Lummi Island Conservancy

Our current project involves monitoring the proposed expansion of the quarry on Lummi Island. Our continuing goal is to limit the Lummi Island quarry to it’s current size, and ensure it is operating within the confines of the law.

See our Quarry Project 2011 website for details.

Also see information about our past quarry work which began in 1995.

Our new island neighbors may wonder, “How is living on Lummi Island different from mainland living?” The Conservancy has made an effort to offer some answers to that question.

In cooperation with island realtors, businesses, and other interested islanders, we developed a brochure and website which describe characteristics unique to Lummi Island and suggest some ways to protect them.

Some of the topics included were waters (both groundwater and ocean), island-friendly home construction, native plants, wildlife, and more. Links to additional helpful resources are listed on the website.

The Lummi Island Conservancy has for many years published brief articles by islanders about island living in The Tome (monthly newsletter put out by the Lummi Island Community Association; for information, email: thetome@lummiislandcable.com).

Those articles have been published under the title Isleward Bound.  The second edition of this collection is available for purchase at Sisters Gallery inside the Islander Store and at the Lummi Island Library.  All funds from sales of Isleward Bound directly support Lummi Island Conservancy activities.

The Lummi Island Plan, a component of the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan, is an adaptation of the Lummi Island Report, written by a professional planner under the direction of a committee of islanders in the late 1970′s. Title 20, the County zoning laws, implements the goals and policies of the Plan.

Proposals from the Conservancy to clarify some provisions of Title 20 and to more clearly support the Plan have been considered and implemented by the County.

In December 1995, the operators of the Lummi Island quarry applied for a zoning change on approximately 335 acres of Lummi Mountain to pave the way for a very large industrial quarry. A Quarry Committee of the Conservancy was formed at the urging of impacted residents of Scenic Estates.

Whatcom County, informed of our concerns, asked the quarry operators to supply an Environmental Impact Statement. This induced the operator to withdraw the rezone application.

How much the quarry will be allowed to expand is still unclear (see our 2011 quarry project website). The Committee found that the quarry was already operating well outside its permitted area. Efforts to get the quarry operators to comply with the law have been difficult but partially successful.

The goal of the Committee has been to limit the Lummi Island quarry to a modest size, and ensure it is operating within the confines of the law.

The Conservancy initiated a cooperative study with the Whatcom County Planning Department, the Whatcom County Health Department, the State Department of Ecology, and a committee of Lummi Islanders to broaden information on island groundwater. The project was carried out with a considerable amount of volunteer labor under the auspices of the Lummi Island Community Club.

Results and analysis of the study were published with the title Lummi Island Groundwater Study in 1994.

The Comprehensive Park and Recreation Open Space Plan of Whatcom County, published in 1989, proposed a 35-50 acre park on Lummi Island with 50 campsites and 15-25 picnic sites. Meetings with the Director of Parks and islanders showed strong opposition to the proposal primarily because of the demands such a facility would place on the ferry and our limited water supply. A very large Park Committee was formed, and after much work the proposal was removed from the plan.

While working to preserve the Trillium Corporation land (see Falcon Refuge), we met on Lummi Mountain with representatives of the Commissioner for Public Lands and the Nature Conservancy to look at the state school lands on Lummi Mountain. State officials determined that the state lands here are low quality timber lands.

When money became available, the school lands were purchased by the resource conservation lands program of the state, and moneys received were used to purchase higher quality timber lands on the mainland for the school lands program.

The Lummi Island Conservancy grew out of an informal group organized after the Trillium Corporation acquired about 500 acrew of land on Lummi Mountain in 1988. By working with the Nature Conservancy, Whatcom Land Trust, the Audubon Society, state representatives, and the Washington Wildlife and REcreation coalition, we were able to get the property purchased by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in September 1991 and designated as a refuge for Peregrine Falcons.