It’s time to update the science on Lake Whatcom logging to protect our drinking water source

In precious few places around Lake Whatcom, towering groves of trees offer a glimpse of what mature forests have to offer. Stands of 120-year-old cedars, hemlocks and Douglas-firs filter rainwater with their roots and sunlight with their canopies. Younger generations of trees sprout from soggy, moss-covered nurse logs on the forest floor. Healthy forests like these are vital to clean water and air and offer some of our best natural defenses against climate change, yet we’re letting them slip away at an alarming rate.

Responsible stewardship of our public lands goes hand in hand with a sustainable forestry economy. By preserving old forests in our drinking watershed, we can increase carbon storage and continue to produce wood. Last month, Washington’s Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz announced a new initiative to manage 10,000 acres of state-owned forestland for the purpose of carbon storage instead of timber production. This innovative approach protects these forests from logging while simultaneously supporting the Department of Natural Resources and providing some revenue to support trust land beneficiaries like schools.

The first phase of this forest carbon project includes approximately 1,500 acres of DNR land within the Lake Whatcom watershed, which is the drinking water source for more than 100,000 people in Bellingham. Notably, the carbon project includes Unit 2 of the controversial Bessie Timber Sale, which contains 45 acres of native forest that is roughly 120 years old. Commissioner Franz’s new program sets a precedent for how to think outside the box to meet DNR’s fiduciary responsibilities while protecting our forests and climate.

Today, Lake Whatcom faces numerous water quality problems including continuous buildup of phosphorus, which contributes to unnatural algae blooms that degrade drinking water and make treating it more expensive. The city of Bellingham, Whatcom County, Lake Whatcom Water & Sewer District, and researchers at Western Washington University have studied Lake Whatcom for decades and concluded that the primary causes of the problem are sprawling development and industrial logging, and yet both land uses continue in the watershed today.

Potential solutions include limiting new development, reducing hard surfaces like pavement, keeping more trees on the landscape, and protecting intact forest ecosystems. There has been some progress to date. The city of Bellingham acquired key properties in the watershed, the County downzoned land, reconveyed a quarter of the watershed for a forested park, created the Lake Whatcom Stormwater Utility to mitigate pollution runoff from developed areas into the lake, and the community worked together to create the Lake Whatcom Landscape Plan to regulate logging on state land in the watershed.

Back in the late 1990s, local citizens and elected officials initiated a process that led to the development of the Lake Whatcom Landscape Plan. For two decades, this plan has set higher standards for DNR to meet when conducting logging and road building in the Lake Whatcom watershed; however, the plan still allows for clear-cut logging on these state lands, and does not affect private timberlands in the watershed.

Twenty years on, the plan has two key problems: 1) the words “climate change” don’t appear once, while Whatcom County’s Climate Action Plan has since determined that Lake Whatcom is highly vulnerable to climate impacts such as warming temperatures and increases in extreme rainfall events, and 2) despite clear direction in the legislation, the plan has not been updated with current science.

In 2022, given what we now know about climate change, it simply doesn’t make sense to continue business-as-usual. Last year’s heat dome and historic flood event made it clear that climate change is already contributing to major disruptions in our communities, economies and ecosystems. Scientists predict that as our region warms, increased precipitation will lead to more floods, landslides and erosion during winter months, bringing phosphorous-laden sediment into the lake. Whatcom County residents need an updated Lake Whatcom Landscape Plan that incorporates the latest science and climate projections for our region and charts a new path forward.

We must work together at all levels of government to meet the challenges climate change poses to our region while providing clean drinking water. Over the next few months, we will be talking with community members, decision-makers and elected leaders to figure out our next steps. Our drinking water is too important to do otherwise, and sound stewardship of the Lake Whatcom watershed today will ensure we have clean water and a healthy environment for generations to come.

This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 5:00 AM.