Plans for a new Lake Whatcom watershed park include the minimum of development the county could do to take control of more than 8,000 acres of state-managed land.

Whatcom County and the state Department of Natural Resources are discussing a plan to transfer thousands of acres of DNR-managed land to the county for use as a park. The county envisions building as much as 50 miles of trails, viewing areas and perhaps primitive camping sites.

Parks & Recreation Director Mike McFarlane told the County Council on Tuesday that staff would like to manage about 8,100 acres, about 25 percent of the watershed’s land, for restoration of old-growth forests, without major harvesting. As a condition of transferring the land, situated around the city of Bellingham’s drinking water source, Whatcom County must use the land for parks purposes.

“I think what we’ve presented is about the bare minimum that can stand the test that we’re really using this for park purposes,” McFarlane said.

A county agreement with DNR would provide a roadmap for the transfer.

McFarlane estimated these costs for the county:

About $296,000 to cover the DNR’s costs of appraisals and surveys to transfer the land.

$15,000 to $18,000 a mile for construction of 4-foot-wide trails, bridges, gates and signs.

$100,000 to $150,000 a year to maintain and operate facilities, including costs for new staff and for paying DNR to continue fire protection.

The county spent $3,919 on consultants last year as a gobetween on the plan, he said.

Costs associated with transferring land and creating a park are reasonable, considering what the county gets, County Executive Pete Kremen said.

“It ranks right up there with the Louisiana Purchase,” he said.

Kremen and Doug Sutherland, state commissioner of public lands, presented the plan Tuesday night.

Sutherland estimated the transferred land is worth $25 million to $30 million.

The DNR generates money for Whatcom County and some school districts by selling timber cuts on the land. McFarlane said county government won’t know exactly how much revenue those entities would lose until the state decides which acres to swap. He estimated the loss countywide at roughly $185,000 annually.

After the transfer, he estimated just more than half a mile of roads would have to be built, allowing DNR access to its remaining lands.

Most park development would occur in existing county parks, which total 1,060 acres in the watershed, McFarlane said. Trails would connect those areas to the new lands.

“The amount of development on reconveyed lands would be very minimal,” he said.

The transfer also would prevent the development of 13 homes on land the state owns near the Stimpson Family Nature Reserve, he said.

Several council members asked how the transfer would affect the lake’s water quality. Council member Carl Weimer said the North Cascades Audubon Society has questioned the impacts of increased traffic and park development, compared to restricted logging.

McFarlane said he couldn’t give a simple answer. The plan would disperse people, not concentrate them in developed areas, and trail connections would let people ride bikes or walk into the watershed, he said.

Council member Laurie Caskey-Schreiber said she believes the transfer would prevent damage to the lake’s water quality caused by logging.

“I truly in my heart believe that this is one of the best things that we can do for Lake Whatcom,” she said.

The draft agreement makes no mention of talks over the future of restrictive logging rules in the watershed, a point of contention between the state and county.