---

2008 Priorities for a Healthy Washington

- By Kerry McHugh of Earth Share organization Washington Environmental Council

Each year Washington's environmental community comes together to select four legislative Priorities for a Healthy Washington. By joining together, the groups that make up the Priorities collaborative are better able to advance ambitious goals in the legislature and make a difference for Washington’s land, air, and water.

This year’s Priorities encompass legislation to get our state on track to meet its goals for reducing global warming pollution, to make our communities denser and more climate-friendly, to protect and restore our urban forests, and to invigorate local farms while providing healthier food for kids.

The community is already hard at work - helping create coalitions, educate legislators, and engage environmental advocates to build support for the Priorities in the lead up to the 2008 legislative session which begins on January 14th.

Below is a look at the four Priorities for a Healthy Washington. If you’re interested in more in-depth coverage of a particular Priority go to http://www.environmentalpriorities.org to learn more.

Washington Climate Action
Earlier this year our state set goals to reduce global warming pollution. This Priority will create a structure and timeline for making these goals real. Taking action in 2008 is crucial to make progress on this important issue. Foot-dragging at the federal level is a problem, and we can take action at the state level to lead the nation toward solving this global challenge. Responsible limits on climate pollution will establish Washington as a strong leader in the clean energy economy, increase energy independence, create good new jobs, and deliver a better future for our children.

Local Solutions to Global Warming
About half of our state’s global warming pollution comes from transportation. We need to address this factor if we are to make significant headway. This Priority will help local governments make responsible plans about where we live, how we get around, and consider how those choices can reduce global warming pollution. With the dramatic population growth expected in our state, we must make responsible decisions - now - so we can reduce driving and promote efficient, livable communities.

Evergreen Cities
Since 1971, we have lost almost half of the urban forest land surrounding Puget Sound, which increases air pollution and stormwater flow, and costs the tax payers billions of dollars. Proper forest planning, management, and stewardship are necessary to reverse this trend. Keeping existing trees and planting new ones enhances quality of life for people, increases property values, gives us cleaner water and habitat for birds and wildlife, and will make Washington's cities evergreen.

Local Farms - Healthy Kids
This effort addresses two major challenges facing our state: concerns about the diet and health of our children and the well-being of our small and mid-sized farms. By connecting local kids with local food we get great Washington produce to schools and can improve children’s health. By creating vibrant demand for local food, we help stimulate local agriculture, which helps to keep working lands working.

Get Involved
There are many avenues if you are interested in helping pass these four Priorities -- two great opportunities are our annual Legislative Workshop (January 12th in Seattle) and then 2008 Lobby Day (January 23rd) where people from around the state come to Olympia to make their voices heard in the Capitol. For more information and to register, please go to Priorities for a Healthy Washington web site -- www.environmentalpriorities.org.

Washington's Winter Habitat Supports Birds of Many Feathers

- By Hilary Hilscher of Earth Share organization Audubon Washington

So what does January offer Washingtonians keen for some nature-oriented, outdoor excitement?

Just about the best winter birding in the country.

Whether you’re west or east of the mountains, whether you know an owl from an oystercatcher, whether you have a few hours or a few days, the Great Washington State Birding Trail can guide you to places where our feathered neighbors thrive outdoors in January.

Not only are many avian species all decked out in their most spectacular plumage of the year, many are also gathered in huge flocks – in some cases thousands, even tens of thousands, of individual birds all in one place.

What, exactly, is a “birding trail”?

Birding trails, now found in more than 20 states, are usually self-guided driving trips, though some include biking, walking, canoeing and kayaking segments.

The Great Washington State Birding Trail, produced by Audubon Washington together with many private partners and public agencies, was one of the first in the country and features the state’s 365 resident and migratory species. The initial route, the Cascade Loop, was published in 2002, followed by the Coulee Corridor, and the Southwest and Olympic Loops. Three more maps will complete the statewide trail by 2010.

