Lake Whatcom Reconveyance Hallelujah

Lake Whatcom Reconveyance and Amy MacDonald sums up how I feel after the Whatcom County Council vote late this evening. I did put some effort into this scheme as did lots of other folks - so yes, Hallelujah.

I began working on public forest land issues in the Lake Whatcom watershed in 1998. I along with my fellow committee members put in hundreds of volunteer hours working on the landscape plan with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources staff in developing a compromise forest management plan. Once the planning was completed I experienced the multiple efforts to undermine the Lake Whatcom Landscape Plan and noted that deferred objectives to be worked on by joint committee overseeing implementation of the plan were never worked on.

The idea to reconvey these lands back to county management is so that they can be managed in a manner that reflects the values of our local county resolves many issues. I believe it is better that the current county leaders made this decision versus an advocate like me. Feels all the better after the early resistance to the idea. And it reflects well on the open mindedness of the majority of the council and the current County Executive. I am confident that the end result will be something many in our community can be proud of.

So some more happiness from Amy MacDonald with a song she wrote - What Happiness Means to Me: