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Whatcom County · WC-CP-2021 · Pages 1-35

Resource Lands

Chapter 8 identifies, designates, and protects Whatcom County's agricultural, forest, mineral, and marine resource lands of long-term commercial significance as required by the GMA. It establishes goals and policies to conserve these resource land bases from premature or incompatible conversion, support the viability of associated industries, and mitigate land use conflicts and environmental impacts. The chapter also sets designation criteria for mineral resource lands and agricultural protection overlays, and calls for creation of a marine resource lands section.

Resource Lands Economy Environment Governance

“Only 4 of 97 Resource Lands policies (4%) include a concrete, measurable commitment.” Real Record SAY vs DO analysis · Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan

About this analysis

Real Record applies the SAY vs DO accountability framework to every chapter of every Washington comprehensive plan we publish. Each policy in the chapter is read individually and scored into one of four buckets:

  • Measurable — the policy names a specific target, deadline, dollar amount, or action that can be verified later.
  • Strong — binding action language (“shall,” “will adopt,” “require”) without a measurable threshold.
  • Aspirational — encouraging or supportive language (“encourage,” “support,” “consider”) with no enforcement.
  • Monitor only — policies that commit to tracking or reporting but not to action.

The accountability score shown in the sidebar is the share of policies in the chapter that landed in the “Measurable” bucket. A score of 0–19 (red) indicates most policies use aspirational language without concrete accountability; 20–49 (orange) is mixed; 50 or higher (green) means the chapter is dominated by measurable commitments.

The underlying text comes from the official adopted comprehensive plan published by the Whatcom County planning department. Scoring is performed by Real Record analysts using a structured rubric; the raw policy text and bucket assignments are archived in the Real Record civic data warehouse.

Read the full methodology, sources, and rubric at Real Record · About.

