Roger Almskaar

Roger is a Land Use Consultant based in Whatcom County since 1981. His practice is primarily helping private parties analyze sites and obtain permits, eg short plats, zoning and shoreline/critical areas. Between 1981 and 2005, he was also a licensed Realtor 1981-2005; becoming a commercial broker in 1988.

He was a planner for Whatcom County from 1971-1981; mainly drafting the County's first Shoreline Management Program, adopted 1976, and administering regulations. He also taught credit classes in coastal zone management at Western Washington University, and taught middle school world geography and US history 1970-1971 in Monroe Washington. Roger obtained a BA from the University of Washington in 1969, majoring in history, with a minor in geography and several classes in geology.

Since 1981, he has been active in local and state-level land use and political affairs, first with the local and state Realtor associations, and now with Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights, and the local and state Building Industry Associations. Roger was a founder of the Whatcom chapter of CAPR in 2009, and is currently the President.

He has testified in front of government bodies at all levels, and has organized public meetings on land use and environmental topics. Roger ran and lost a non-partisan race for Whatcom County Council in 1991; he now considers himself a conservative with a "small c", and appreciates our precious heritage of civil rights more than ever, of which property ownership is key.

In 2009, the local builders association awarded Roger their Daryl McClelland Award and in early 2010 he received the local Realtor association's Partner of the Year award, for work on land use and related political issues. Since leaving county employment, he has served on several advisory committees, including the County's Critical Areas/Shoreline Update, 2004-2007.

Roger grew up in Seattle, and moved to 15 acres in Whatcom County in 1971 to get away from the urban congestion (not much then compared to today, after 20 years of "growth management"). He has 3 adult children, and lives in Bellingham. Other interests include music, reading (especially history, law, economics, and politics), maps, travel, boating, walking and hiking, and cross country skiing. Roger's mother's family moved to Snohomish County in 1902 and bought a farm; his dad emigrated alone from Norway at age 18.