Category Overview
Local Parks grants help protect these symbols of vibrant communities, providing places for families to gather and play and promoting a healthy and active lifestyle in an era when people spend increasing amounts of their time inside. The WWRP is the largest source of local parks funding in Washington, helping communities fund the acquisition, development, and renovation of vital recreation areas and green spaces.
Project Highlights
Island County will use this grant to buy 35 acres next to Barnum Point County Park. This request is part of a larger project to expand the 27-acre park to 129 acres, protecting nearly all of Barnum Point, an iconic waterfront landscape on Camano Island, and to give the public access to trails and more than a mile of Puget Sound beach, all with spectacular views. The land to be purchased includes the majority of a 2.5-mile forest and meadow trail network not accessible from the county park. It also connects the park to 30 acres being purchased by the Whidbey Camano Land Trust to add to the county park. The Barnum Point County Park expansion has outstanding public support, especially because 83 percent of the island’s shoreline is privately-owned and much of the publicly-owned shoreline is inaccessible high bank. The park will provide diverse recreational opportunities, including hiking, photography, nature viewing, swimming, fishing, non-motorized boating access, biking, picnicking, and beachcombing while preserving natural processes and critical marine and salmon habitats. Island County will contribute $893,875 in a donation of property interest and a grant from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.