purchase.

By meeting the deadline, the Pacific Rim Institute also is assured that it will receive the steeply-discounted price offered by Au Sable to carry out its mission to “equip people and communities to live sustainably and care for creation.”

The unknown of not meeting the deadline is what the group wants to avoid, said Holly Syreen, development director of the Pacific Rim Institute.

The deadline came about after discussions with Au Sable over the summer.

“All we know is if we can raise the money by this date, this will happen,” Syreen said. “There won’t be anything else standing in the way.”

The Pacific Rim Institute is located within Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve and is zoned in such a way that currently protects it from immediate threats to development.

The Pacific Rim Institute is located on property off Parker Road not far from Outlying Field. It was once a game farm run by the state and is one of Whidbey Island’s rare native prairie sites.

The institute’s focus is to “educate, restore and serve” the community, Syreen said. It engages the community through education programs, public lectures, internships and workshops as well as habitat restoration projects and special events.

For those interested in donating, the Pacific Rim Institute only needs pledges, not cash, by Dec. 2, Syreen said.

Donations may be made online through the institute’s website at www.pacificriminstitute.org or by mailing a check to the Pacific Rim Institute, 180 Parker Road, Coupeville, WA 98239.