Whatcom County receives $4.9 million for recreation

Whatcom County parks and recreation projects have received nearly $5 million from the state Recreation and Conservation Funding Board but not one nickel of it will be spent in Point Roberts. Instead, it will fund 14 projects throughout the county.

Blaine will receive $500,000 to rebuild the beach at Blaine Marine Park to improve public access and create fish and wildlife habitat. The Blaine-Birch Bay park and recreation district will pocket $617,986 to purchase 12 acres on California Creek, increasing salt-water access and adding washrooms, kayak launch and more.

Point Roberts will get no money for park improvements.

Ferndale is getting $480,000 to develop and landscape a 10,000 square foot skate and bike park in Pioneer Park. It’s also getting $140,475 to create a parking lot and reseed a field at the Chuckanut Bay Athletic Association 17-acre site. Another award of $360,000 will go to building a 60-foot-long boat launch float accessible to people with disabilities.

Point Roberts get nada.

The Port of Bellingham will receive $500,000 to build a small watercraft launch and dock in Fairhaven. There will be an 80-foot-long gangway, breakwater and floating docks.

Point Roberts gets bupkis.

The East Whatcom Regional Resource Center in Maple Falls gets $350,000 for a multi-use sports court for basketball, pickleball and volleyball.

Point Roberts gets zip.

The list goes on: land purchases, conservation easements, backcountry snow ranger, landscaping, salmon restoration programs until $4,889,260 is spent.

And Point Roberts? It gets a big, fat, old nothingburger.

Correction: Due to an editing error, parks and recreation was capitalized in the original posting, thereby implying that the projects listed were under the aegis of the Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Department. This is incorrect – readers will note that the projects were attributed to a variety of public and non-profit entities. We apologize for the error.