Nature Conservancy Protects Key Shoreline
150-acre Acquisition will be transformed to Whatcom County Parks
SEATTLE, WA — December 30, 2008 — The Nature Conservancy purchased 150 acres at Lily Point, on Point Roberts, at the end of December, and will transfer it to Whatcom County Parks and Recreation for ongoing preservation and public recreation as soon as grant funds become available.
This is the second phase of a two-part, $6 million acquisition effort at Lily Point, which is at the southeastern tip of Point Roberts, a peninsula that juts out from British Columbia into Boundary Bay, crossing the 49th Parallel so that it’s in the United States. It’s a key acquisition in the Conservancy’s efforts with the Alliance for Puget Sound Shorelines to create 10 new parks and natural areas in Puget Sound.
This shoreline, with its massive bluffs that feed sediment into the bay, sustaining the beaches and tideflats, is critical to the health of Puget Sound, said Jacques White, Washington’s marine program director for The Nature Conservancy. Orcas patrol the shoreline during salmon migrations and eagles feast in the tideflats.
The bay is also an important stopover site along the Pacific flyway for migrating shorebirds. “It’s a prime example of how places on both sides of the international border fit together into one ecological system,” White said.
The shallow Lily Point tideflats support over 5 million migratory shorebirds and waterfowl each year. These tideflats are rich in plants, small fish and other creatures that are the base of the marine food web relied on by salmon, sea lions and endangered southern resident orcas.
“With the great work of The Nature Conservancy, the protection of Lily Point is now complete,” said Rand Jack of the Whatcom Land Trust. “The site is a marvelous blend of ecological fecundity, cultural heritage and aesthetic grandeur, a place that feeds the vitality of Puget Sound. This will be one of the west coast’s premier county parks. Whatcom Land Trust is delighted to share in this project with The Nature Conservancy.”
This acquisition was supported by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program.
The first phase of the acquisition was led by Whatcom Land Trust, with a $1.75 million grant from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program and funding from Whatcom County Conservation Futures, the state Department of Ecology, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and numerous private contributions from the United States and Canada.
People have been living at Lily Point for more than 9,000 years. It was an important salmon netting site for the Lummi Nation, who established a summer village of as many as 400 or 500 people. Later, commercial fishing interests developed a fish cannery on the site. The Lummi have supported this project and participated in the dedication of the park last summer with drumming and storytelling.
The Conservancy will work with Whatcom County Parks and other partners, including the Lummi Nation, the Whatcom Marine Resources Committee, the Whatcom Land Trust and Friends of Lily Point on restoration of the site, including removal of relict pilings, slag, and debris from the turn-of-the-century cannery operation. Ultimately, Whatcom County Parks will manage the site for recreation and conservation.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.
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