Location:  Custer School Road
Size:  11 acres
Public Access:  No
Easement granted:  December 1998
Easement type:  Conservation
Grantees:  Whatcom Land Trust

    The mid-century home sits on a ridge, above the confluence of the north and south forks of Dakota Creek.  Behind the house, 100-year-old conifers soar above ferns and moss.  The spot is not only beautiful, but also provides riparian habitat for birds, beaver, deer and other mammals.  Steelhead and salmon head up the north fork of Dakota Creek to spawn further upstream.  Downstream, the merged creeks flow into Drayton Harbor, which is also a focus for preservation by the Land Trust.

    Owners Chris and Cathy Smith purchased the property in 1990.  Raised in British Columbia, but working in California for several years, Dr. Smith felt the pull of the green Pacific Northwest, and returned to the Blaine area.  The Land Trust considers this easement, along with two recent gifts of Drayton Harbor tidelands, as the first step to achieving permanent protection of this watershed and estuary system.