The City of Bellingham finalized a $3.65 million purchase of 754 acres of forested land around Lake Whatcom from Nielsen Brothers Inc. on Feb. 14, 2025. The purchase was made as part of the Lake Whatcom Land Acquisition and Preservation Program (LWLAPP).
This marks the largest land purchase under the program by the city ever, in addition to advancing a resolution advised by the city’s Watershed Advisory Board.
“In keeping with the overarching goal of protecting the source drinking-water quality in the Lake Whatcom Reservoir, the board strongly recommends that the city provide the resources to purchase as much land that is available as soon as possible,” the resolution said.
What was this land?
The previous owner of the land, Nielsen Brothers Inc., is a logging company in Northwest Washington owned and operated by Robert and David Nielsen. The company purchased the land in 1990, Robert Nielsen said.
Shortly after acquiring the property, Nielsen Brothers helicopter-logged the site and, after harvesting the best timber, revisited the site several times with conventional equipment, Nielsen said.
About 140 acres of easily accessible forest had been clearcut, thanks to a road from the early 1940s built when the land was last logged during World War II, Nielsen said. Logging the remaining timber would require costly permits and more road building.
“It’s difficult, and as time goes on, the timber that’s left there is even more difficult [to harvest],” Nielsen said.
Discussions of the purchase began two years ago when Michael Feerer, founder and executive director of Whatcom Million Trees, approached Nielsen Brothers and the city.
Over the next two years, city and Nielsen Brothers appraisers arrived at different evaluations of the land. 720 acres were zoned for commercial forestry, but 40 acres were viable for residential development. The 40-acre evaluation was settled for $650,000, Nielsen said.
Although this is the Nielsen Brothers’ greatest land sale to date, additional roads would need to be constructed to accommodate future harvests. Nielsen believes the purchase was a fair deal.
“At the end of the day, I got crew I gotta pay, I got bills I gotta pay, and business is business,” Nielsen said.
Why buy this land?
Excessive nutrients, like phosphorus, threaten Lake Whatcom, according to Angela Strecker, director of the Institute for Watershed Studies at Western Washington University. When too many nutrients enter a body of water, eutrophication takes place. Eutrophication manifests in water with the increase of algae, decrease of oxygen and increase in acidity, which harms aquatic animals and makes water treatment more difficult.
“Any disturbance to the watershed has the potential to result in sediment release into the lake, which often carries nutrients with it,” Strecker said.
According to the EPA, up to 90% of sediment runoff from logging activities comes from roads and their construction. Because future logging activities require new roads, the threat is considerable. It's important to note that logging methods are constantly evolving, and sediment runoff can be mitigated by responsible road construction methods.
Forested lands slow runoff and filter water, reducing the impact of pollutants and erosion on Lake Whatcom. The lake provides drinking water to more than 100,000 people across Whatcom County, according to LWLAPP’s website.
Now what?
The land is no longer set for logging or residential development, which preserves the water filtration of the forest. The city owning the land facilitates conservation efforts and will further improve the health of the forest and the watershed.
The City of Bellingham’s Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) crew works primarily on city-owned land, including LWLAPP land, said Nate Hauer, supervisor of the crew.
“We pretty much always work within city limits on city property. That can be anywhere from city parks to natural resource areas to the Lake Whatcom watershed,” Hauer said.
Among other things, an unmanaged forest can be overrun with invasive species and overloaded with fuel for wildfires. Work in these forests can include removing invasives and planting trees, Hauer said.
“We go and plant trees to eventually establish a native forest community that will naturally filter water entering Lake Whatcom,” Hauer said.
Nielsen Brothers still owns about 42 acres of land with a cell tower at the end of Lake Louise Road, Nielsen said. They are now in negotiation with the city to sell this property as well, and Nielsen believes they will go through with a deal.
Steven Colson (they/them) is a city news reporter for The Front. They are a fourth-year environmental journalism major. Beyond the newsroom they like to be outside with the stars, trees and water, or in busy spaces jumping to loud music. You can reach them at stevencolson.thefront@gmail.com
