Submitted by Whatcom Transportation Authority
Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) recently partnered with Whatcom Land Trust and Whatcom Million Trees Project to purchase two wooded properties in Whatcom County. According to Whatcom Million Trees project, the 13,000 trees growing on these properties capture significant levels of carbon. In one year, their “carbon capture” is equal to the annual emissions of four hybrid-electric buses.
The 31 acres WTA will purchase will be held in trust by Whatcom Land Trust. This will expand the Kelsey Nature Reserve near Ferndale and connect it to the Lake Terrell Wildlife Management Area.
In 1992, Ruth Kelsey donated a 20-acre property along Butler Creek, flowing into Lake Terrell, to Whatcom Land Trust. Her intent was for the property to be managed as a nature reserve, providing habitat for salmon, beavers, songbirds, and other wildlife.
WTA’s purchase will expand the Kelsey Nature Reserve to 51 acres and connect Butler Creek to the Lake Terrell Wildlife Management Area, a 1,100-acre area managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Together these properties create a wildlife corridor that includes most of the shoreline of Lake Terrell and two thirds of a mile of coho salmon habitat along Butler Creek.
In addition to conserving wildlife corridors and water resources, WTA’s purchase enables natural carbon sequestration through protecting and planting trees. Along with transitioning to low- or no-emission buses and helping the community make more of their trips by walking, biking, and transit, pursuing carbon offsets is a component of WTA’s decarbonization strategy.
WTA’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve the agreement with Whatcom Land Trust and Whatcom Million Trees Project on August 15, 2024. WTA will cover the purchase price ($150,000 in 2024 and $150,000 in 2025) with funds from Washington State’s Climate Commitment Act.
WTA’s Board Chair and Ferndale City Council Member Ali Hawkinson said, “As WTA works toward reducing its own carbon emissions, and towards helping reduce transportation emissions throughout our community, they’re also building innovative partnerships. Importantly, this partnership benefits air, trees, water, salmon, and other wildlife-not just ‘somewhere,’ but right here in Whatcom County.”
WTA’s mission is to enhance our community by delivering safe, reliable, efficient and friendly service; offering environmentally sound transportation choices; providing leadership in creating innovative transportation solutions, and; partnering with our community to improve transportation systems.
The Mission of the Whatcom Land Trust is to preserve and protect wildlife habitat, scenic, agricultural, and open space lands in Whatcom County for future generations by securing interests in land and promoting land stewardship.
Whatcom Million Trees Project’s mission is to plant and protect more than one million trees in Whatcom County – to urgently address climate and biodiversity crises and to enhance the health and resilience of our local communities.