With nearly 50 million people in America describing themselves as interested in bird watching, birding trails have become big business nationwide. Birding trails and their birds attract visitors to primarily rural locations, which spurs economic development and gives local residents increased incentive to safeguard the natural areas around their communities and region.

What hardy avian critters would you find along Washington’s trail in January?

Sun Lakes State Park along the Coulee Corridor, near Coulee City, features dense concentrations of waterfowl: American Coots, Ruddy and Ring-necked Ducks, wigeons, mergansers and scaups. As the lakes freeze from the edges inward, the birds crowd together in the remaining open water – which makes for spectacular viewing.

The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge just north of Olympia is highlighted on both the Southwest and Olympic Loop maps because of its wealth of year-round birding. But winter offers some of the best: Watch Peregrine falcons, merlins and bald eagles as they for meals among the 6,000+ waterfowl gathered in ponds and fields.

Two other sites along the Southwest Loop provide excellent winter birding plus adventuring: Cape Disappointment State Park with its breaker-washed, craggy coast; lighthouse; and Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center; and Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, which is home to as many as 15,000 cackling Canada geese, plus Sandhill cranes, and trumpeter and tundra swans.

Speaking of swans, three of the Cascade Loop’s sites in the Skagit Valley offer reliable and accessible swan watching, plus giant flocks of snow geese and occasional snowy owls. This area also boasts the largest winter aggregations of bald eagles outside of Alaska.

Looking for loons? At the Elwha River Estuary outside of Sequim on the Olympic Loop, you can find wintering common, Pacific and red-throated loons, plus seven species of gulls and red-necked, eared and Western grebes. Goldeneyes sport stunning tuxedo plumage while Harlequin ducks present a breath-catching crazy-quilt design.

The full-color maps of the Great Washington State Birding Trail feature original artwork of birds along the routes, plus descriptions of habitat, species, access, and best seasons for birding. Go to http://wa.audubon.org/birds_GreatWABirdingTrail.html to see the maps online and to order.

---

Can Saving a River Make a Difference for Climate Change?

- By Michael Mayer of Earth Share organization Washington Environmental Council (WEC)

Water and Climate Change. Two of the most pressing environmental issues of our time. Readers of The Earth Page know how important each is if we are going to protect and maintain a livable Washington for future generations. You know, for instance, that if climate change continues unchecked, it will alter the crops we can grow, reduce our winter snowpack, and damage our temperate forestlands. You also know that water is a limited resource throughout the state and that water scarcity is increasingly a dominant issue for people concerned about fish habitat, irrigated agriculture, or population growth.

Climate change in Washington will also undoubtedly further impact rivers and streams if temperatures continue to rise over the next century. This concern adds a layer of urgency to WEC’s efforts on water issues. Our rivers - already suffering from excessive water withdrawals - will only suffer additional stresses if we don’t turn the corner on climate change. But there are other less obvious ways in which the two issues align, and more importantly there are solutions that will help us make progress on both.

As awareness about climate change grows, people are becoming more sophisticated about their energy use. By now, most people understand the need to insulate homes, use compact florescent bulbs when possible, and drive cars less. But water use plays an important role in energy consumption too. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that around 8% percent of the nation’s energy use is employed just to pump, treat, and heat water.

If you live in a city, think about the water that comes out of your faucet or garden hose. It has likely been pumped out of the ground or a river, treated to meet drinking water standards, and piped to your home. Once it runs down the drain or into a sewer, it is pumped to a wastewater treatment facility, purified again, and pumped into the ocean or nearest river. Energy is consumed at each stage.

In addition, all of us use up even more energy to heat, cool, and use that water in our homes and businesses. According to the EPA, in most cities this is the greatest water-related energy cost. And the agency provides a telling example: running a hot water faucet for five minutes is equivalent to a 60-watt bulb burning for 14 hours.

