A beloved trail in the Whatcom County backcountry now carries the name of one of the people most responsible for the fact that it exists as protected open space at all. The Whatcom County Council voted last month to rename the main trail at Canyon Lake Park to the Rand Jack Trail, honoring a conservationist who spent decades helping to preserve more than 28,000 acres of land across the county.
The renaming was approved by the council on August 11 and takes effect immediately. Jack, one of the founding members of the Whatcom Land Trust, is still active in conservation work and continues to sit on the organization's board. The recognition marks a rare moment when a living figure gets to see a piece of the landscape they helped protect bear their name.
Why Canyon Lake Park Is the Right Place
The choice of Canyon Lake Park for the tribute was deliberate and personal. Whatcom Land Trust Executive Director Rachel Vasak said that after spending months learning the details of Jack's long career in conservation, it became clear that this particular piece of land holds a special place in his history.
"As I've had the opportunity to learn a lot of details about the legacy of some of these incredible conservation stories from Rand, it's become very clear to me that out of all the good work he has been part of, this is the most special place to him," Vasak told reporters. "And a couple of former county park staff members and I started talking six months ago about the idea of doing something to publicly honor the conservation legacy that he's created."
Canyon Lake Community Forest, which includes Canyon Lake Park, sits in the foothills of the Cascade foothills in central Whatcom County. The park encompasses forested terrain, the lake itself, and the trail network that draws hikers seeking a quieter alternative to the more heavily visited areas near Mount Baker or Chuckanut Mountain. Vehicle access to the park and lake has been limited in recent months due to washout damage on the main access road, and Vasak noted that Whatcom County Public Works has been actively working to restore that access.
Trail and park maps, including current access information and parking details, are available through the Whatcom County Parks and Recreation website.
A Legacy Written Across 28,000 Acres
The scope of Rand Jack's conservation work is difficult to fully grasp without a map of Whatcom County in hand. As one of the founding members of the Whatcom Land Trust, Jack helped build an organization that has, over roughly four decades of work, placed conservation easements and acquired outright more than 28,000 acres of farmland, forest, shoreline, and wildlife habitat across the county.
Vasak listed some of the most recognizable properties in the trust's portfolio that Jack had a direct hand in protecting. The Stimson Family Nature Reserve, which protects forestland in the county's interior, is among them. So is the Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve, a shoreline preserve on the shores of Birch Bay that offers one of the most accessible views of the San Juan Islands and the Gulf Islands in the county. Lily Point at Point Roberts, the small American exclave at the southwestern tip of Whatcom County that can only be reached by land through Canada, is another.
The list continues. Galbraith Mountain, the forested peak above Bellingham's south end that has become one of the region's premier mountain biking destinations through a combination of conservation and recreation investment. Lake Whatcom Park, which protects the watershed that supplies drinking water to more than 100,000 Whatcom County residents. "You know, I could go on," Vasak said, and she meant it.
The Whatcom Land Trust was founded in the early 1980s during a period when sprawl pressure on agricultural and natural lands in the county was intensifying. Jack and the organization's other founders understood that voluntary land conservation, working with willing landowners to protect property through easements and purchases, could accomplish things that zoning regulations alone could not. The trust became a model for conservation organizations across the Pacific Northwest.
A Conservationist Who Also Carves Birds
Beyond his work in land conservation, Rand Jack is known in Bellingham circles as an accomplished woodcarver. His specialty is birds, and in 2024 a collection of his carved bird sculptures was displayed at Bellingham's Old City Hall, giving the broader public a chance to see the artistic work of a man most often recognized for his policy and advocacy work in conservation circles.
The combination of meticulous craft and deep attention to the natural world seems fitting for someone whose professional legacy is written in protected land. Both pursuits require patience, close observation of the natural environment, and a willingness to work at something over a very long timeline before the results become apparent.
Jack currently remains an active board member of the Whatcom Land Trust, continuing to contribute to the organization he helped found decades ago. The renaming of the Canyon Lake trail ensures that future hikers who may not know his name will encounter it in the landscape, prompting exactly the kind of curiosity about local conservation history that the gesture is meant to inspire.
Visiting the Rand Jack Trail
Canyon Lake Community Forest and the newly renamed Rand Jack Trail are accessible to the public through Whatcom County Parks. As noted, vehicle access to the lake area has been limited due to road damage from winter washouts, so visitors should check current conditions before heading out. The county's public works team has been working on repairs, but trail users should confirm whether the access road is open before planning a drive-in visit.
The trail itself winds through mature second-growth forest and offers a relatively peaceful hiking experience compared to the crowds that gather at Mount Baker trailheads on summer weekends. For residents looking for a hike that carries some historical and conservation weight alongside the usual natural beauty, the Rand Jack Trail is worth the trip into the county's less-visited interior.
For more information on Whatcom County parks and trail access, visit the Whatcom County Parks and Recreation page. To learn more about the Whatcom Land Trust's work and the lands it protects across the county, including opportunities to volunteer or support conservation efforts, visit the Whatcom Land Trust website. And for more coverage of conservation and outdoor spaces in the region, see earlier reporting on waterfront cleanup progress at the former Georgia-Pacific site in Bellingham.
