Whatcom Trails CO-OP

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RE: Galbraith Mountain Preservation

Dear Councilmember/Mayor XXXXX,

I am writing to ask you to help protect the quality of life in Bellingham and preserve one of our region's great recreation and tourism spots.

Last year, Galbraith Mountain’s landowner changed when the property fell into receivership. The new owner, Polygon, has continually stated that they don’t want the property as they feel it is not financially viable. That said, they are still trying to recoup as much money from the property as possible, and as such, they have commenced full-scale logging operations in numerous locations on Galbraith. As of April 11th, the Whimps Mountain Bike Coalition (WMBC) was notified that Polygon would be revoking the Recreational Use Agreement with the WMBC in the very near future. At a minimum, that means we won’t be able to maintain the trail network and, worst case, recreational access to the public could be halted altogether.
Galbraith is important to our community for a number of reasons. First off, it ties together a number of neighborhoods with a focus on an active lifestyle that is very important to people who live in Bellingham. Galbraith’s 3,000+ acres border four neighborhoods in Bellingham and Whatcom County: Birch Street/Whatcom Falls, Lake Padden/Galbraith Lane, Yew Street and Lake Louise/Sudden Valley. Easy access to outdoor recreation is indispensable to the health and welfare of our families and essential in combating childhood obesity and reducing health care costs. Along with providing this access to outdoor recreation for families, it also helps prevent suburban sprawl.

Secondly, Galbraith is a major source of recreation and outdoor activity not just for residents in Bellingham, but for tourists from all over the Pacific Northwest. In a survey the WMBC conducted in 2010, 94.4% of non-Bellingham residents that visit Galbraith also visit a local business and 50.5% spend between $20-60 per trip. Restaurants, gas stations, hotels and grocery stores all benefit from the riders that frequent the mountain for recreation.

Finally, Galbraith also represents an important conservation opportunity for the city. Approximately 1,000 acres of the land is in the Lake Whatcom watershed and Galbraith is the beginning of Chuckanut Creek. Setting this area aside for responsible, maintained recreation would ensure that these environmentally sensitive areas are properly cared for in the decades ahead. A structure for maintaining responsible recreation is already in place as well--there are over 44 miles of trail on Galbraith Mountain that have been built and maintained by a local volunteer-powered organization (WMBC) over the past 21 years.

Given how motivated the current landowner is to sell the property, this might be the only time we can purchase this land in our lifetime. As a resident of Bellingham, I’d like to encourage Whatcom County Council, Bellingham City Council and the Mayor’s office to come together for a solution to preserve Galbraith Mountain for recreation, tourism, and conservation.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP
PHONE

Good point, Odin.

I don't care what you say as long as you are CIVIL and that you write to everyone on that list above. Trust me, it makes a difference. If you are a homeowner or a business owner or have kids that recreate on the hill, that all matters too. Please be sure to note any of those items.

Also, be sure to fill out the form on preservegalbraith.org. Strength in numbers, yo!

Thanks Jason. Our "webmasters" are in Taiwan right now, so making fixes to the form is gonna take a day or so. We'll get on it asap.

In the meantime, friend us on Facebook and then follow the instructions in the "info." section there.

Cheers,
EB

http://www.cob.org/features/2011-04-14-galbraith.aspx

If the city were to take over control, they would still lean on the WMBC to build/maintain the trails and manage the land. I doubt anything that is currently up there would be demolished except for maybe some of the wood stunts. Not sure how the trail proposal/approval process would look. Might be more restrictive, might be status quo. All I know is rogue status is about to begin unless Polygon caves.

Yeah, the meeting last night was pretty interesting.

First, great support, turn out, and some very intelligent comments from the crowd. It was a civil and fairly inspiring group. Thad was particularly well spoken with a message of "we call your bluff" as well were others about the community value of Galbraith beyond the $$$ numbers everyone was throwing around.

Second, the mayor seems to have not been truly interested in negotiating a deal with polygon. There were reports of him not returning calls to very interested partners, leaving meetings early, and responding only with "we have continued interest" to polygon when they asked for a "road map" of how the city and other players would come to a decision. Council memebers had limited or no knowledge of his negociations with polygon. With some luck, his performance from here out will improve seeing so many voters passionate about the issue that he effectively dropped the ball on.

Third, Blair of Tin Rock Management was there effectively as Polygon's broker. He fielded some very hard "get real" questions about why and how they would close the mt. Ultimately, his move was generally revieled to be intended to get the city/county to respond to polygon's offers to sell with some concrete counteroffer. At the end, he suggested that if the mayor could give him a concrete path towards negotiation (not a price or terms, just a plan towards that) he would support polygon staying the termination of the WHIMPS agreement.