In Washington, Seattle has been a pioneer in water conservation efforts. Over the past quarter century, the city has grown from just under 1 million water users to approximately 1.3 million. Yet instead of a 30% increase in water use, total usage is lower today than it was in 1975. This result has not occurred by accident. Due to the city’s ongoing investments in conservation efforts - including rebates for efficient appliances, changes to the plumbing code, and pricing designed to discourage waste - both residential and commercial water use has steadily dropped.

The progress made in Seattle shows us, we can do more. Being efficient and conserving water keeps more in our rivers, streams, and aquifers, lowers energy use, and can save homeowners and businesses money. It’s the smart thing to do, and we know how to do it.

For water conservation tips and updates on our Water for Washington and Climate Change campaigns, check the WEC website and sign up for our email GreenTree Action Network at www.wecprotects.org.

Why MLK Day matters for environmental organizations

- Submitted by Earth Share organization EarthCorps

Everyone can be great, because everyone can volunteer for their community. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In January, EarthCorps kicked off its 2008 volunteer season with the MLK Weekend of Service. EarthCorps grew from hosting one event, as in previous years, to hosting an entire weekend of service projects aimed at restoring urban forests in the Seattle area. This increase came about as part of a nation-wide effort promoting MLK Day as a “day on, not a day off,” as authorized by the US Congress in the 1994 King Holiday and Service Act. Over 500,000 Americans honored Dr. King’s legacy by participating in service projects in their communities. Here in Washington State, employers are catching on to the idea of giving employees MLK Day, not as a holiday, but as a paid day to engage in community service – and this spells opportunity for organizations that can combine their volunteer events with the principles of non-violence and civil rights that Dr. King espoused.

Civil Rights and Parks

For EarthCorps, this meant focusing on projects and partnerships in ethnically diverse communities and especially parks near the route of the MLK Day March on MLK Way in Seattle. Volunteers began the weekend of service on Saturday at Dr. Jose Rizal Park on Beacon Hill. There, volunteers pulled ivy while enjoying a unique view of downtown Seattle, Puget Sound and the International District. Their work contributes to reducing crime, drug-dealing and illegal encampments in the park, by showing that the community cares for this public space. Volunteers that day included a Brazilian delegation of the World Affairs Council.

On Sunday, volunteers joined EarthCorps and King County Parks and Recreation to help complete Phase I of the restoration of White Center Heights Park. They planted 110 Red Alders and Big Leaf Maples and 250 bare root Slough Sedges. A wetland species, these sedges had to be planted one-by-one by hand in frigid waters. White Center Heights Park has in recent years received a lot of attention beginning with its Starbucks Ultimate Park Makeover. The volunteers’ work was important in continuing the momentum started by this makeover.

On Monday, hundreds of volunteers gathered at the Cheasty Greenspace in the Rainier Valley. Once neglected and overrun by invasive plants and rubbish, Cheasty Greenspace is seeing a rejuvenation as an urban greenspace. A new walking/running path winds beside the road, and as trees have been freed from their heavy capes of ivy, the area is taking on a less creepy, more welcoming appearance.

In total, EarthCorps worked with 268 volunteers in restoration projects totaling 1,079 volunteer hours. Volunteers pulled one acre of invasive species and maintained half an acre of previous work sites. These projects contributed to healthier forests and wetlands, and most importantly, they have concrete social value in allowing neighbors to improve the quality and safety of recreational areas close to their homes.

In 2007, EarthCorps worked with over 11,000 volunteers; based on the MLK Weekend of Service, the 2008 volunteer year looks to be just as successful.

40 Days of Nonviolence - Building the Beloved Community

In addition to the physical service, EarthCorps partnered with Service for Peace to host a fair to promote community service and Dr. King's legacy of community engagement. Sixteen community organizations hosted tables at the fair, promoting their cause and interacting with community members face-to-face. The 300 fair attendees learned about nonviolence and Dr. King's Beloved Community. (This is a vision of a socially just society that Dr. King described, for example, in his “I Have a Dream” speech.) Over 100 people signed a pledge to practice nonviolence for 40 days – boycotting violent speech, actions and entertainment - to honor the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination. The pledge included a commitment to volunteer with a group or organization that helps build the Beloved Community. Anyone can pledge online at www.40daysofpeace.org.

