Still the Big Hurdle for Reconveyance
Permalink +Tue, Sep 30, 2008, 4:19 pm // g.h.kirsch
From the outset of discussion of the proposal to reconvey forest lands to the county for a new park I have written that it is necessary to first rezone or amend Whatcom County's Comprehensive Plan in an attempt to make the proposed action compatible with the Growth Management Act, and state court rulings, before seeking transfer of these lands to the county.Park proponents and Whatcom County government have sidestepped this issue in their enthusiasm to just push their program through. They rest their case on the claim that a forest preserve with a trail system is not prohibited by current zoning in the Commercial Forest zone.
But the very centerpiece of their plan, and the emotional argument for support of their proposal and its alleged benefits for water quality, however, is to stop logging operations on all of the reconveyed lands. As such, the centerpiece of the plan, and the motivation of its most zealous proponents, is in direct conflict with the Comprehensive Plan's goals and policies: to be consistent with and achieve the GMA goal to "maintain and enhance" natural resource based industries, and fulfill the vision of Whatcom County “where resource based industries are widely practiced and to be encouraged.”
Not only was enhancement of natural resource based industries and the conservation of productive forest lands a goal of the GMA, the act specifically discouraged uses incompatible with that goal. And, underscoring the priorities of the legislature, the first mandate of the act was to designate lands of long term significance for natural resource based industries.
What could be more incompatible with achieving that goal than removing forestlands so designated from future forestry use? The park as proposed would not merely interfere with forestry uses, it would eliminate them.
Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan Policy 8F-7 is to “Discourage inappropriate conversion of productive forest land to incompatible non-forest uses. It is the intent of this policy not to allow conversion of forest land if the proposed use is incompatible with the maintenance of long-term forest management. Incompatible uses include those which permanently remove a significant portion of a parcel from productive forest use.”
In King County v. Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board the Washington Supreme Court concluded King County's amendment to its comprehensive plan and zoning code that intended to change the use of designated resource lands to recreation did not comply with the GMA, holding that the GMA's mandatory duty to designate and conserve resource lands clearly trumped the GMA's provision to identify appropriate lands and encourage planning for recreation.
In City of Redmond v. Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board the court quoted with approval the observation that: "Natural resource lands are protected not for the sake of their ecological role but to ensure the viability of the resource-based industries that depend on them. Allowing conversion of resource lands to other uses or allowing incompatible uses nearby impairs the viability of the resource industry."
If the Supreme Court has already struck down amendments to comprehensive plans and zoning codes that remove resource lands from use by resource industries, how does Whatcom County, without even attempting an amendment, propose to do the same without being challenged?
Therefore, if forestry will for the foreseeable future take place on these lands, what is to be gained by taking them out of state control? Why would the taxpayers of Whatcom County want to assume the liabilities and expenses associated with the management of these lands? Under present circumstances these lands are to be managed for multiple uses, including public recreation.
No, when you take away the emotional plea of the anti-forestry zealots, “stop the dirty rotten loggers,” little reason remains to ask for reconveyance of these lands.
It is time to put this distraction behind us and turn to protection of Lake Whatcom and enforcement of existing regulations on public and private forest lands throughout the watershed that can safeguard the reservoir.
Comments (1)
To add a comment, click here to login or register.
Tom Pratum // Wed, Oct 01, 2008, 2:56 pm
Thanks Greg for continuing to harp on this issue - this is one of the many issues that need to be discussed with regard to the proposal. The county administration has had 2 years to discuss these issues, but obviously thought they could avoid that by keeping the whole thing behind closed doors. Now that it is before the council, it appears they will try to get at least some of the questions answered.
Still the Big Hurdle for Reconveyance
Tue, Sep 30, 2008, 4:19 pm // g.h.kirsch
From the outset of discussion of the proposal to reconvey forest lands to the county for a new park I have written that it is necessary to first…1 comments; last on Oct 01, 2008
Is Global Warning a Myth ?
Tue, Sep 30, 2008, 2:04 pm // g.h.kirsch
As we race towards a future fraught with economic and environmental uncertainty; and as global forces pull at our cherished freedoms and political institutions, at the risk of…0 comments
Village Books
Outa Sight & Outa Their Minds
Tue, Sep 30, 2008, 10:27 am // g.h.kirsch
The good news for ordinary American taxpayers just keeps coming. Monday's formal announcement of Treasury Secretary Geithner's oft floated It-ain't-really-a-Bailout Plan thrilled Wall Street. Why wo
0 comments
Outa Sight & Outa Their Minds
Tue, Sep 30, 2008, 10:27 am // g.h.kirsch
The good news for ordinary American taxpayers just keeps coming. Monday's formal announcement of Treasury Secretary Geithner's oft floated It-ain't-really-a-Bailout Plan thrilled Wall Street. Why wo
0 comments
Did Herald aid and abet a crime?
