The City of Bellingham purchased 116 acres of land from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources for a new park. The land, which comes in parcels, contains a portion of the Bellingham Bay to Baker Trail and a chunk of Squalicum Creek.
The City has been considering buying the land since 2009. The purchase was exciting not just because of how long it’s been in the making, but because of the habitat within the property and the opportunity to develop the Bay to Baker Trail, said Sarah Gardner, a member of the Greenways Advisory Committee.
“The properties have been properties of interest for quite a while, before my time at the Greenways Committee,” Gardner said.
The Committee oversees Bellingham’s Greenways Program, utilizing property tax levies to purchase parks, care for open spaces and develop trails. Their goal is to create a network of parks, greenbelts and forests around Bellingham. The City Council used Bellingham’s Greenway levy funds to buy the land.
The Bay to Baker trail, which overlaps with the newly purchased land, is a trail system that will eventually extend 74 miles from the Mount Baker Ski Area to Bellingham Bay. Different parts of the trail system are in various stages of development.
Squalicum Creek, which also overlaps with the new land, is a 22-mile-long tributary of Bellingham Bay. The creek starts in the Cascade Foothills and feeds into the Bay.
Nikki Fields, the Washington State Parks planning and real estate program manager oversees several park projects for the state, which involves purchasing park real estate and development. One of the challenges parks are addressing right now is population growth.
“With more people in the state, there is more of a demand on parkland – places for people to get outdoors, to recreate,” Fields said. “We are looking toward increasing the size of the state parks system over time to meet the needs of the people of Washington.”
The most sought-after feature amidst this wave of park popularity is trails. The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office’s 2022 Recreation Experience Survey surveyed a representative sample of Washington state residents and found that 79% of them wanted more non-motorized trails.
A graph of responses from residents on desired access opportunities showed an overwhelming desire for more non-motorized trail access. The data comes from 5,427 questionnaire respondents. // Graph taken from The Washington State Conservation and Recreation Plan Recreation Experience Survey
Sharon Walker, director of Snohomish County Parks and Recreation, manages about 12,000 acres of park property in Snohomish County, including the 30-mile-long Centennial Trail and other trails. Walker said when they put out surveys to gauge what park elements people are interested in, they always rave about trails.
“You build it and people will use it; they do love trails,” Walker said.
Bellingham residents are no exception, as is the case with Sarah Leslie, a lifelong resident.
“I like going to Boulevard Park, which isn’t too far from Western,” Leslie said. “It’s right on the waterfront, and it has this nice walkway where you can see the water all the way down.”
One of Leslie’s favorite things about Bellingham parks is the selection of places to walk. Leslie loves a good trail and thinks a new one would be a welcome addition to the city’s selection.
The DNR will use the nearly $2.2 million they received in the transaction to buy replacement land for the Common School Trust, which gives funding to K-12 school construction projects in Washington state.
Since the program started in 1990, this is the second-largest purchase of a single property using Greenways funds, after the $3 million Galbraith easement purchase in 2018.
This piece of land was located on the northeastern side of the recent acquisition on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Bellingham, Wash. It sits near the Trickle Creek neighborhood and Squalicum High School. // Photo by Hope Rasa
Hope Rasa (she/her) is a City News reporter for The Front this quarter. She is a second-year Western student majoring in news/editorial journalism. She enjoys running, hiking, reading and spending time with her cat. You can reach her at hoperasa.thefront@gmail.com.
