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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
June 11 - 17, 2020
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Free masks for local businesses, page 4
Therapy horses visit Stafholt residents, page 8
Sheriff Elfo on local law enforcement, page 14
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Asian giant Protected area more than doubles in size hornet found in Custer B y G r a c e M c C a rt h y
(See Hornets, page 3)
s A $915,000 grant will allow Whatcom Land Trust to purchase 54.7 acres of wetlands along California Creek upstream from Hillsdale Cemetery.
Photo courtesy of Whatcom Land Trust
Grant to protect 55 acres at California Creek By Oliver Lazenby 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.
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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 (See Creek, page 2)
INSIDE
The first Asian giant hornet discovered in the U.S. this year was found dead near Valley View Road in Custer on May 27, which testing later confirmed to be a mated queen on Tuesday, June 2. Karla Salp, public engagement specialist for the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), said the death of the mated queen means her colony will now be unable to survive. “It’s more information on the situation we’re dealing with,” Salp said. “It looks like a colony was able to reproduce and bring out new queens, meaning there are more nests to eradicate.” This is the third confirmed sighting of the world’s largest hornet in the U.S., about a 2-mile straight line from where the hornet was first discovered in October on Hoier Road in Blaine. The second sighting was in December, near the corner of Sweet and Stadsvold Road in Blaine. A hornet can fly up to 90 miles in a day, Salp said, but how far it travels depends on the amount of competition from other Asian giant hornets in the area and food resources. Salp said there is concern that the hornets could settle in unmanaged forested areas of Whatcom County where sparse human populations and areas of undergrowth could make it harder to detect the hornets. Scientists believe that the invasive species, scientifically known as Vespa mandarinia, arrived in North America last year in international trade cargo from eastern Asia. Three hornets have been reported in B.C., including the first one detected this year in Langley on May 15. Last year, a hornet was found in White Rock and a colony of about 150 live hornets and 600 unhatched larvae and eggs was destroyed in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. The hornets, also dubbed ‘murder hornets,’ can decapitate an entire honeybee hive within a few hours, creating a looming threat for public health and the state’s economy if established, according to WSDA. About eight WSDA employees are working to stop the spread of the Asian giant hornets, Salp said, but hundreds of com-
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