EarthCorps is a non-profit organization founded in 1993 with a mission is to build global community through local environmental service. Visit www.earthcorps.org to learn more or volunteer.

New Seward Park Audubon Center Opening Soon!

The Seward Park Environmental & Audubon Center, a partnership between the City of Seattle and National Audubon Society to renovate the historic building at the entrance to Seward Park and create a nature education center, will soon be offering programs for the youth and families of Seattle. The Center successfully raised over $3 million to restore this landmark building and provide a community facility that includes classrooms, a library, a learning lab, exhibits, and a small nature store. Doors will open starting this spring and the Grand Opening is scheduled for April 10-13!

The Center’s flagship programs focus on middle and high school students, but will also have youth, family and community programming, including nature-themed walks, citizen science, summer camp, lecture series, nature art exhibits, workshops, performances, and annual celebrations. Many programs include a stewardship component or service learning component to help students understand their role in caring for our public park lands.

Two of the Center’s premier youth education programs that will begin this spring are Talking Tree and Eco Explorations. The Talking Tree program is a delightful introductory environmental presentation for young children that addresses how trees and people are dependent on each other and emphasizes the need to plant and help care for trees. A costumed Seward Park Audubon staff, naturalist, or volunteer will discuss trees, the importance of trees, and the comparison of trees to people. The Talking Tree is geared to students kindergarten and below in individual classes.

The Eco Explorations field trip program brings students deep into Seward Park for field study, investigation, and hands-on exploration of Seward Park ecology. Eco Explorations’ fun and educational programs teach the large scale concepts of chemistry, food chains, systems, ecology, habitats, and ethnobotany by exploring the ecosystems at the park: the old-growth forest, the oak savannah, and Lake Washington. All lessons are designed and assessed to meet 5th through 12th grade Washington State Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) and Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs).

Heading into summer, the Center will offer six one-week sessions of fun and exciting camp. Day camps for students entering 5th–8th grades will explore arts and the environment, outdoor adventures, and nature science. Camp sessions are July 7-11, 14-18, 21-25 and August 4-8, 11-15, 18-22. Sign up for summer camp at Seward Park starts March 5!

The Center, a project of Audubon Washington, is located at 5902 Lake Washington Blvd S, Seattle, WA 98118. Once open, hours of operation and store hours will be Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Program hours will vary. For more information, see http://sewardpark.audubon.org. To get on the Center’s distribution list, call (206) 652-2444.

My Grandfather's Legacy

- By Anna Fahey of Earth Share organization Sightline Institute

In 1930, when my grandfather was just 19, he drove with his mother from Seattle to Mt. Vernon, Washington, and stood on the county courthouse steps, anxiously watching as a handful of land auction buyers gathered around him. With little money in his pocket, he knew that if anyone else in the crowd intended to bid on the parcel he'd come for, he would walk away with a broken heart.

It was his luck--and our family's great blessing--that only he had come that morning to purchase land on Cypress Island. Part of the San Juan island archipelago in the Puget Sound, Cypress is an island that he'd fallen in love with as a kid. That day nearly 80 years ago, he paid 50 dollars down on nearly 100 acres. That land would anchor our family and shape all our lives.

Recently, I stood with my grandfather--now 97--a few blocks from the same courthouse steps as he, my dad and I signed a conservation easement--another down payment, if you will--that continues our stewardship of that land into the future. A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust to permanently limit certain land uses to protect a property's natural characteristics in perpetuity. The easement stays with the land even if ownership changes. Perpetuity is a big word, but this contract is meant to last. Our signatures that day made concrete our conviction that the place is not something to possess, rather a place that we have a responsibility to take care of and a legacy we want to leave intact.

