What an achievement. Congratulations!

Jamie,

Congratulations on this very successful struggle.   A salute to your tenacity. 

Goes to show how not giving up makes winning possible

Jamie, I admire your dedication.

I know a more thorough report is coming soon, but I’m confused by this story and would appreciate more context: 

The great blue heron is commonly found all across the lower 48. Their numbers are increasing and the bird is listed as a “species of least concern.” So why did the city see fit to spend more than $1 million in public funds to buy less than two acres of land to create added buffer for a handful of nests? Am I missing something?

Hmm.  Was it more than a $million?  Thought it was more like in the $700s. 

Ralph, probably you are just baiting Jamie, but may have missed that over these twenty some years the City could have paid well less than half the amount if they had acted sooner.

Whether endangered or not, the birds are iconic on the waterfront, evidenced by the number of Bellingham photos in which they continually appear.  I’ll wager that a substantial number of the upcoming Essence of Bellingham submissions will feature them.  This location is well suited due to its proximity to the waterfront, situated in the lee of a hill, protected from the prevailing winds.  The proximity affords the opportunity for us to view them frequently on their rounds or to visit and see them nesting.  There is value in that alone.

As for the eventual price, our planning frameworks have created a short supply of buildable parcels, so the price is up - well beyond what the heron can pay!  Are you against public housing - or just when its for the birds? I am reminded of the Big Rock Park discussion years ago when developers wanted the land and complained that the City paid over-market to preserve the park.  In America, if you want to save something you have to buy it at what the market will bear.  Would Bellingham be a better place without Big Rock Park?  Without the heron?

Finally, it will help retain a good buffer between the BWWTP and the two million dollar homes on Shorewood, protecting yet another class species - albeit also unendangered.  What’s not to like?

Congratulations,  Jamie!  What a relief! So happy about this truly thoughtful, respectful development. I am inestimably impressed with your work and stunning achievement. You are  a force of nature! Kudos to the Whatcom Land Trust, other volunteers, donors, City Council and all other supporters. 

Ralph Schwartz - Thank you for your thoughtful and well-founded inquiry. I also question the basis of this expense, as I understand heron colonies are known to relocate themselves at will and without apparent precipitating cause.

OK, Ralph and Karen, I’ll take the bait.

Ralph, do I conclude from your comment that you believe the Great Blue Heron nesting site at Post Point doesn’t deserve additional public investment because the birds are not on the Endangered Species list (yet)?  Or that there are too few nests (“a handful,” you say — incorrectly) to warrant the land acquisition adjacent to their nesting core?

It is true that the Great Blue Heron is not on the federal Endangered Species list.  One reason its population has not plummeted like most other bird species is due, in part, to human intervention before it’s too late.  According to the American Bird Conservancy:

“Locally, the Great Blue Heron’s success often hinges on people’s interest in protecting their sensitive breeding colonies. Fortunately, in many areas, nesting colonies thrive where the birds and their stick nests are left alone during the months-long nesting season (https://abcbirds.org/bird/great-blue-heron/)”

While not yet endangered, Great Blue Herons are designated a Species of Concern by the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, requiring protective measures for their survival.  Furthermore, protecting the Post Point site is consistent with the goals and policies of the City of Bellingham Comprehensive Plan, Shoreline Master Program, Washington State Environmental Policy Act, Washington State Growth Management Act and the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
 
Want something more specific?  The heron nesting site has been designated a Critical Area by the City of Bellingham and is therefore protected under numerous provisions of the municipal code.  Check out BMC 16.55.200 for starters.

Now that we’ve briefly touched on the legalese of heron conservation, I bet you and I, and a whole lot of other Bellinghamsters (except perhaps those with open koi ponds), could agree that we would like to keep seeing the herons around town and on the shoreline.  If they’re foraging on the shore, that means there’s still something left there for them to eat, a good sign for the slow recovery of Bellingham Bay.

And Karen, do I conclude that you basically agree with Ralph about poor bang for our conservation buck, adding that the herons might abandon their Post Point nesting site after we create a protected reserve (gosh darn pesky unpredictable wildlife!)?  It is true that herons have been known to up and leave their nests without obvious provocation.  Most times, however, we know what has sparked abandonment and it has something to do with human disturbance or predation. In fact, it is believed that the Post Point herons chose their current location after being flushed out of their prior nesting site down behind the Chuckanut Gallery due to housing construction, which included destroying active nesting trees.

If, after creating a protected heron reserve at Post Point, the birds were to abandon the nesting site for whatever reason, science and experience tell us to wait to see if they return and re-occupy the site. This is precisely what happened at Post Point when the nesting site failed in 2008 and 2009 due to eagle predation, according to wildlife biologist Ann Eissinger who monitored the site from 2005 - 2020.  The birds came back in 2010 and have had successful nesting seasons since; the 2022 season is well underway with courtship, nest building, and incubation.

Besides, if the Great Blue herons were to leave their Post Point nesting site forever, the City of Bellingham would end up with some pretty nice real estate in Edgemore. Surely it could find another beneficial use for it, no?