Whatcom County Parks & Recreation Updated 01/11/16 WHATCOM COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PARKS, RECREATION AND OPEN SPACE PLAN Comprehensive Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan 2016 Page 1 of Updated80 January 2016 Hovander Homestead Park TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................1 2. COMMUNITY PROFILE ................................................................2 3. INVENTORY ...............................................................................7 Regional Park Inventory Park Operations Wildlife & Critical Habitat Conservation 4. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.........................................................28 5. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT.............................................................43 6. DEMAND AND NEED ANALYSIS.................................................48 7. ADOPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION............................................60 APPENDIX Proposed Trail Corridors Map Other Parks & Recreation Facilities Map Park Regions Map Park Maps DNR List of Rare Plants in Whatcom County Lake Whatcom Fish and Wildlife Washington State Species of Concern List 2013 Comprehensive Plan Survey Beckwith Consulting Group Controlled Survey Results Beckwith Consulting Group Web Survey Survey Whatcom County Parks & Recreation Offi ce and Park Survey Whatcom County Parks & Recreation Offi ce and Park Survey Comments Kulshan Environmental Services Comments Whatcom County Parks & Recreation WHATCOM COUNTY EXECUTIVE Jack Louws, Executive WHATCOM COUNTY PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT Administration Michael McFarlane, Director Christ Thomsen, Parks Operations Manager Rodney Lamb, Senior Design & Development Supervisor Darla Smith, Administrative Assistant II Bette Bode, Accountant I Pat Fisher, Clerk III Lily Point Marine Park Daisy Hansen, Clerk III Park Maintenance ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Shamash Campbell, Maintenance / Construction WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL Supervisor Barbara Brenner Mike Barnes, Outside Maintenance Coordinator Rud Browne Tom Chisholm, Repair Maintenance III Barry Buchanan George Chue, Maintenance Worker II Todd Donovan Randy Corris, Outside Maitenance Coordinator Ken Mann Lawson Curtis, Repair Maintenance III Satpal Sidhu Shawn Fisk, Repair Maintenance III Carl Weimer Rick Jacoby, Repair Maintenance III Kyle Kulm, Repair Maintenance III WHATCOM PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION Parks Paul Woodcock, Chair Jill Jacoby, Park Ranger Janet Boyhan Aaron Johnson, Park Ranger Kenneth Kiesner Steve LeCocq, Park Ranger Jeffrey Margolis Reid Parker, Conservation & Parks Steward Richard C. Sturgill Ted Sellers, Lead Park Ranger Theresa Sygitowicz Ben VanBuskirk, Lead Park Ranger Vern Yadon Jerry Warren, Lead Park Ranger Beckwith Consulting Group Kulshan Environmental Services REFERENCES Planning documents used to inform the 2016 PROS Update (as amended) Whatcom County Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan 2010 1/11 Preserving a Way of Life- A Natural Heritage Plan for Whatcom County 6/19/91 Whatcom County Comprehensive Park and Recreation Open Space Plan 8/13/91 Whatcom County Comprehensive Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan 4/08 Outdoor Recreation in Washington (2013 SCORP draft) 3/13 Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan (updated) 2/13 Whatcom County Trail Plan (revised) 1/75 Chuckanut Mountain Trails Master Plan 6/96 Economic Contribution of Outdoor Recreation to Whatcom County 2015, Earth Economics Whatcom County Parks & Recreation PURPOSE OF THE PLAN This plan is prepared as requirement by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Offi ce to retain eligibility for certain funding programs. This document also guides the County and Parks & Recreation Department in addressing the future needs of the community and progress towards achieving the mission of the Department. This plan works together with and is informed by other planning documents including the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan, Whatcom County 6-year and 20-year Capital Improvement Plans, the 2008 Comprehensive Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan, trails and park master plans and the County’s Natural Heritage Plan. PLANNING PROCESS Hovander Homestead Park The planning process used in this document encompassed: a) review of historical plans and data 1. INTRODUCTION b) public participation and outreach, c) an assessment of existing facilities and lands Whatcom County Parks & Recreation Department and, Mission Statement: Enrich the quality of life for the d) a review of current goals, objectives and policies community and preserve the natural and cultural heritage of the County through the provision of Additional input to inform the plan was received outstanding