Cypress is a magical spot. The Northern Straits Salish have lived in these parts for more than 11,000 years. A few homesteaders scratched out orchards and gardens on the rugged landscape in the 1890s--but didn't last long. There are a few private cabins on Cypress today. But the island has come through the years largely untouched. It is the biggest undeveloped island in the San Juans--without ferry access, paved roads, or much human impact. Parts of the island have been logged; the forest on the majority of the island today is magnificent and healthy 100-year-old second-growth.

People who know the island, either by exploring its rocky beaches, hiking to panoramic views from Eagle Rock, or circumnavigating it in a kayak, develop a fierce loyalty to it. My family, along with other landowners and concerned neighbors, spent decades working to protect the island's integrity. Starting in the 1960s, developers bought up most of the island, proposing subdivisions and extensive development. Plans were lined up for a 5-star resort that would take up three quarters of the island, including a golf course, air strip, and marina. Overnight, Cypress could have been transformed from a pristine gem to the most densely populated island in the San Juans.

Citizen action and visionary state leadership saved Cypress from that fate. In 1975, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources purchased its first parcel on Cypress. In the late 1980s, the DNR's mandate changed slightly: the state could hold especially unique or fragile land without logging it. These special places are managed as a "public trust" for the benefit of current and future citizens of Washington State. Cypress qualified. By 1996, on the 5,500 acre island, DNR had acquired 4,700 acres.

The easement process led my family to some unusual dinner-table conversations. There was no question about our intentions: To keep the place just as it is. But thinking through the details forced us to imagine the world in 10, 50, 100 years--and beyond. We wound up working through tough questions--and facing tough realities--about our hopes and fears for our family and our region.

This conservation easement is small in the face of larger concerns -- climate disruption, population, economic stability. But any family would benefit from conversations like the ones we had, imagining the world we'd like to leave behind. Because we're all responsible for protecting our grandfather's stake--or whatever place our souls call home.

Anna Fahey lives in Seattle and is the Communications Strategist for Sightline Institute. She wishes to thank her dad, Nick Fahey, for "leading the Friends of Cypress Island for all those years," Bob Rose and the Skagit Land Trust for unflagging "dedication to conservation," and her grandfather, George Fahey, for "being as visionary at 19 as he is wise at 97.

Clean Marina Washington Celebrates Milestone, Goes Statewide

- By Chris Wilke of Earth Share organization Puget Soundkeeper Alliance

In August 2007, the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance-sponsored Clean Marina Washington program officially completed two years as the recognized statewide environmental certification program for marinas as it proudly announced the certification of the 30th marina under the program. The program is based on, and continues to work closely with, the EnviroStars program, which certified its first marina in 1995.

The Clean Marina Washington program certifies marinas that take comprehensive steps to prevent pollution from marina and boating activities including fuel spills, boat maintenance, sewage disposal and stormwater. Clean Marina Washington now has 32 certified marinas, including public and private marinas, full service marinas, yacht clubs, military facilities and marina-resorts. Washington's strongest asset is the seven-member partnership created for the program which includes business interests, government agencies and environmental advocates.

Thanks to a recent Department of Ecology Public Participation Grant, Clean Marina Washington is now funded to operate the program statewide. Even though it has always been a policy to respond to interest throughout the state, this new funding insures that staff will be visiting marinas in every region of the state and offering assistance to marinas that work towards pollution prevention. New aspects of the program include a Dockwalker program to increase boater outreach and a bilgewater collection pilot project to increase the availability of facilities for the proper disposal of oily bilgewater.

For a list of certified marinas and partner organizations go to: www.cleanmarinawashington.org

If you would like more information on the program or would like to get involved as a "Dockwalker" contact Chris Wilke at 206-297-7002.

