May, 11, 2008
Park plan about saving Chuckanuts
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THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
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The premise of your recent editorial is that the Chuckanut Mountain Park District is being proposed solely to fund a Chuckanut Ridge purchase. You undercut your premise when you point out a fact that park district proponents know well: Only about $625,000 a year would be raised. Such a large district will never apply that amount to a single parcel like Chuckanut Ridge.
I am not an organizer for the proposed park district, but I know the folks who are. I also know their motivations and their tireless efforts to help save the Chuckanuts — the last piece of natural land that connects the mountains to the sea in the entire Puget Sound Corridor. This is their reason for giving so much time to this cause, not buying Chuckanut Ridge. Conserving the entire range is the ideal goal.
The Chuckanut Mountains Park District would not have been economically viable without including Bellingham neighborhoods that border the Chuckanuts. An assessment of the facts would convince most voters in the proposed district that it is a good deal for them. The process is open and democratic.
I am saddened by The Bellingham Herald editorial board impugning the motives of park district organizers.
Michael Chiavario
Bellingham
