Whatcom County signs off on nonprofit to manage 5,500-acre community forest
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Whatcom County approved nonprofit oversight of 5,500-acre community forest.
- New governing board includes tribal, environmental and county stakeholders.
- Project aims to boost biodiversity, watershed health and sustainable forestry.
After eight years of planning, the western hillsides above the South Fork Valley will be part of new nonprofit organization and managed as a community forest — protected from development but also open to selective timber harvesting.
In a 4-3 vote Tuesday, the Whatcom County Council voted to have the 5,550-acre site run by a new nonprofit organization whose governing board combines tribal and environmental interests along with Whatcom County officials.
Whatcom County Council member Ben Elenbass joined colleagues Tyler Byrd and Mark Stremler in voting against the project Tuesday, and in related action Aug. 6, when the project was discussed in detail.
“I think this is kind of a neat project, I really do. But I’m just fundamentally opposed to taking private land and using tax dollars and making it public land,” Elenbaas said Aug. 6.
This week’s action finalizes “Phase 2” of the Stewart Mountain Community Forest at 5,500 total acres. The forest was created in 2022 with an initial 550 acres. Another 1,600 acres was purchased with a $3 million state grant while funding was sought to buy the rest of the land, according to previous Herald reporting.
Phase 2 land acquisition funding comes from $8.5 million in two grants from the state Department of Ecology and the state Recreation and Conservation Office.
Key organizations behind the Stewart Mountain Community Forest are the Nooksack Indian Tribe, the Whatcom Land Trust, the Evergreen Land Trust Association and Whatcom County. They will compose the members of the new nonprofit organization that is being formed to manage the land.
Councilmember Kaylee Galloway praised efforts to protect the land in an Aug. 6 committee discussion.
“I think this is a really exciting partnership. I think the visions outlined in the background document reflect what my visions for this property would be. I just think that this is a win-win-win-win-win,” Galloway said.
How it works
A July 22 memo from Whatcom County Deputy Executive Aly Pennucci said the Stewart Mountain Community Forest is being established to manage the site as a “working forest” that balances “a variety of ecological, economic and community benefits” to:
- Enhance watershed health and improve water quality.
- Keep living-wage forestry jobs.
- Increase biodiversity and improve habitat for fish and wildlife.
- Expand access for non-motorized recreation.
The site is adjacent to Nooksack tribal land, DNR land and Whatcom County’s Lake Whatcom Park.
Such an actively managed forest will help keep it healthy, said Chris Elder, a planner in watershed management · for the Whatcom County Public Works Department.
“Some of the studies that have been completed demonstrate that active forest management can, if done in certain ways, actually imporve and increase stream flow,” Elder said.
The Bellingham City Council recently voted to allow 80 acres of protected land on Galbraith Mountain to be selectively logged for the same reasons.
Helping save salmon
A community forest is land that is owned and managed by several organizations or agencies, with the goal of restoring the environment and generating income, according to previous Herald reporting.
Selective timber harvesting can solve an annual summer problem of warm weather and low water in the Nooksack, which kills the spring Chinook salmon, forester Ian Smith said in a video linked at the Whatcom Land Trust website. “The larger the scale that we can maintain a forest and grow forest out, forestry with longer rotations, the more water we can recover for in-stream flows in the summer,” Smith said.
