Galbraith Trails In Jeopardy – We Need Your Help!

Our access to recreate on Galbraith Mountain in Bellingham is slowly being pulled away from us. Polygon, the current landowners inherited the Galbraith Mountain in 2010 during the financial crisis and have no interest in owning the property. The WMBC’s stewardship agreement has been revoked. This is serious. Currently, although there are many different ideas regarding ways to preserve Galbraith, we need to unite and show our support for the continued recreational use of the mountain. Local trail builder and cycling advocate Eric Brown has complied some ways for us to help.

What can we do?

• First, please go to www.preservegalbraith.org
• Second, fill out the basic form assembled on the site
• Third, rally your neighbors/friends to attend upcoming council meetings
• Fourth, “Like” Preserve Galbraith on Facebook to keep up to date on this topic.
• Fifth, email or call local politicians. PLEASE be civil and respectful in your commnents towards Polygon, but feel free to add personal touches to this email. They need to know that this is an important area for us.

Additional talking points to consider:

• If you’ve moved to Bellingham or Whatcom County or continue to live here due to the access to recreation/mountain biking, please not that in your letter.
• If you own a home or a business/employ people, then that’s also worth noting.
• Green space advocates and others who are concerned about the quality of the water we drink, please add your own notes on those topics.
• Seattle and Tacoma area riders, if you ride Galbraith frequently and also swing into one of Bellingham’s local restaurants, or any other businesses, please not that in your email.
• The economical impact of Galbraith Mountain to the Bellingham community is important.

Thanks for your support, and let’s preserve Galbraith Mountain for the next generation!

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The Future of Mountain Biking in Issaquah

In case you didn’t know, last fall the City of Issaquah formed a committee to study opportunities for expanding the opportunities somewhat inspired by the success of Duthie Hill  (http://www.ci.issaquah.wa.us/News.asp?NewsID=1822).  This new group, called the Issaquah Mountain Biking Task Force (IMBTF), includes both City Council and Park Board members, along with citizens who represent a broad range of interests, from cycling to environmental protection.

We have an opportunity to help and contribute to the future of mountain biking within Issaquah with an eye toward regional connections.

The topic of the April IMBTF Meeting is ‘Legitimizing a Mountain Bike Park through the City Permitting & Public Participation Process’. Featured guest speaker will be Carloyn Hope, the Senior Parks Planner for the City of Redmond, who will share her experiences with the development of a mountain bike park in Redmond, WA (http://www.redmondbikepark.com/HOME.html, video on project: http://rctv.redmond.gov/ondemand/efocus0910bikepark.wmv).

This is your opportunity for show your support  o

The meeting is April 25^th at 5:00 PM in the Issaquah Trails House, 110 Bush St, Issaquah near the community center.

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