May, 16, 2008
Defends proposed park district
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THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
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Citizens deserve an accurate depiction of the proposed Chuckanut Mountains Park District.
The CMPD Advisory Committee represents 15 percent of registered voters in Skagit and Whatcom counties who reside and own land within the Chuckanut Mountain range. Its purpose is to allow 100 percent of these citizens to determine, through a public vote, whether to form a park district to represent their diverse habitat and recreation priorities. Such a district is mandated by law to collaborate with existing public and private entities and to identify and implement natural habitat and public recreation priorities not otherwise provided.
This advisory committee formed several years ago when residents from the Bow, Lake Samish, Samish, South, Sehome, Chuckanut and Edgemoor communities reviewed several county parks, recreation, habitat and open-space plans and land-conservancy recommendations for this region. They found nearly all plans have been backshelved for lack of funding, lack of coordinated public and private entity collaboration, and lack of any direct form of representative self-government designed to specifically focus on such issues over the long term.
Opponents organized specifically to prevent a public vote and stop the formation of such a representative form of park district self-government in this geologically unique and demographically diverse community.
Mark McKenzie
Bellingham