Short Session, Big Wins: 2008 in Olympia

Numerous Earth Share of Washington organizations were active in the short 2008 legislative session, addressing a broad range of environmental issues from local solutions to global warming to promoting sustainable transportation to protecting children from toxics in toys and other products. Here is a summary of just a few success stories this session:

Washington Toxics Coalition - Children's Safe Product Act
After the Senate's 40 to 9 approval of the Children's Safe Product Act on March 7th, the House concurred a few days later with a vote of 92 to 2. At press time, the bill was on the Governor's desk awaiting signature.

"This is a significant victory that will protect children from dangerous chemicals in toys and other products," said Ivy Sager-Rosenthal, Environmental Health Advocate for Washington Toxics Coalition. "This bill is the strongest in the nation and will serve as a model for others to follow."

The bill received critical support from doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, especially in the final days leading up to its passage. The final bill includes the following:

• The strongest lead, cadmium, and phthalates standards for children's products in the nation.
• Requirements for state agencies to identify other chemicals potentially present in toys and other children's products that could harm children's health.
• Critical right-to-know provisions that will provide consumers information on toxic chemical content of toys and other products.

Transportation Choices Coalition - Promoting Sustainable Transportation
Transportation Choices Coalition convened a group of progressive transportation interests with the goal of combining resources behind a short list of legislative priorities for 2008 and a powerful lobby day to capitalize on their political strength. They arrived at five top-priority issues for the 2008 session. Check out their successes:

• Reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT): Tools for a Sustainable Future - As part of the governor's Climate Advisory Team process, decreasing VMT was a "most promising" strategy at reducing greenhouse gas emission and easing congestions on our freeways. The Reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled proposal in HB 2815 will: Set initial state benchmarks to reduce per capita VMT, giving regions tools to succeed and launch a collaborative process to clearly identify key strategies to achieve VMT reduction.
• Transportation Education for Kids & The Matthew Tatsuo Nakata Act - Our local neighborhoods and communities thrive when we all have the opportunity to get around in ways that are healthy and safe. Named for the Seattle City Council aide killed in November by a motorist while crossing a West Seattle street, the Matthew "Tatsuo" Nakata Act (HB 2564) was passed by the House 73 - 22, and the Senate 45 - 2. It would add pedestrian and bicycle safety to the basic minimum curriculum for driver training.
• Local Solutions to Global Warming - The choices made in local land use and zoning plans have a huge impact on global warming emissions. SB 6580, which was approved by the House 58 - 35, and the Senate 30 - 18, will establish a competitive grants program for local governments leading planning efforts; will provide tools and technology to achieve their goals of significant climate reductions; and will launch a stakeholder process to make recommendations for policy changes necessary for local governments to reduce their climate impacts.
• Tolling: Stronger Vision, Pro-Transit Policies - The legislature built a foundation for tolling policy in this year's HB 1773, which was approved by the House 60 - 33 and the Senate 29 - 19. The bill is consistent with our stated principles including:
  • The featured role of variable pricing to achieve reliable movement of people and goods
  • Authority to reinvest tolling revenues into transit service and capital, demand management, better transportation choices, and safety and maintenance in the corridor
  • Consideration of social equity, environmental, and economic issues, as well as making progress towards greenhouse gas reduction goals.

NW Energy Coalition - Boosting Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is the cleanest, cheapest and most abundant source of energy available. Recent studies suggest that energy efficient efforts can slash our global warming carbon emissions by half. And energy efficiency makes good fiscal sense, with potential utility bill savings for homeowners and local governments totaling millions of dollars. With this in mind, NW Energy Coalition and other clean energy advocates and environmentalists supported state legislation this year aimed at saving money and energy for Washington consumers and businesses, while cutting climate pollution.

Three pieces of energy efficiency legislation passed out of this year's legislature and have been signed by the Governor. The bills were a fraction of the total package of energy efficiency bills introduced, but are a step forward.

