Crews have been busy installing a second round of wooden fencing to protect native vegetation that fight erosion along the Birch Bay berm this week.
The Whatcom County Public Works Department, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office work crews and the Washington Conservation Corps were expected to add an extra layer of fencing Monday through Thursday across from Beach Cat Brewing to just north of Harborview Road. Fencing was also planned near Cottonwood Drive, depending on time and materials.
The work adds to fencing installed last August in areas where the beach-facing side of plantings were not protected in popular areas of the beach.
“Continued community stewardship and awareness will play an important role in the long-term success of the berm restoration efforts,” said Mandy Feutz, communications specialist at Whatcom County Public Works Department.
The 1.6-mile berm was proposed in 1975 to restore the shoreline and provide flood protection along the community’s thoroughfare, Birch Bay Drive. After years of planning and securing funding, the $8.7 million project was constructed four decades later between January 2020 and March 2021.
Native plants were added in 2021 to prevent erosion and restore habitat. The plants and a temporary orange fence cost the county about $640,000, public works previously said.
Whatcom County’s permits to install the berm requires the county to monitor the plants and meet annual growth targets for 10 years. The county installed the wooden fencing last August after failing to meet the annual targets every year since construction, largely due to New Year’s and Fourth of July celebrations that bring thousands of people to the bay.
Public works initially planned to install fencing in three separate areas that would protect the plantings along the pedestrian path, but not the beach side of the plantings. But Feutz said vegetation loss concerns prompted the department to take a different approach.
“Based on current conditions, protecting the most heavily impacted areas is the most effective and efficient approach,” she said.
Feutz said public works found the fencing to be overall effective and visible signs of regrowth have been observed.
