Grant will double the protected area at the mouth of California Creek

Whatcom Land Trust, in partnership with the Washington State Department of Ecology, received a $915,000 grant that will allow it to purchase 54.7 acres of coastal wetlands near the mouth of California Creek, at the south end of Drayton Harbor. 

The purchase includes 6,500 feet of creek front property, as well as tidal wetlands that the land trust plans to restore. The land is in four unconnected parcels on the south side of the creek, upstream from Hillsdale Cemetery. Currently, four individuals own the properties, and they have worked toward the sale with the land trust for months. 

The purchase will more than double the amount of land the land trust has protected near the mouth of California Creek; it currently owns 52.5 acres at the mouth of the creek, some of which is slated to become a park with a parking lot, kayak and canoe launch and other amenities. That park will be owned and managed by Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2. The district hopes to open it in 2023. 

The grant is funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program, which favors rare and declining wetlands, according to a press release from the land trust. Some of the wetland types on the property are in decline nationally, said Alex Jeffers, Whatcom Land Trust conservation manager. 

Restoration will include removing two buildings on site – a small cabin and an old house that Jeffers said is in rough condition – and planting native wetland plants and converting some fields back to wetlands and tidal channels, as some parts of the watershed have been filled with dirt. The project’s total cost is estimated to be $1.3 million, Jeffers said.

Protecting and restoring the property could have a big impact on Drayton Harbor because of the potential for wetlands to improve water quality. 

“The California Creek sub-basin makes up 40 percent of the total Drayton Harbor watershed, meaning restoration will benefit water quality in Drayton Harbor and impact Whatcom County on a larger scale,” the land trust said in a press release. 

In addition to its water quality benefits, the restored land will provide habitat for forage fish, salmon and migrating shorebirds, Jeffers said.

Some of the land could potentially have a trail through it in the future, but the purchase is primarily for conservation and restoration, said Ted Morris, Whatcom Land Trust volunteer coordinator and park district director. 

Whatcom Land Trust made its first purchase at the mouth of California Creek in 2017, and bought an adjacent parcel in December 2018. Since then, the land trust has partnered with Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association and Whatcom Conservation District on salmon habitat restoration, invasive species removal and other improvements in the area. Moceri Construction demolished two barns on that property. 

The Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program awarded seven grants in Washington state totaling $5 million, and 23 nationwide that totaled $17 million. 

Grants provide up to 75 percent of the cost of wetland acquisition and protection.