For the second time, the Washington Board of Natural Resources has tabled a land reorganization measure that would have cleared the way for transfer of about 8,000 acres of the Lake Whatcom watershed to Whatcom County for parks.

Advocates of the transfer to the county have argued that managing the land for recreation instead of timber harvest would help protect the quality of the lake's water, which is the drinking supply for Bellingham and outlying areas.

But the transfer is still being debated at the county level. Besides the potential loss of timber revenues to the county, school districts and other public agencies, opponents of the transfer have argued that the county isn't ready to take on the cost of managing the property and developing it for public use.

The board had been asked to approve a complex intra-state transfer of the land among various categories of state management, to lay the legal groundwork for the transfer to the county.

At their Monday, Oct. 10, meeting in Olympia, board members made it clear that they want the county to make a decision first. In a press release, the board indicated it is not prepared to act until Whatcom County sends a letter asking the state for title to the land.

In addition to that letter, the board asked Whatcom County to indicate how it will account for the impact of losing the timber income it now gets from state timber harvests.

The state board first addressed the matter at a June 7 meeting. At that time, the board voted unanimously to postpone the matter for further study, after representatives of timber companies joined Mount Baker school Superintendent Richard Gantman in questioning the economic impact of the loss of timberlands. The state manages its timberlands to, among other things, provide revenue to school districts and a supply of logs for local mills.