Whatcom County State Lands

[Knocker of rocks]

In short, I'm concerned about sharing because .......

Your doomed right there

[Uncle Rico]

In short, I'm concerned about sharing because .......

Your doomed right there

You're probably right. But, sitting on our hands didn't work either.

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[heronblu]

And after all these properties get opened up for all the other recreation interests - just having a key, or ATV-ing in will be less of an advantage.

Huh?

http://www.dnr.wa.gov/BakertoBellingham

That was no help, I followed your links and still can't figure out what you meant.  Are you concerned about gates?  Or are you concerned about sharing the resource with other user groups?

My concern is this - The recent promotion of non-hunting recreation in the Puget Sound area in general, and Whatcom County in specific, will further push hunting to the margins until it's no longer practical for the average enthusiast.
Hunters lost about 9,000 acres around Lake Whatcom a few years ago because they weren't paying attention. In short, I'm concerned about sharing because the people deciding who gets what - are committed anti hunting.

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Are you referring to the lake Whatcom reconveyance? with the 9000 acres comment?

[Uncle Rico]

Yes

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[heronblu]

Could you point me in the direction of where specifically it says no hunting in the reconveyance plan or in a WAC? I recently spoke directly with enforcement at the WDFW regarding hunting on some of that property and was told (in writing and in person) that as long as it isn't posted and you are far enough from roads and houses that hunting is allowed.

[Uncle Rico]

It's a county park. I queried the promoters and they said it (hunting) was not conducive to planned park activities.

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[heronblu]

If you look at the actual property boundaries though you can see that the parks and rec dept actually only owns a small portion of the land, and the rest is owned by Whatcom county proper. I also spoke with the Whatcom county assessor who couldn't actually give me a conclusive answer on the subject and referred me to WDFW. Bottom line in my opinion is that this is still an area where hunting could/should be allowed if we play our cards right. I have read the entire reconveyance plan as well and nowhere does it specifically prohibit, or even address hunting. I would love to get a group of hunters together to discuss this further to figure out some action to ensure we are allowed to hunt this land.

[Uncle Rico]

I'm all for that. I'm sure it will gain some attention to the cause.

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[EmeraldBullet]

PM sent to the OP.

There is a huge anti-hunting sentiment within this advocacy group in Whatcom County. Especially against modern rifle. Any hunters in WC need to get more involved in the decision making process, myself included. If we don't, soon we will lose our privileges.

[heronblu]

PM sent to the OP.

There is a huge anti-hunting sentiment within this advocacy group in Whatcom County. Especially against modern rifle. Any hunters in WC need to get more involved in the decision making process, myself included. If we don't, soon we will lose our privileges.

agreed 100%! I don't think its too late. I think if we present ourselves as a responsible conservation minded group we can get ourselves heard and have a real discussion. I have been in talks with people at the Whatcom Land Trust (an organization that typically doesn't allow hunting on their many properties in the county) and I have made some headway recently regarding potentially allowing hunting on some of their properties in the future. We could learn a lot from the mountain biking community actually. They have really inserted themselves as a force in the decision making process regarding land use locally and they have gotten much of what they want.