Hmm: what a fix for county listers to find themselves in. This may be a tough, and probably political,
question. The county boundary between Skagit and Whatcom was originally set by the territorial legislature
prior to statehood. RCW 36.04.290 (Skagit) and RCW 36.04.370 (Whatcom) both state that the boundary
follows the 9th. Standard Parallel, which is the line between townships 36 and 37. That line was run straight
west by the GLO, and it crosses the south end of Lummi Island. There was no curve in it at all. This would
clearly put Viti Rocks in Skagit County. The USGS 1:500,000 scale map (1982) shows it that way, with a
straight east west boundary. However, the BLM (which succeeded the GLO) maps and master title plats
show the county boundary curving to the south, around the south end of Lummi Island, which would
probably put Viti Rocks in Whatcom County. What to do? Does anyone know if the boundary had been
curved to the south of Lummi more recently than the statutes state? (There is indeed a court process in
state law to change a county boundary). Or, is it just a convenient line to define jurisdictions, such as for
taxes or law enforcement? Who would tell the shorebirds???


Date sent: Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:04:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: Gary Bletsch <garybletsch at yahoo.com>
To: tweeters tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] Viti Rocks

> Dear Tweeters,
>
> A birder up in Bellingham e-mailed me to say that Viti Rocks are in
> Whatcom, not Skagit. Birders here in Skagit have told me they were in
> Skagit, and I've always taken them at their word. Various maps show
> at least three very different curves to the county line in that area,
> two of which show the rocks being in Skagit.
>
> However, Skagit County's own website has a map that shows the Viti
> Rocks being in Whatcom, so I reckon they really aren't in
> Skagit--despite what people here have been telling me for quite some
> time. DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer is one of the places where the
> border is drawn wrong; the DeLorme map showing the incorrect border is
> on page 108.
>
> The link to Skagit's map is:
> http://www.skagitcounty.net/Gis/Applications/imap/asp/iMap.asp
>
> Rats! I guess I had 14 shorebirds in Skagit, not sixteen, and so my
> all-time best Skagit shorebird day is still stuck at 14! However,
> visiting these rocks is really very nice, even if they end up being
> transferred to Garfield County or Timbuktu, and I will just console
> myself with having obtained some nice Whatcom ticks for the day!
>
> Yours truly,
>
> Gary
>
> Gary Bletsch?Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County),
> USA?garybletsch at yahoo.com?Mentre che li occhi per la fronda verde
> ficcava ?o s? come far suole chi dietro a li uccellin sua vita
> perde, lo pi? che padre mi dicea: ?Figliuole, vienne oramai, ch?
> ?l tempo che n?? imposto pi? utilmente compartir si vuole?.??
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Jerry Broadus
PLS 17660