What the Plan Promises
Formal targets adopted in the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan.
Maintain minimum 100,000 acres of agricultural land; APO development clustered on 20-30% of parcels 20+ acres in Rural 5A/10A zones; MRL designation requires minimum 1,000,000 cubic yards proven extractable material and minimum 20-acre site; notification to property owners within 2,000 feet for mining conditional use permits; marine resource lands section to be docketed for consideration no later than 2017
Goals (16 total)
  • Goal 8A: Conserve and enhance Whatcom County's agricultural land base for the continued production of food and fiber.
  • Goal 8B: Maintain and enhance Whatcom County's agricultural products industry as a long-term and sustainable industry.
  • Goal 8C: Preserve and enhance the cultural heritage that is related to agriculture.
  • Goal 8D: Reduce land use conflicts between Whatcom County's agriculture and non-agricultural landowners.
  • Goal 8E: Work with agricultural land users to find efficient and effective cooperative ways to protect and improve habitat of threatened and endangered species through education and incentive programs.
  • Goal 8F: Strive to ensure adequate water supplies to support a thriving agricultural sector.
  • Goal 8G: Support increasing Whatcom County's working forest land base and support policies that do not adversely impact the commercial forest land base.
  • Goal 8H (Forest Products): Support increasing the viability of Whatcom County's forest products industry.
  • Goal 8H (Land Use Conflicts): Reduce land use conflicts between Whatcom County's forest and non-forest landowners.
  • Goal 8J: Support the Department of Natural Resources to ensure forest practices avoid adverse impacts to the habitat of threatened and endangered fish and wildlife species and to marine waters that support shellfish resources.
  • Goal 8K: Sustain and enhance Whatcom County's mineral resource industries, support conservation of productive mineral lands, and discourage incompatible uses.
  • Goal 8L: Ensure mineral extraction industries do not adversely affect people and other properties in the vicinity.
  • Goal 8M: Achieve a balance between conservation of productive mineral lands and the quality of life expected by residents within and near rural and urban zones.
  • Goal 8N: Recognize the importance of conserving productive mineral and agricultural lands within or near agricultural zones without jeopardizing the critical land base for a viable agricultural industry.
  • Goal 8P: Maintain the conservation of productive mineral lands and productive forestry lands within or near forestry zones.
  • Goal 8Q: Support extraction of gravel from river bars and stream channels for flood control and market demands where adverse effects are avoided or minimized.
  • Goal 8R: Designate Mineral Resource Lands containing commercially significant deposits throughout the county to minimize construction aggregate shortages and balance with other competing land uses.
  • Goal 8S: Ensure that mining avoids adverse impacts to the habitat of threatened and endangered fish and wildlife species.
  • Goal 8T: Conserve and enhance Whatcom County's marine land base for the long-term and sustainable production of commercial and recreational economic activities.
Stronger Policy Language (48 policies in this chapter)
  • Policy 8A-5: Discourage conversion of productive agricultural land to incompatible non-agricultural uses.
  • Policy 8A-6: Require all requests for re-designation from agriculture to demonstrate that changed site conditions or circumstances have occurred since the original designation...
  • Policy 8A-10: The Agricultural Advisory Committee shall advise the Whatcom County Executive and Council on agricultural issues and agricultural land use. Whatcom County shall support the AAC with staff and other resources.
  • Policy 8D-2: Maintain the Right-To-Farm ordinance. Give priority to agricultural uses and owners of parcels zoned for agriculture priority in land use and nuisance conflicts...
  • Policy 8D-10: In the 'Agricultural Protection Overlay' on parcels 20 acres and larger with Rural 5 acre and Rural 10 acre zoning, require non-agriculturally related development to be clustered on 20 or up to 30 percent of the available land...
  • Policy 8G-9: Discourage inappropriate conversion of designated forest land to incompatible non-forest uses. It is the intent of this policy not to allow conversion of GMA designated forest lands...
  • Policy 8L-4: Where the county has jurisdiction, require reclamation of mineral resource lands to other compatible uses on an ongoing basis as mineral deposits are depleted.
  • Policy 8R-3: Allow mining within designated MRLs through a conditional use permit process requiring on-site environmental review, application of appropriate site specific conditions, and notification to neighboring property owners within 2,000 feet.
Show all 48 stronger policies
The four examples above are a representative sample. The remaining 44 stronger policies are catalogued in the Real Record civic data warehouse and indexed by policy number against the adopted plan text. See how policies are scored →
Aspirational / Monitoring Language (45 policies in this chapter)
  • Policy 8B-1: Promote the expansion and stability of local and regional agricultural economies.
  • Policy 8C-4: Encourage the use of programs that help beginning farmers buy productive farmland.
  • Policy 8C-5: Develop and support more programs to promote ag-tourism and ag-education to increase public awareness of the nutritional and economic value of agriculture...
  • Policy 8D-9: Encourage low intensity recreational activities that help sustain and are compatible with agricultural uses.
  • Policy 8E-3: Encourage the use of integrated pest management practices, including herbicides and pesticides, that protect water quality.
  • Policy 8G-6: Encourage and support the use of the Small Forest Landowner Forestry Riparian Easement Program to help small landowner's economic viability and willingness to keep the land in forestry use.
  • Policy 8H-7: Encourage the United States Forest Service and the Department of Natural Resources to implement harvest practices that maximize the use of forest lands while allowing appropriate multiple uses.
  • Policy 8M-5: Encourage mineral extraction operators in the county to voluntarily provide resource use information to nearby landowners, and to develop a good neighbor policy...
Show all 45 aspirational / monitoring policies
The four examples above are a representative sample. The remaining 41 policies in this bucket use language like “encourage,” “support,” “consider,” or “monitor” — phrasing that does not create an enforceable commitment. See how policies are scored →

SAY vs DISCUSS: Did this come up in meetings?

Real Record has not yet indexed any Whatcom County briefings tagged to this chapter’s topics. Browse all Whatcom County council and planning briefings to see related discussions in context.

View Whatcom County Briefings →