The proposal to create a parks district stretching from Bellingham to Bow may never reach the ballot, after a Whatcom County boundary board unanimously rejected the plan Thursday night.

Supporters of the Chuckanut Mountains Park District, which would tax landowners to preserve land from development, vowed to fight on, but the unanimous rejection was a major blow to their effort. About 100 people wearing stickers opposing the district applauded and cheered after the 4-0 vote by the Whatcom County Boundary Review Board.

“I hope this will be the end of this,” said Bob Rauch, vice president of the Burlingtonbased North Sound Conservancy, which organized opposition. “It’s disrupted a lot of lives.”

Bob Gibb, a member of the advisory committee formed to put the district proposal on the ballot, said the Whatcom board’s decision probably was illegal and the committee would challenge it. The decision denies citizens their right to vote on it, he said.

“That’s the part that concerns this old veteran,” he said. “I saw guys die, I’ve seen ’em die to preserve freedom and democracy.”

Residents of Skagit and Whatcom counties formed an advisory committee to support the 65- square-mile parks district, which they say is needed to protect the Chuckanut Range, the only place where the Cascades meet the sea and an area that’s considered an environmental jewel.

Opponents, many from Skagit County, said the district would be an unnecessary added layer of government that would have taxed them and could have taken their lands against their will.

District supporters gathered 2,470 signatures from residents inside boundaries of the proposed district, and in April 2007, the Whatcom and Skagit county auditors certified that was enough signatures to advance the idea. Since then, lawsuits have sprouted:

In December 2007, North Sound Conservancy and 16 individual residents sued the auditors, claiming signatures were fraudulently obtained and, for various reasons, shouldn’t have been counted.

In March, the Skagit County Boundary Review Board in a 4-0 vote rejected the Skagit County portion of the district (26.5 square miles). Backers sued in Skagit County Superior Court, appealing that decision. The suit is still pending.

The Whatcom County Boundary Review Board was told by the state to examine an environmental checklist and determine whether a full environmental review, called an environmental impact statement, would be needed to study a district’s potential impacts. The board asked for consultants to do that review, but no one showed interest.

In April, district backers filed a lawsuit in Whatcom County Superior Court to prevent the board from rejecting the proposal before that environmental decision. Last week, the judge allowed the board to vote on the proposed district before the environmental decision, which the judge had required by June 3.