State Trust Lands on the Edge

Lisa McShane has worked for Conservation Northwest for nine years. In 2000 she assisted local citizens in passing the Lake Whatcom bill and then worked for several years to oversee the planning process and keep the public informed and engaged. Lisa has been a resident of Whatcom County for 20 years and happily resides in the York neighborhood.

Rose Oliver is the Blanchard Mountain campaign coordinator for Conservation Northwest. Born and raised in the small town of Marblemount, next to the majestic peaks of the North Cascades, Rose has a great love of the outdoors and has been hiking Blanchard Mountain for over 15 years.

State trust land management is a red hot issue in Washington these days, especially for those lands on the border of Whatcom and Skagit counties. Lake Whatcom for instance, the sole drinking water source for 80,000 residents, is under the gun of a lawsuit from our closest neighbor, Skagit County. Skagit County insists that the state be allowed to log and build roads on unstable slopes in the Lake Whatcom watershed. In other words, they insist on the right to pollute our drinking water.

Nearly half of the lake’s watershed is surrounded by state forestland managed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to generate revenues for specific state trusts. Just a tip of the Lake Whatcom watershed extends into Skagit County, a mere 1.1 square miles, and the county estimates that they’ll be losing approximately $3,000 a year due to protections in place on trust lands in the watershed.

Since they’ve spent about $250,000 on legal fees so far we estimate they’re into their 84th year of lost revenue. If this goes to trial, they would be out about 300 years of revenue. Some might think that’s a bad financial strategy, but those people would be clearly unsuitable for a seat on the Skagit County Commission.

Or on the Mt. Baker School Board. They’re supporting Skagit County in the case even though some of their citizens live near those unstable slopes or drink from the watershed. Their estimated annual loss? While Superintendent Gantman in a sworn declaration states “over the last 12 years the district has received $9.45 million from the Forest Board Transfer Lands in Whatcom County. The … plan predicts that in the first 20 years of the plan it will result in a 12 percent reduction … and over the 200-year horizon of the plan it will result in a 47 percent reduction in revenue.”

He implies a large loss by not mentioning that the plan doesn’t apply to all the forest board lands in Whatcom, it only applies to a small percentage — those lands in the watershed. In fact, the financial chart in DNR’s draft environmental impact statement shows their annual loss at less than $5,500. Details, details, who can be bothered with financial details when you’ve a school budget to balance?

The first step toward a trial was January 26 when a judge in the Superior Court decided it was too complicated of a case for a quick judgment and scheduled it for a much longer trial. Those of us in the Lake Whatcom watershed who drink the water and worry about landslides from logging roads are resolute in defending our public interests. Those involved in that defense are Conservation Northwest, Whatcom County, the city of Bellingham and the Lake Whatcom Water and Sewer District.

But despite the battle over the Lake Whatcom watershed, remarkable common ground was reached among all parties on a plan for Blanchard Mountain.

Blanchard Mountain is the once-hidden gem at the southern tip of the Chuckanut range, also on the border of Whatcom and Skagit counties. It’s another DNR-managed parcel of forest, but a uniquely spectacular one, well loved for its beauty, its mature forests and its recreational opportunities. It’s surrounded by land that has either been converted to development or land that’s at high risk of conversion.

Last spring Doug Sutherland, Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands, called a collaborative group of stakeholders to the table in the hopes of reaching an agreement for Blanchard Mountain. The DNR had originally slated to clearcut the mountain with the core of the mountain criss-crossed with logging roads. Those plans met fierce resistance from conservationists, recreation enthusiasts and the broader community alike.

The Blanchard Strategies Group (BSG) included representatives from Conservation Northwest, the Skagit Land Trust, Friends of Blanchard Mountain, the Backcountry Horsemen, Skagit County, prominent citizens and local timber interests. The outcome surprised most, and includes a 1,600-acre protected roadless core containing a majority of the trail systems, the lakes and cliffs on the mountain’s top, and a linkage to Larrabee State Park.

Also receiving protection under existing rules are habitat for rare species, streamside forests and slopes highly visible from Chuckanut Drive and other viewpoints. The vote to support this agreement was unanimous.

This core is 1,300 acres more than the DNR wanted to give up and 1,000 acres less than what conservationists have been fighting for the last 10 years. It was a painful agreement all around. But in the eyes of the conservationists, the BSG agreement made up for that by finding unexpected common ground around the idea of expanding state ownership in the area.

By helping the DNR to buy timberlands adjoining and near Blanchard, such as those south of Lake Samish, we can keep these forests in public ownership rather than await their inevitable subdivision into neighborhoods of trophy homes or 20 private lots of fenced lawns. If you agree that forests, even managed forests, are better for wildlife than pavement and tract housing, this is a good thing. If you’re not ready to lay down your arms against loggers, even with the improved management practices of the DNR, then you’ll likely have concerns.

And we understand that. This is new work in uncharted territory — conservationists joining with the timber industry to stake out land for forestry instead of development makes many in both camps uncomfortable. That’s not our history and there’s a lack of trust all around. On both sides there are those who believe the battle for the forest must continue even if we lose the forest forever.

At Conservation Northwest we believe the stakes are too high and the threat of conversion to development too real. We see this happening throughout the West. On your next drive to Seattle look to the east, to the foothills and the fast march of houses where there was once nothing but forest.

We believe that finding compromises like the BSG agreement is key to keeping habitat in place over the next century. With subdivisions there are no options, but with a forest, it grows again. Grouping land allocations into a large swath of public ownership in the Chuckanuts is an important step to keeping the forests intact and stopping the encroaching development.

We could use your help to see this through. The Blanchard Strategies Group has already initiated joint efforts to lobby the state Legislature for an appropriation this year of at least $5 million toward the overall goal of $12.5 million over five years. Most of these funds will go toward the acquisition of timberlands adjacent to Blanchard Mountain, which DNR will manage to produce revenue for the trusts, while the remaining amount will go toward the DNR costs. Please contact your legislators and let them know that expanded public ownership is a sound investment in the future.

This agreement provides new hope for the conservation movement, to protect the forests we love, while also working proactively to stop the future loss of forestlands to sprawl. A political alliance between the conservation community and timber interests is desperately needed to confront the growth-related threats to our landscape, heritage and quality of life in western Washington. The future of Washington’s open space and wildlife depends on this type of concerted effort.

For more information on the status of Blanchard Mountain, contact Rose Oliver at rose@conservationnw.org or for more information on the status of the Lake Whatcom lawsuit, contact Lisa McShane at lm@conservationnw.org. §