What the Whatcom Enviroment Council wrote about opposing the disc golf course in Bellingham Dec 2025

Does this sound like a wildlife corridor and habitat for hundreds of birds (many mirgratory), amphibians as well as people waking their dogs, birders and families? Currently 2 trails intersect in this forest, we see deer every day along with hundreds of birds. This means for the 9 hole mini and 18 hole regular they will clear roughly the equivalent of 3 acres of vegetation and will require tree cutting.  What do you think will happen to the wetlands as the runoff from this course slopes to the wetlands.  These wetlands run directly into Lake Desire which is already struggling with water issues. The following was written by Whatcom Enviromental Council in opposition of a disc course in Bellingham in December of 2025; many of the same hold true for us.

"The language also claims the forest will remain intact once the “light footprint” course is 
installed and in use. This characterization demonstrates a lack of understanding about the 
effects of disc golf courses, which can be seen in Cornwall Park. (Fig 4-8).
The images below from Cornwall Park show clearly that a disc golf course results in an 
ecological desert of mature tree trunks surrounded by barren ground for 30-40 feet in every 
direction. Little underbrush or small trees survive the tramping of players looking for errant 
discs, players removing tree branches they find obstructing play, and pounding paths in the 
forest – in fact the Parks Department is now resorting to spreading truckloads of wood 
chips to cover the mud created along the course. The City Arborist told us that soil 
compaction from the large number of disc players has resulted in hemlocks dying, and that 
he will be restricting access to areas in Cornwall Park to allow for ecological recovery. 
What will the proposed Civic Field Forest disc course actually look like in the forest? 
First, imagine clearing nine swaths of forest, each one 15-40 feet wide by an average 240-
260 feet long. The disc golf industry guidelines recommended for various holes are as 
follows. 

By Par (PDGA Guidelines)
• Par 3: ~100-350 feet (shorter for beginner tees, longer for pro).
• Par 4: ~325-625+ feet.
• Par 5: ~475-1000+ feet.

The City’s proposed layout shows these disc golf course holes stretching nearly across the 
entire Civic Field forest, then zig zagging back and forth down the hillside toward the 
wetlands. The heart of the forest will be decimated with multiple cleared corridors.
It is generally acknowledged that some trees will be removed if they present significant 
obstacles to the disc throws. An estimated ten thousand cubic yards of organic debris will 
be torn out or disturbed during construction of the course, and heavy equipment required 
during construction will cause wider damage. But that’s just the beginning.
Players will immediately start expanding their negative impacts on the forest, as they chase 
lost discs farther into the woods and underbrush. That is how a situation like we have now 
at Cornwall Park is created. 
The Anacortes Parks Dept is experiencing this process firsthand, as disc golf players 
scramble off course, damaging the underbrush and organic material in Cap Sante Park, 
disturbing wildlife habitat, littering, threatening the safety of other park patrons, and 
creating bare soil zones subject to erosion. 
Is it just a few players, hence manageable impacts? The Bellingham disc golf group counts 
500 active members. They’ll all likely be eager to play a new course, and we think that 
pressure, and demonstrated negative impacts will inevitably degrade the forest at Civic 
pg. 8
Field to a shadow of its former self, with potential negative impacts to the wetlands and 
streams just to the north. "