Dear Friends, Because of your generous support last year, we were able to conserve 10 new properties totaling 1,286 acres and more than four miles of riparian habitat. We completed six new conservation easements that include 54 acres of farmland and 216 acres of forestland. We were also successful in acquiring four new fee-title properties …
News
Community Partnerships Help Farmers Grow: An Update on Alluvial Farms By Lorraine Wilde and Aneka Sweeney It takes a village to build a farm and keep it viable long-term. In 2015, Katie Pencke and Matthew McDermott founded Alluvial Farms. For over two years, the couple from Seattle and Michigan searched for and bid without success …
By Amanda McKay and Danielle Taylor Walking through the wet grass, Danielle could hear the rushing river before she could see it. As Whatcom Land Trust’s Stewardship Assistant, Danielle works to monitor Land Trust protected properties throughout Whatcom County, and on this cool, damp day she happened to find herself along the North Fork of …
Partnering with the Backcountry Horsemen of Whatcom County On a beautiful day in mid-July, four Whatcom Land Trust staff members mounted three horses and one mule to join members of the Backcountry Horsemen of Whatcom County (BCHW) on a trail ride. As we rode through the mixed landscapes of northern Whatcom County, we talked about …
I’ve always been confused by the term- “work party.” It seemed like a marketing ploy to trick people into doing work without getting paid. However, since I started working with the Land Trust, I’ve participated in quite a few work parties and discovered that as a volunteer, I’ve gotten much more out of the experience …
Vamos Outdoors Project, Trails and Conservation: What Else is Needed to Build Access and Community? By Andy Basabe, Director of Vamos Outdoors Project “Before jumping right into the article, I would like to acknowledge the people and communities that have stewarded the land in what is now referred to as Whatcom County. I am writing …
There are so many reasons that Whatcom County is a special place, from its sweeping shorelines and marine estuaries, to its forested mountain sides and rivers. However, another crucial thread of the vibrant tapestry is farmland. Agriculture is one of the three dominant land uses in the County, and an integral piece of its history …
Bellingham, WA. – Whatcom Land Trust announces the purchase of an additional 1,000 acres of riparian and upland forest in a major tributary watershed of the South Fork Nooksack basin from Weyerhaeuser Corporation. This Skookum II acquisition builds upon a 1,400 acre purchase in the watershed in 2019. Now that these two properties are secured, …
A half-dozen pigeon guillemots dropped from sandstone perches on Chuckanut Island and flew south toward Pleasant Bay, their wingbeats an arm’s length above the water. Nine humans followed their course in kayaks, crossing a breezy reach toward a pocket-beach refuge on the southeast shore of Governors Point. The guillemots were nesting summer residents, the humans …
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WHATCOM LAND TRUST ACHIEVES FUNDING GOAL FOR SKOOKUM II ACQUISITION WITH $1.25M FROM COUNTY Bellingham, WA. (June 1st, 2021) – The Whatcom County Council approved $1.25 million in Conservation Futures funding for the Whatcom Land Trust’s Skookum II acquisition. With this contribution from the County the Land Trust has met its fundraising …
