Covid-19 affects the parks of the Point

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Meghan Kelly’s first season as the ranger of the Point’s four county parks is off to a very different start than previous years.

“I had to let go our camp hosts that have been here for many, many years, the thing that remained constant around here,” she said from her office at Lighthouse Marine Park. The campground did not open on April 10 as scheduled and Kelly said they would be following the lead of state parks as far as when the campground will open, as well as directives from the Governor’s office. Whatcom County parks camping facilities will stay closed until at least the end of May.

“Things seem to be changing every day,” Kelly said. While state parks closed to day use during April, county parks including Monument Park, Lily Point Marine Park, Lighthouse Park and Maple Beach have remained open with some limitations. The play structure at Lighthouse Park is closed for public health reasons but bathrooms at Point Roberts parks are open and sanitized regularly, Kelly said.

Improvements have been ongoing to other parks on the Point, including the completion of a one-mile round trip loop trail on the Cedar Point end of Lily Point Marine Park. Kelly said the bulk of the project was done in the January rain due to the availability of the county trails crew. “We were doing it in the rain, so it was not ideal,” she said. “We were rebuilding the trail as we went along.”

Kelly has worked as seasonal help in Point Roberts county parks for two years and spent nine months in 2019 as the program and facilities coordinator for the local parks district before taking over as ranger from Aaron Johnson in January. Kelly was replaced as coordinator at Point Roberts Parks and Recreation District by James McCollum.

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