Location:  Canyon Creek, in Sections 30 and 25
Size:  93 acres
Public Access:  No roads or trails
Easement granted:  March 1999
Easement type:  Conservation
Grantees:  Whatcom Land Trust

    Believed to be the first conservation easement of its type donated by a timber company, this 2.5 mile long corridor was protected by Crown Pacific Corporation a year after the company sold a 2300-acre tract known as Canyon Lake Creek Community Forest, to Whatcom Land Trust.  This additional riparian corridor easement protects the forest and stream habitat in a swath reaching at least 200 feet on either side of the creek.  Not only does it set boundaries broader than required by regulation, the easement also prohibits all cutting within those boundaries.  Regulatory stream setbacks usually allow some cutting within the setback area. 

    Over 460 trees were tagged to mark the borders of the easement.

    The property lies within a deep ravine, and follows the flow of Canyon Lake Creek as it leaves Canyon Lake.  The elevation ranges from 800 feet at the western edge of the property to approximately 2300 feet, at the eastern edge of Canyon Lake Creek Community Forest.  Portions of the terrain are very treacherous.

    Forest within the riparian corridor includes Douglas fir, western red cedar and some western hemlock.  Red alder and big-leaf maple are present in some areas, and the understory consists mainly of younger deciduous trees, Oregon grape, sword fern, and smaller native plants.  Rocky outcroppings are typically sandstone or met sedimentary rock.

    Although Canyon Lake Creek is not a salmon spawning stream, its protection assures that water flowing from it into the Nooksack River is cool and silt-free.  The easement also provides a wildlife migration corridor from the creek basin to other public lands.