Letters to the Editor: Oct.

The Editor:

Point Roberts has a good problem: More than $1.27 million is sitting in our Transportation Benefit District fund, and there are many worthwhile potential projects.

The fund has been around since 1991, as the one-cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline sold here. The challenge has always been finding projects that both qualify as transportation improvements and provide lasting value to Point Roberts.

I would like to suggest one: Re-establish an old two-track road along the west borderline of Lily Point Park, adjacent to the ravine at the end of Cedar Point Avenue, as a multiuse trail and emergency-access road.

The attached map (below) is simply a concept drawing I made years ago while proposing trails at Lily Point. The heavy dotted line illustrates the old west-border route and how it might function today.

The project could accomplish three things with one investment.

First, it would provide a useful walking and cycling connection between Cedar Point Avenue and APA Road, adding a keystone piece of an alternative transportation network our community has long talked about developing.

Second, it would provide emergency vehicle access to the northern part of Lily Point. At present, reaching someone injured along the bluff or shoreline can be difficult, and wildfire access into this part of the park is similarly limited.

Third, a maintained corridor along the western edge of the forest would give firefighters an important access and fire-control route between Lily Point and the neighbouring residential area. With hotter, drier summers becoming increasingly familiar, wildfire preparedness is a new necessity of infrastructure planning.

There is another important consideration.

Lily Point — or Chelhtenem — is important to Coast Salish peoples, who inhabited Point Roberts long before it became a political entity. The waters of Chelhtenem supported a regionally-important reef-net salmon fishery and seasonal village sites in a complicated history that pre-dated, and informed, Alaska Packers Cannery, 9,000 years later.

Any work at Lily Point should respect that history from the beginning. Before clearing or engineering a route, PRCAC and Whatcom County should invite the Lummi and Tsawwassen first nations to participate in the planning and implementation. Their involvement could help protect archaeological and cultural resources and inform our understanding and appreciation of this place long into the future.

A short trail from the north end of this corridor down to the beach could also create a wonderful Lily Point loop — through the forest and along the bluff in one direction and back along the beach to the existing access trail.

The fund gives Point Roberts an opportunity to build something with lasting value. This project could advance walking and cycling, emergency access, wildfire preparedness and stewardship of Lily Point's cultural history with one carefully planned investment.

I hope PRCAC will consider this suggestion and ask Whatcom County Parks, Fire District #5 and the appropriate Coast Salish nations to evaluate its feasibility.

Michael Rosser

Point Roberts

The Editor:

This letter concerns the Nautical Thief stealing crab traps in Point Roberts. 

My family have been cabin owners on the Point for nearly 100 years. When I was a boy, I used to walk around to Lily Point at low tide with a stick and a potato sack and search for dungeness crabs in the eel grass. In recent years, we have put crab pots offshore from our cabin in late August. 

This year, I put two clearly labeled stainless traps out on the Labour Day weekend. The buoys were marked with EDGE (the first four letters of my last name) and our phone number.

Unfortunately, both traps were stolen and our family were not able to enjoy our traditional crab feast. I’m sure the thief had an accomplice with him in his boat when he did the dirty deed. 

Someone must know who they are! Are there no ethics on the water anymore? Our family is very disappointed and out the cost of buying new traps.

Allan Edgeworth 

Point Roberts