parks, trails, open space, natural areas, from the Whatcom County Parks & Recreation recreational activities and senior services. Commission, a seven member advisory committee, Whatcom County Pedestrian and Bicycle Committee, Whatcom County residents take great pride in their Parks & Recreation Staff, park districts and parks and recreation facilities. The Community has agencies, community partners and stakeholders, supported a strong parks and recreation system and the general public from participation in providing fi nancial support and countless hours of park planning initiatives and daily contacts with volunteer help. departmental staff. The Whatcom County Parks system provides This plan relies upon the 2008 Comprehensive residents with recreational opportunities and Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan and should places to maintain healthy active life styles. They be considered an update of that plan. Parks & play an important role in the social life of the Recreation staff managed the planning process community providing places for the community and compiled the planning document. Kulshan to come together for events, family gatherings, Environmental Services was contracted to facilitate and memories. Parks also provide signifi cant the community charrettes and the Beckwith economic benefi ts through tourism and retail sales, Consulting Group provided the community and particularly in the rural segments of the County. In online surveys and analysis. Whatcom County, recreation expenditures annually amount to $705 million in spending. Recreation RCO REQUIRED PLANNING supports 279 businesses employing 3,728 persons ELEMENTS with $508 million in revenues. County residents spend an average of 78.1 days a year recreating Goals and objectives page 28 compared to the state average of 59 days annually Inventory page 7 (Source: 2015: Economic Contribution of Outdoor Public Involvement page 43 Recreation to Whatcom County, Earth Economics). Demand and need analysis page 48 Parks help preserve the heritage, culture and Capital Improvement program page 56 history of the county through the preservation of Plan adoption page 60 historical sites and provide numerous environmental benefi ts protecting critical habitats and natural processes. Comprehensive Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan 2016 Page 1 of 80 Introduction Whatcom County Parks & Recreation Updated 01/11/16 2. COMMUNITY PROFILE There are more than 5,000 Native American sites on record in the state, only a few of which have Whatcom County is known for its high quality of life been professionally evaluated. Generally, sites are and close proximity to an abundance of recreational located at river conjunctions within valleys and opportunities. Mountain biking, hiking, camping, along the shoreline. Known sites have been grouped golfi ng, boating, kayaking, fi shing and hunting are into three rather broad time periods: all just minutes away for most residents. Within the county are lakes, islands, rivers, mountains, • early sites - approximately 12,000-8,000 years beaches and forests. old, • middle-period - sites between 8,000-3,000 TOPOGRAPHY years old, and Whatcom County is the northernmost county • late-period - sites about 3,000 years old. in the state of Washington. Whatcom County contains 2,107 square miles that border on British Native American tribes Columbia, Canada to the north, Okanogan County Many Native American tribes inhabit the Pacifi c to the east, Skagit County to the south, and the Northwest region with diverse life-styles, languages Strait of Georgia to the west. Much of the county is and traditions. The people who lived in the Puget mountainous and part of the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie Lowlands depended largely on seafood—salmon National Forest and North Cascades National Park. and shellfi sh, supplemented by berries, roots, and Fifty miles east of Bellingham lies the highest peak game. The tribes built substantial cedar plank in the North Cascade mountain range, Mount Baker houses, often big enough to house a number of (10,778 feet), an ice-clad volcano. Providing the families clustered in villages. Cedar trees also state’s longest ski season and world’s greatest provided transport, in the form of dugout canoes. recorded snowfall in one season 1,140 inches. The local Native American population is estimated There are two inhabited islands, Lummi and Eliza in to have declined by nearly 90% as a result of Whatcom County. smallpox and other epidemics after European settlement. A deep-water port, Bellingham’s Squalicum Harbor is the second largest harbor in Puget Sound. In Whatcom County, the traditional territories of the Bellingham is located 90 miles north of Seattle Semiahmoo, Lummi, Nooksack and Samish people and 23 miles south of the Canadian border. A center on the marine resources of the Strait of trip to Point Roberts, the county’s most northerly Georgia and Northern Puget Sound.