20-acre Galbraith logging project temporarily closes access to mountain bike trails
Most of the trails near the south entrance of Galbraith Mountain, a popular Bellingham mountain biking area, will be closed for several week as a logging project in the area takes place.
Janicki Logging Company began logging in the area Oct. 29. Access to the trails "Last Call/Gate and Switch" will soon be closed and will remain closed for a week or two, according to Eric Brown, executive director of the Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition. He said 20 acres of land is being logged.
The operation was originally scheduled for December, but was rescheduled to begin in late October.
The 20 acres logged in the current project is on land belonging to Polygon Financial 05, an LLC. So far this year, about 40 acres of Polygon's property has been logged, along with another 65 acres of Janicki's property, according to Brown.
Janicki Logging and Construction bought most of the land on Galbraith in 2017 from Polygon Financial 05, although it still owns around 650 acres. Polygon 05 originally bought the land in a 2009 foreclosure deal with Trillium Corp., which is among the holdings of millionaire artist and Cascadia Daily News owner David Syre, who also developed Bellis Fair mall.
The city of Bellingham purchased a recreation and conservation easement in 2018 that ensures public access to the mountain. Prior to the easement, land owners had control over access. The easement does not regulate logging, however, and the mountain remains a working tree farm .
Brown posted a video to Facebook explaining the logging situation on Galbraith Oct. 24. Some comments on the video suggested the WMBC should push back against some of the logging on the mountain. Brown made a follow up video Oct. 29 stating he and the WMBC are happy with the current partnership.
"We have never had a partnership like we have with Janicki and Galbraith Tree Farm. We have a lot of autonomy and there is a lot of trust there," Brown said in a follow up video. "So just to remind everybody that we have this great partnership with Janicki."
