Gary Gehling was a developer that had a change of heart. In 1996, he and a partner bought 113 acres a few miles south of the Canadian border, where Maple Creek runs into the North Fork of the Nooksack. Their plan was to subdivide the property into 22 parcels and build houses. “It didn’t take us long to realize it wasn’t the best thing for the place,” says Gary. His partner didn’t quite see things that way, so Gary bought him out and then arranged for all but 25 acres to be transferred to a local land trust. Now Gary and his family enjoy daily wildlife sightings in their backyard, and they are finding alternate ways to sustain themselves on this land.

When the Gehlings bought the property, it was an old dairy in disrepair. “The first thing we did was start cleaning the place up. There were some old barns that were falling in and just tons and tons of trash,” Gary explains. A friend suggested that Gary contact the Lummi Nation about doing some restoration work on the creek and so he did.  He recalls, “They came and were very excited about doing a project up here. The streambed was nothing but reed canary grass. The grass forms a real dense mat and slows the velocity of the water and then starts silting in behind it.”

Taking advantage of a cost share program with US Fish and Wildlife, Gary had the Lummi Nation come to do restoration work on the creek. Gary comments, “It’s good that people can make a living doing this kind of work; the short-term gain is jobs, and over the long term there is a fisheries benefit.” Gary and his family did a lot of the work too, preparing areas for planting and gathering trees and willow cuttings that could be planted along the creek.

The original restoration project involved a 200-foot buffer strip along the creek and a 300-foot buffer along the river. While the river had a lot of trees, they were all hardwoods and there was no seed source for conifers. To address this, they planted conifers in the understory to speed up succession. “I think in that first year we planted 12,000 trees,” reports Gary. There have been more than 20,000 trees planted over the years. The idea is once the canopy grows in, it will shade out all the non-natives like reed canary grass. “I don’t think canary grass is going to go away,” says Gary, “but it at least it gives some native species a chance to come in.

Gary is clearly smitten by the wildlife that takes advantage of the restored Maple Creek. Spawning salmon are a main attraction for visitors and wildlife alike. “The kings come up in July; sockeyes come in shortly thereafter; cohos come in the fall,” he excitedly explains. “Pinks run every other year at the end of August; chums are in November and are around until Christmas. There are local rainbow trout and the steelhead come up when they feel like it. The riparian areas are like a highway for the wildlife, like a magnet. We see sign of bear just about every day. We see bobcat, elk, and cougar tracks along the river. There are otters, especially when the pink salmon are in. Otters will grab a salmon and take one bite where the gills are – which is a real fatty spot – and just toss it aside. You’ll see a pile of 20 or 30 fish with one bite out of them.” There are also rabbits, coyotes, and pretty much everything native locally. In the wintertime Gary and his family see lots of eagles. “I have counted 17 on the bridge when there are fish in there,” he says. Sighting Canadian geese and blue herons are a daily thing in season. Gary notes, “In the snow we watch bobcats for hours at a time, pouncing on voles in the field.”

The financial side of Gary’s revised plan for the property has not yet been as rewarding as the wildlife viewing. “We do intend to develop the place,” he explains, “and make it habitat for people and wildlife too, but it will be low impact where people are here on the weekend and go away the rest of the time.” Thanks to a simple web page, couples from across the country come here in the summer to exchange their wedding vows in a unique and spectacular outdoor setting. Local hotels, stores, musicians, and caterers have enjoyed the additional business the weddings generate. Gary and his wife Ellen plan to create some additional spaces so weddings and other events can occur year round. They are trying to get the capital together so they can have a building for workshops and conferences, and they’d like to do environmental education seminars, too. “I could go out and borrow money,” remarks Gary, “but I don’t want to. I think we are better off running this as a blue sky business with low overhead, because the overhead is what ties you into to having to deal with short-term profits. Everybody wants their short-term profits, including the banks. So you kind of have to be creative and come up with your own money.”

Gary realizes his plans will not bring the financial return that a housing development would have. But over the long term, as property with intact wildlife habitat becomes more and more scarce, he believes there may be opportunities to increase revenue from the land. “But I am not really looking at it in those terms,” he explains. “This is our home now, we are looking at how we can make a living without having to leave here.”

“We like providing a place where people can come out and enjoy wildlife habitat without being destructive about it.” he continues. “They can come out here and have a party and then they can go home. Everybody gets to see salmon spawning – they think that’s great, let’s save salmon! Education happens here without having to get all preachy about it – people see what federal dollars for salmon restoration are doing.”

Gary has given his place the name Nuqua’lum. It is the Salish name for the North Fork of the Nooksack River. “I found it in a local history book,” explains Gary. “I couldn’t say it the way they said it, it wasn’t a written language and it has been changed over the years. We had one of the Lummi elders out here for a ceremony and he said ‘that is close enough.’ They were honored that we would use their traditional name. I like to honor those who came before us.”

“In this dollar driven economy, short-term profits rule; any sustainable economy is more long term,” Gary says. “But you’ve got to do what you believe in. What is your place on the planet? What are you leaving behind? I am proud of houses I have built, but if they were here I don’t think I’d be proud. This is a special place.”