Update: Offer Expired!
The comment period has closed. Let's hope the BNR at the DNR do the right thing, and listen to the voices of citizens about the importance of this state-managed property.
The Lake Whatcom Reconveyance will remove 8,800+ acres of land from timber harvest rotation that the Department of Natural Resources has used to support schools, county government, the port, other taxing entities and the Whatcom County timber industry. The Growth Management Hearings Board has been asked by a citizen named Jack Petree to determine whether the Whatcom County Council violated the Growth Management Act in requesting this reconveyance. (Read more at News About The Reconveyance Challenge...) Zoning is a part of the issue.
But the heart of Petree's concern is that active forestry as a resource should be protected just like agriculture is supposed to be protected under the GMA (growth management act). And, the DNR has a duty to keep forest resources productive.
You still have a last-minute chance to write to the Board of Natural Resources in Olympia to ask the board to hold off on their decision in early June about the Lake Whatcom Reconveyance until the Hearings Board has had a chance to make a decision. The cutoff date is Friday, May 17 for any letters, emails or calls to the BNR.
WE encourage readers who want to see active forestry continue to send an email right now. The Board of Natural Resources should wait for the Hearings Board to consider case 13-2-0016.
While the Whatcom Land Trust has always claimed that to have no financial motivation or interest in the outcome of this case, it's filed to intervene and be a party in the Hearings Board case. Surprised? WE aren't.
NEWS: Now foresters have become involved. This blog just reported that "Tom Westergreen, Richard Whitmore, and the A.L.R.T. corporation (a timber harvesting firm) have lawyered up and challenged the reconveyance. The Hearings Board has consolidated the Petree challenge and the new challenge so, a new timeline is established."
This is not a "right wing - left wing" issue. Active recreation supporters have questioned this too. See this extremely good letter that was posted at the Whatcom Watchdog.
It's important that this resource protection issue should be sorted before the state BNR makes its decision. Ask them to wait.
Here is the contact information:
Board of Natural Resources
1111 Washington St. SE
PO Box 47001
Olympia, WA 98504-7001
bnr@dnr.wa.gov
360-902-1103
Fax: 360-902-1775
Today is your last chance to contact the DNR with your concerns!
But the heart of Petree's concern is that active forestry as a resource should be protected just like agriculture is supposed to be protected under the GMA (growth management act). And, the DNR has a duty to keep forest resources productive.
You still have a last-minute chance to write to the Board of Natural Resources in Olympia to ask the board to hold off on their decision in early June about the Lake Whatcom Reconveyance until the Hearings Board has had a chance to make a decision. The cutoff date is Friday, May 17 for any letters, emails or calls to the BNR.
WE encourage readers who want to see active forestry continue to send an email right now. The Board of Natural Resources should wait for the Hearings Board to consider case 13-2-0016.
While the Whatcom Land Trust has always claimed that to have no financial motivation or interest in the outcome of this case, it's filed to intervene and be a party in the Hearings Board case. Surprised? WE aren't.
NEWS: Now foresters have become involved. This blog just reported that "Tom Westergreen, Richard Whitmore, and the A.L.R.T. corporation (a timber harvesting firm) have lawyered up and challenged the reconveyance. The Hearings Board has consolidated the Petree challenge and the new challenge so, a new timeline is established."
This is not a "right wing - left wing" issue. Active recreation supporters have questioned this too. See this extremely good letter that was posted at the Whatcom Watchdog.
It's important that this resource protection issue should be sorted before the state BNR makes its decision. Ask them to wait.
Here is the contact information:
Board of Natural Resources
1111 Washington St. SE
PO Box 47001
Olympia, WA 98504-7001
bnr@dnr.wa.gov
360-902-1103
Fax: 360-902-1775
Today is your last chance to contact the DNR with your concerns!
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