The records of the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee span the years from 1953 to 1969, and document the activities and concerns of a group of citizens living around Lake Whatcom, Washington. The records were compiled by the head of the Lake Whatcom Executive Committee, Dr. B.J. Gilshannon, a resident on Lake Whatcom. The committee began when the Whatcom County Health Department and Whatcom County Planning Departments proposed that a sewer district be formed for Lake Whatcom area residents. Residents responded by forming the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee. Committee records end when their compiler, Dr. B.J. Gilshannon, sold his home and moved from the Lake Whatcom area.

Records include incoming and outgoing correspondence spanning the period 1953 through 1969, the bulk of which is dated between 1964 and 1967.  Correspondents include Whatcom County Commissioners, Whatcom County Departments of Health, Education and Planning, local, state, and federal politicians, consulting engineers and lawyers.  Letters are arranged chronologically.

Statements and resolutions dated 1957-1969 outline some of the fundamental concerns of the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee, as detailed and presented to entities such as the Washington State Pollution Control Commission, Whatcom County Board of Commissioners and the Bellingham City Council.

Records pertaining to Projects and Activities document efforts by the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee to secure grant funding for water quality testing projects and Lake Whatcom sewer programs. In addition to drafts of petitions (mostly undated), and meeting and conference materials gathered by committee members, the collection contains draft contracts for water quality and limnological testing projects undertaken in cooperation with Western Washington State College or contracting engineers.

Publications and Writings include draft reports and papers produced by B.J. Gilshannon. Publications by outside contractors include the "Lake Whatcom Planning and Engineering Study: Preliminary Plan" (1967), and “An Engineering Report on Lake Whatcom Utility and Pollution Control Investigation” (1968). 

Whatcom County Regional Planning Council records include correspondence with the Lake Whatcom Improvement Committee, minutes from the Council's meetings, and various planning proposals and programs dated 1966-1967.

The collection also contains a large number of newspaper clippings dating between 1964 and 1969, reference materials  (including articles and pamphlets regarding water quality and pollution control at Lake Whatcom) and a scrapbook of clippings and correspondence.