More than 130 acres of forestland around Lake Whatcom will be protected from logging following a Monday Bellingham City Council meeting decision.
During the 25-minute meeting, city council members voted unanimously to fund a $351,000 deal for 131 acres in the watershed.
The lot, sold to the city by CBC Brothers LLC, was previously owned by Henry Semple and was purchased as part of the city’s Lake Whatcom Watershed Acquisition and Preservation Program.
The lake is the source of drinking water for about half the county, and protecting it has been a priority for community leadership for more than two decades.
The program, designed to protect the watershed, began in 2001 and has protected more than 2,600 acres at a cost of more than $33.7 million, according to the City of Bellingham’s program site.
Currently, the site is zoned for commercial forestry, and has “no potential development units,” said council president Hannah Stone.
The council initially discussed the acquisition during an executive session Monday.
“We had an executive session this afternoon, and there were two items before us,” Stone said during Monday’s evening meeting. “Staff informed City Council that the city has entered into a purchase and sale agreement to acquire a 131-acre property.”
The purchase comes quickly on the heels of another City Council land acquisition for environmental purposes. In late March, the council voted unanimously to purchase a 1.43-acre parcel to preserve a Great blue heron roosting colony near Post Point in Fairhaven.
