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1996 FWOC
Resolution
No. 4:
ACQUISITION OF ARLECHO CREEK BASIN
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A century of intense
logging has eliminated nearly all of the old growth forests on private
lands in the Puget Sound Basin. Today, the largest intact stand
of this once magnificent old-growth forest still in private ownership
is in the drainage of Arlecho creek, a tributary of the Nooksack River
near Bellingham, Washington.
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Although the forests of
Arlecho Creek are owned and managed for timber harvest by Crown Pacific
Ltd., the nearby Lummi Indian tribe has placed a very high importance
on these old growth forests, not only as a source of clear, cold water
for the downstream fish hatcheries, but also because the Arlecho lands
are also important religious and cultural sites.
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The Lummi Nation and Crown
Pacific have recently reached an agreement whereby Crown Pacific will
sell the entire 2000 acre basin to the Nation, which will, in turn,
forever preserve the remaining old-growth forest, and initiate actions
to restore the surrounding logged-over lands.
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The Lummi Nation is now
actively campaigning to raise private and public funds to acquire this
ecological treasure. Besides the outstanding natural values, a
1991 professional survey identified thirty-eight nesting sites of the
endangered marbled murrelet in the Arlecho Basin.
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Crown Basin has requested
9 million dollars for purchase of these Arlecho lands, and the Lummi's
option to purchase expires December 31, 1997. If the money
required isn't raised by that time, logging of this remaining
old-growth timber can commence.
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The Federation of Western
Outdoor Clubs strongly believes that the outstanding ecological and
cultural values within the Arlecho Creek Basin justifies an expenditure
of public funds for its acquisition and preservation, in trust, by, and
for, the Lummi Nation. The Federation recommends that Federal and
Washington State agencies, and appropriate private sources, combine
their efforts to take immediate steps to acquire funds to preserve
these exceptional lands while they are still intact.
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Member Clubs and individual members of the
FWOC are strongly urged to send a copy of the above Resolution along
with any appropriate specific comments on this issue to the Bureau of
Indian Affairs, the State Governor, and the Congressional Delegations
of the State of Washington, and any private sources of money that could
be applied to acquire and preserve this old-growth forest.
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