And here's the meeting by the numbers:

Polygon purchased the land in lue of $10M note
Polygon's net sale of the trees this year $3-4M
Polygon's break even thus far $6M
Janiki's estimate of sustainable timber sales per year starting in 8 years $1.2-1.5M
Polygon's first offer to sell $20M
Polygon's appraisal of land "somewhere just under" $20M
Polygon's second offer to sell "well below the $20M"
City's appraisal of land "less than half of" $20M
City's ability to pay $8-10M

so, what ARE they going to do to stop him?

That one guy didn't call Blair an idiot, he said the "marketing/brokerage people" (or whomever it was at Polygon that Blair was saying made the call to shut down the hill, which was a pretty weak part of his story) were idiots. And he's right--typical corporate suits that don't *actually* understand liability laws in the state nor what they're getting into if they do really try to shut things down physically. I actually think Blair knows what he's in for.

IF you didn't get to see the King5 segment aired, here it is on the internet.

http://www.king5.com/video/featured-videos/Popular-Whatcom-County-recreation-area-could-close-120250459.html#comments

I think Bo Jangles is trying to work something out.

Regarding the next two meetings coming up, city and county council meetings.
Is it necessary that we all show up on our bikes in the hundreds again? Are these meetings
specifically for the discussion of Galbraith? Will there be Q&A? What is expected of us while there?

uhh??? bummer.
Galbraith Road Access Closed
Thursday, 09 June 2011 18:12 | Last Updated on Thursday, 09 June 2011 18:41 | Written by Mark
After 20 years of allowed access through the gates on Galbraith Road (the white and yellow gate) off of Galbraith Lane the property owner had decided, effective immediately, to deny access through their property.

The WMBC tried to negotiate an option to keep it open long enough for us to construct an alternative access trail but we were not successful.

As of now the only legal access to the Galbraith Trail System is to continue North on Gabraith Lane through the yellow gate by the kiosk. If you are headed to the Towers Road your best option is to proceed North on Galbraith Lane, up Last Call and ride the pipeline access road back to the towers road.

Prior access was allowed by the land owners via what is and has always been a private road-please respect posted signage.

WMBC Board

Now everybody is going crazy!

The neighbors are pissed with all the logging trucks and increased rider traffic due to the N side being heavily logged. 8000 people in 6 weeks went thru those gates according to the trail counter. It's a private road but it's always been cool we use that route until one neighbor decided she had enough and pulled the plug. She had been talked to a few weeks ago and we thought everything would be cool, but she's senile and evidently forgot that conversation took place and posted up the no trespassing signs. There's another cranky neighbor at the middle gate, which is also private property, and yet another cranky neighbor at the farthest yellow gate on the pipeline road where the kiosk is. She often sits in her car and stops people that go thru there. That's the only legal access right now. She's wrong if she tells you it's private.

Whatever deal gets worked out between Polygon and the city/county/land trust, parking and access for the south side will be hopefully addressed. For now, ride up Last Call to get back over to the Towers Rd. or trespass. I doubt any sheriff's deputies will respond if they call the cops.

^^no but the domain registration has expired.

You can go through the side door still http://kevinmenard.websitetoolbox.com/

Photo/Video Contest this Saturday at Depot Market Square across from Boundary Bay. Doors open at 6:30. $15 gets you a souvenir pint glass, raffle ticket, and entry into the event. Tons of swag, 3 kegs of Boundary on tap, and the hard work of local builders, riders, filmers, and photogs on display.

I'll be running the booth at the Farmer's Market that day till 4:30 or so. Chances are I won't go home first before heading back to that same location for the premier. If you need help setting up or whatever give me shout; I'll just be killing time someplace anyway.

Galbraith Mt. Trail users/supporters!

Please take the attached survey and give your thoughts about what you’d like to see going on with the hill, preserving Galby and the WMBC. It’s short and doesn’t take long, so please use this as an opportunity to give your candid feedback.
Also, pass this along to your respective ride crews. Thanks!

EB

TQ, I've not seen the final numbers (minus expenses - which were in the $2500 range), but it looks like we raised about $11k Gross. That's admission + raffle tix + donations. We're doing a debrief next week to go through final numbers and the usual what went well / what could be better feedback.

As of now, Preserve Galbraith is still just a movement - which the WMBC is a major part of.....there is no real push to have it become a registered non-profit. The funds raised last week are in the WMBC account and will go towards that endeavor. That said, negotiations look like will be stalled until after the elections or until those folks are in office.

If you take the survey, please give your thoughts on the WMBC as well as Galbraith.

EB