Sun, Sep 28, 2008, 1:32 am // John Servais
Sep 30 addition - see bottom of article for interesting additional information about a Herald reporter relevant to this prosecution.-------
Dave McEachran's prosecution of Jeffrey Ga
3 comments; last on Oct 01, 2008
Phoenix in theTarpit - The politics of deception
Fri, Sep 26, 2008, 11:46 am // Tip Johnson
Big problems require big solutions, quick. If bipartisan cooperation in major policy changes is needed, then so be it. Democrats will reach across the aisle and...get sucker punched!This…
21 comments; last on Oct 01, 2008
And now for something completely different
Thu, Sep 25, 2008, 7:34 am // g.h.kirsch
As I listened to The Great Leader explain our national predicament last night I heard two things. First, we the people are in tremendous jeopardy, and face a…
4 comments; last on Sep 27, 2008
Thoughts on the Financial Crisis
Tue, Sep 23, 2008, 4:10 pm // Craig Mayberry
So here we all sit in a major financial crisis (at least that is what we are told) and the middle of a presidential election. What could be…19 comments; last on Sep 26, 2008
Dave McEachran’s frivolous prosecutions
Sat, Sep 20, 2008, 3:43 pm // John Servais
Dave McEachran, our Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney, seems to have a problem with citizen freedoms. He is now prosecuting a nice normal citizen for some poorly worded blog…
4 comments; last on Mar 29, 2011
Stillman Creek: Real Possibility or Scare Tactic?
Wed, Sep 17, 2008, 9:41 pm // Tom Pratum
This past winter, during torrential rains to the South of us, there were some very serious slides on Weyerhaeuser land in Lewis County adjacent to Stillman Creek (a…
5 comments; last on Sep 20, 2008
What’s in a name?
Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 11:18 am // Larry Horowitz
People everywhere like to use labels to compartmentalize things - as well as other people. In the context of our local growth debate, we hear terms like Pro-Growth…25 comments; last on Sep 18, 2008
THE STRAIGHT TALK DISTRESS
Sat, Sep 06, 2008, 10:10 am // g.h.kirsch
While hyping a claim to be the agent of change and reform, it appears the maverick's minions missed the message. In another example of the rising price of…
4 comments; last on Sep 08, 2008
Pitbull with Lipstick?
Thu, Sep 04, 2008, 11:56 am // Tip Johnson
Sarah Palin made her big splash to a receptive crowd last night at the Republican National Convention. We'll see how well it plays with those not already so…11 comments; last on Sep 06, 2008
New Links
Reconveyance ChallengeSalish Sea Org.
the Oatmeal
Current Interest
Community Wise BellinghamFriends of Whatcom
Lummi Island Quarry
Reconveyance Challenge
Whatcom Elections
Publisher Recommended
GlobalPostLeague of Women Voters
Paul Krugman - economics
Sweeney Politics
the Oatmeal
Local Blogs & News
Bellingham HeraldBham Herald Politics Blog
Bham Politics & Economics
Bob Sanders
Cascadia Weekly
Citizen Ted
Ferndale Record
Friends of Whatcom
Get Whatcom Planning
HamsterTalk
Jack Petree
KGMI
Latte Republic
League of Women Voters
Lynden Tribune
MikeatthePort
Northern Light
Sweeney Politics
Twilight Zoning
Wally Wonders
Western Front - WWU
Whatcom Watch
Local Causes
Bellingham Police ActivityChuckanut Community Forest
Chuckanut Mountains
Citizens of Bellingham
City Club of Bellingham
Community Wise Bellingham
Conservation NW
Cordata & Meridian
Facebook Port Reform
Futurewise - Whatcom
Jail - local mega plans
Lake Whatcom
Lummi Island Quarry
N. Cascades Audubon
NW Holocaust Center
RE Sources
Reconveyance Challenge
Reduce Jet Noise
Salish Sea Org.
Save the Granary Building
Transition Whatcom
WA Conservation Voters
Governments
BellinghamPort of Bellingham
Skagit County
US - The White House
WA State Access
WA State Elections
WA State Legislature
Whatcom Auditor
Whatcom County
Whatcom Elections
Weather & Climate
Cliff Mass Weather BlogClimate Audit
NW Radar
Two day forecast
Watts Up With That? - climate
Leisure
Adventures NWEdge of Sports
Entertainment NNW
Famous Internet Skiers
Sailing Anarchy
Good Links
Al-Jazeera onlineAlaska Dispatch
AlterNet.org
Antiwar.com
Arab News
Asia Times
Atlantic, The
Common Dreams
counterpunch
Crosscut Seattle
Daily Kos
Daily Mirror
Doonesbury
Drudge Report
FiveThirtyEight
Foreign Policy in Focus
GlobalPost
Guardian Unlimited
Gulf News
Haaretz
Huffington Post
Innocence Project, The
Intrnational Herald Tribune
James Fallows
Jerusalem Post
Joel Connelly
Juan Cole
Le Diplo
Media Matters
Michael Moore
Middle East Times
MoveOn.org
Nation, The
New American Century
News Trust
NMFA
numbers
Online Journal
Palestine Daily
Palestine News
Paul Krugman - economics
Personal bio info
Portland Indy Media
Progressive Review
Project Vote Smart
Reuters
Sea Shepherd
Slate
Talking Points Memo
the Oatmeal
Tom Paine.com
truthout
War and Piece
Washington Votes
WikiLeaks.ch
ynetnews.com
NwCitizen 1995 - 2007
Early Northwest CitizenInternet At Its Best
TEDQuiet, Offline or Dead
Bellingham RegisterCarl Weimer
David Hackworth
N. Sound Conservancy
No Leaky Buckets
Northwest Review
Orcinus
Post-Oklahoman Confessions
Protect Bellingham Parks
The American Telegraph
The Crisis Papers