Bellingham just made its largest land purchase yet in mission to protect watershed
Bellingham’s latest effort to preserve land from logging and development in the Lake Whatcom watershed is its largest purchase since the program started more than 20 years ago, according to city officials.
City Council members unanimously voted Monday night to buy 754 acres of forest from a timber company at a cost of $3.65 million.
Councilman Dan Hammill called it a “significant” transaction and said it was part of longstanding city policy to buy land in the hills around Lake Whatcom, which is the source of drinking water for more than 100,000 people.
“It is also contiguous with some (Whatcom) County property that is protected,” Hammill said.
Funding for the purchase came from watershed fees that are added to residents’ utility bills. The sale is expected to close Feb. 14.
In a statement Tuesday morning at the city’s website, Mayor Kim Lund said the deal took years to complete.
“This accomplishment also supports our goals to sustain a healthy environment for people, native flora and fauna, and increases our community’s resilience to wildfires and other effects of a changing climate” Lund said.
The deal announced Monday is with Nielsen Brothers Inc., a timber company. It’s on Stewart Mountain at the southeast end of the lake, south of Lake Whatcom Park and near the Stewart Mountain Community Forest.
In 2023, Bellingham bought four tracts of land 113.6 acres for a combined $1.715 million from Timberline Logging, Nielsen Brothers Inc., and Robert and Lonnie Nielsen, according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting.
Since 2001, the Lake Whatcom Land Acquisition and Preservation Program has purchased more than 3,500 acres for protection in the watershed.
Michael Feerer, founder and executive director of the Whatcom Million Trees Project, told The Herald in a statement that his nonprofit organization helped bring together city officials and the Nielsen family.
It complements other watershed acquisitions, he said.
“Much of the land is in what the city had identified as a top priority location for potential acquisition. That was due to its proximity to the lake and its tributaries, to Lake Whatcom Park, and to the evolving Stewart Mountain Community Forest,” he said.
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 8:57 AM.