A big win for clean energy and low-income advocates, the passage of SHB 2847 provides sales and use tax exemptions for low-income weatherization materials and services used by community action agencies. The tax relief will encourage more weatherization of low-income residents' homes, cutting energy use, and lowering utility bills.

SHB 3120 requires the Washington State Department of Community Trade and Economic Development to conduct a study on tax incentives intended to encourage green building. The study will be presented to the legislature December 1, 2008. It's hoped that future legislation to encourage green buildings will emerge from this report.

Finally, the small business B&O tax credit, HB 3362, will help small businesses afford certain highly energy efficiency appliances, such as freezers, washing machines, and ovens.

Recent studies have shown that we can meet all new demand for electricity through 2018 with energy efficiency and renewable energy. To meet the Governor's climate goals, we must continue to meet all new demand with clean energy and will need to replace an estimated 7,000 megawatts of obsolete fossil fuel power plants in the region with renewables and energy efficiency. NW Energy Coalition will continue to support and encourage State policies that promote energy efficiency as a mechanism that reduces energy use, consumers' utility bills and climate-changing pollution.

To find out more about the 2008 legislative session, please visit the Priorities for a Healthy Washington website - www.environmentalpriorities.org

Rugged Mailbox Peak Trail Feels the Pressure

- Submitted by Earth Share member organization Washington Trails Association

One of the Puget Sound area's most challenging day hikes, Mailbox Peak near North Bend, is in for a long-overdue facelift.

Mailbox Peak is not typically the sort of hike that is chosen for the casual hiker's easy outing. The summit, which has an actual mailbox at the top, is reached by a rugged trail that climbs three miles and gains over 4000 feet, sometimes at a grade as steep as 40%. The steep, rugged character of the trail makes it one of the most difficult hikes in the I-90 corridor. Mountain climbers, local hikers and even fire fighters have lugged heavy packs up and down for conditioning for decades.

But as the trail's popularity has increased, so have the erosion and resource damage along the trail. Trail braiding, exposed tree roots and steep sections have resulted in broken ankles and lost hikers, leading to more search and rescue missions on Mailbox.

In early April, the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will be working with volunteer trail crews from Washington Trails Association (WTA) to improve safety and resource damage along the trail corridor, starting with the first mile of trail.

"There's an allure to Mailbox Peak that has brought far more hikers to its summit than ever before, and the trail is in dire need of some emergency fixes," said Jenni Blake, Trail programs Director for Washington Trails Association. "Volunteers are pitching in to provide a more safe, enjoyable experience for Mailbox Peak's visitors while also helping to prevent further erosion and natural resource damage."

Located on land managed by Washington's DNR, the Mailbox Peak trail's origin dates all the way back to the 1950s. The name "Mailbox Peak" was coined in 1991 by hiker Sally Pfeiffer in a trip report published in WTA's monthly publication, Signpost magazine, because the summit register was located in a heavy green mailbox.

DNR is presently focusing its efforts on the user built Mailbox Peak trail, focusing on trail safety for hikers as well as preventing further resource damage along the trail corridor. One of the first things they'll do to increase safety along the trail is to put a kiosk at the bottom of the trail and a sign warning hikers of the difficult nature of the trail, which will happen in late April. They also plan to further define the trail with white diamond markers as hikers go up and down to prevent people from getting off trail. Later this summer, Washington Conservation Crews will make emergency repairs to the upper half of the trail.

To join a volunteer work crew on the Mailbox Peak trail, contact Washington Trails Association at 206-625-1367 or www.wta.org.

Patience Rewards Wild Sky Wilderness Supporters

By Tom Uniack, Washington Wilderness Coalition

On Tuesday, April 29 the U.S. House passed a package of bills that included designation of the Wild Sky Wilderness.  The bill now goes to President Bush for his signature. (Editor's update)

My grandfather always told me, "Good things come to those who wait."  For the thousands of local stakeholders, elected officials and Washington citizens who have been working for the better part of the last decade on the proposed Wild Sky Wilderness, those words are taking shape.

