Cuts likely in Lummi Island ferry service

John Stark has the story in the Bellingham Herald:

Lummi Island residents may need to get used to less ferry service and higher fares, no matter where the ferry docks after the current Gooseberry Point lease with Lummi Nation expires Feb. 14.

That was the message from Whatcom County Council President Sam Crawford on Tuesday, Feb. 2.

Crawford said the county and Lummi Nation are still negotiating the terms of a possible new lease of the Gooseberry Point dock, which has linked the island’s roughly 1,000 permanent residents to the mainland for decades. While continued operation of that dock remains the county’s preference, county officials also are working out a deal to allow the island ferry to dock at the Port of Bellingham’s Fairhaven cruise terminal, in case no deal can be struck with the tribe on a new lease for Gooseberry Point.

Read more