Cavorting Among Ancient Trees in an Old Growth Forest

There is a 700 acre stand of old growth forest sequestered in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains about 25 miles east of Bellingham WA, and about 10 miles west of Mt. Baker at the edge of the Mt.  Baker – Snoqualmie National Forest. I had long wanted to see and experience this ancient forest as it is one of the two largest such stands in the Pacific Northwest - the other being Grove of the Patriarchs in the Mt. Rainier National Park.  Around here old growth forest is revered as an endangered vestige of our natural world as it once was in the same way that other revered PNW icons, the Orca and the salmon are endangered.  And maybe for that reason, it is a good thing that this forest is not readily accessible to the public.

This “Canyon Lake Community Forest” is now co-owned and managed as a preserve by the Whatcom County Parks Department for the preservation and recreational maintenance and by Western Washington University which provides educational and research input to the forest.  As noted above, the Whatcom Land Trust which initially orchestrated the purchase holds a conservation easement on the property to assist in maintaining its educational value and future preservation.