Blanchard Mountain

By Lee Mann

Blanchard Mountain and all of the Chuckanut Range has been a part of my life since the 1950's. After my last afternoon class at WWSU, I would often grab my fly rod and trot up to Lilly, Lizard or one of the other lakes that dot the Chuckanuts to catch my supper. Most of the time I would not see another person on one of those forays and it was a great escape from a stuffy classroom on a spring day. I also figured that I was in good shape for bigger mountains if I could make it to Lilly in under 45 minutes.

That is the charm of the Chuckanuts It is the quickest escape I know of in an increasingly urbanized Northwest Washington! Yes, you can't make many trips these days without seeing other escapees, but it still serves the purpose of escape from our overly busy world. We must treat the area well because it is unique and more and more necessary!

I know the law mandates that school trust land must be managed in certain ways and schools are under-funded, but those laws were made when Washington was a frontier and trees were more of a hindrance than an asset. It is time for the legislature to fully fund schools as called for by our state constitution (but always ignored!) and provide equalization so that districts like Burlington can have programs that are comparable to those in richer districts. It's also time to take a long term view of the Chuckanuts!

Lee Mann

Lee Mann is one of Americas finest photographers . We would like to thank him for his support and for the use of his images on this web site. Please visit Lees web site at www.leemannphotography.com/.