Location:  Southwest side of Lake Louise Road
Size:  369 acres
Public Access:  Yes
Easement granted:  August 2002
Easement type:  Conservation
Grantees:  Whatcom Land Trust

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    In a scenario worthy of a detective novel, the history of the Olsen conservation easement includes a reclusive owner, missing heirs, and last-minutes discoveries. 

    Leila June Olsen owned the property for sixty years, and lived there as somewhat of a recluse.  She died in 1994 without leaving a will, and a long search turned up no heirs.  In such a circumstance, heirs have seven years from the date of death to claim the property, and if unclaimed, it passes to the Washington Department of Natural Resources.

    Just months before that seven-year deadline, a professional bounty hunter found three distant relatives, and for a 15 percent cut, told them of their inheritance. 

    Whatcom Land Trust was able to obtain an option to buy the property, which was then purchased jointly by Whatcom County and the City of Bellingham.  WLT retains the conservation easement to ensure protection of the property.

    This is a very important public acquisition because it protects a large block of land within the Lake Whatcom watershed and is nearly adjacent to the Stimpson Family Nature Reserve.  The property adjoins DNR land at its southwest corner.  Deer, coyotes, bear and smaller mammals are all seen in the area, as well as a variety of birds.

    The land is on the generally northeast-facing slope of Lookout Mountain.  Two large streams and several tributaries cross the property and flow into Beaver Creek.  Sporadic logging operations have removed most of the commercially valuable timber, leaving occasional mature conifers as well as younger alders, fir, western hemlock, western red cedar, big-leaf maple and native understory.

    A gravel and dirt road runs from Lake Louise Road up to a cell phone tower at the top of the mountain, gaining over a thousand feet in about nine miles.