Ladies of the Lake

Location: South Lake Whatcom

101 acres, Lake Whatcom Watershed, Kokanee habitat, mature forest

In 2005, with the help of a generous donation from Bob and Pat Brown, California residents with close ties to Whatcom County, Whatcom Land Trust acquired this beautiful 101-acre farm and forest in the Lake Whatcom Watershed. To protect the privacy of the sellers, we refer to them as the Ladies of the Lake and treat some of the details of the transaction as confidential. The Ladies of the Lake met as members of that elite and daring group of young women who became Air Force pilots in World War II.  In fact, they bought this property thinking that the pasture might serve for landing airplanes as well as grazing cows.

In 1990, WLT became interested in the exceptional attributes of the Ladies’ property – a beautiful 30-acre pasture nestled in a small valley, 70 acres of tall fir, cedar, hemlock and maple trees, a clear stream flowing into Lake Whatcom.  WLT began off and on conversations with the Ladies of the Lake about purchasing their property.  Though the Ladies very much hoped the property would never be subdivided and developed, we were not able to work things out to serve everyone’s needs.  Then, in 2003, we got a call from Bob Brown saying that he and Pat wanted to do “something special” in the Lake Whatcom Watershed.  That phone call turned our attention back to the Ladies of the Lake.

 With a commitment from the Browns we were able to make arrangements that satisfied everyone.  A neighbor agreed to trade a right of first refusal on 40 acres of the Ladies’ property for a one-acre building right. The Ladies chose Starck Follis to represent them in the transaction. Starck’s legal assistant Mary Kay Loving quickly won the Ladies’ hearts when they learned that she, like they, cooked on a wood-burning stove. Through the Browns’ generosity, the Ladies received a cash payment, a monthly annuity for as long as they live, the right to live out their lives on the property and assurance that the property will never be subdivided and developed.

Now, houses, roads, garages and lawns will never invade this land cared for by the Ladies of the Lake for the last 50 years.  The land will forever endow our community with forest, fish, wildlife, clean water and a chance to experience a very special Whatcom County place.  Some day it will become a County park, a legacy to Bob and Pat Brown and to the Ladies of the Lake.