Wild Sky is the result of almost nine years of work by Senator Murray (D-WA), Representative Rick Larsen (D-WA02), and advocates across Washington State.  Murray and Larsen first introduced the bill in 2002.

"Turning the dream of Wild Sky into reality has been a

long, hard climb, but with Senate approval today, we are just steps away from our goal," Senator Murray said.  "Wild Sky will give more than 2.4 million people from Snohomish, King, and Skagit counties easy access to hiking and camping in pristine wilderness for generations to come.  It will preserve a unique environment, and it will give nearby towns an economic boost." The bill now goes to the President for approval.

The Wild Sky Wilderness Act would protect 106,000 acres of forests, rivers, valleys and mountains in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.  Much of this area is in low elevation forest, allowing easy access for recreationists and protection of vital habitat for wildlife.  Permanent protection of this diverse landscape is important to ensure the ecological future of fish and wildlife throughout the region, to safeguard world-class recreational opportunities, and to bolster the economies of local communities.

For more information on the Wild Sky Wilderness proposal click here or read an article from the Seattle Times

Historic Agreement Signed to Restore Manastash Creek

By David Gorton, Washington Environmental Council

In December 2007, a wide range of interests signed an agreement to restore Manastash Creek a tributary to the Yakima River near Ellensburg. After six years of negotiations farmers, environmentalists, tribal staff, state agencies and others have signed an agreement that will lead to both a restoration of the creek as well as provide the water needed by local farmers.

A big part of this story is how far the negotiators have come -- six years ago, on farms outside Ellensburg the tension was palpable. The potential of a looming law suit was real. Yet, the desire to get to better place was felt by all. And over time the adversaries put down their guard, sat down to talk, and slowly built trust.

"It is with a mixture of relief and great pride that the Manastash Steering Committee will announce and sign an historic agreement," said John Arum of Washington Environmental Council. "We hope it can serve as a model for successful resolution of water conflict throughout the state."

The agreement will maintain the irrigation needs for local farmers while improving instream flow, screening irrigation diversions, and removing barriers to fish passage.  In all, it will open up 30-miles of formerly inaccessible high-quality habitat in the Wenatchee National Forest.  As climate change reduces the water available to Washingtonians, agreements like this one are crucial to protecting streams and fish as well as safeguarding working agricultural lands.

It's hard to put it better than the Yakima Herald-Republic, which said of the agreement, "What grew from those early, uncertain days is now seen as a model for resolving the complicated and contentious fish and irrigation issues that exist throughout the state and the region."

Snow, Sleet & Sun: Hundreds Celebrate Earth Day 2008

Volunteers Step Up To Save Our Sound!
By Mike Sato, People For Puget Sound

Puget Sound is healthier today, thanks to the efforts of hundreds of volunteers who volunteered at 8 restoration sites along Seattle's Duwamish River, at the Swinomish Community near LaConner, and at the Union Slough restoration site near Marysville.

The volunteers weeded out invasive plants, planted native plants, mulched and cleaned up trash as Puget Sound Earth Day 2008 unfolded April 19 under skies of snow, sleet and sun.

At Codiga Park, one of 8 Duwamish Alive! work sites where about 200 volunteers gathered to weed, plant and mulch, the 27-member Duwamish Alive! Coalition received the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coastal America Award for outstanding national volunteer conservation service.

The presentation included Ron Sims, King County Executive, Virginia K. Tippie, Director of Coastal America, and Timothy R.E. Keeney, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. Kathy Fletcher, Executive Director of People for Puget Sound, accepted the award for the 27 partners, many of whom were on hand to collect their commemorative plaques.

An estimated 800 volunteers turned out this year at the 8 sites during Duwamish Alive! At Codiga Park, volunteers came from Highline Community College, Boeing, Starbucks, Nova High School, O'Dea High School, Everett High School, Puget Sound Business Travel Association, City of Seattle, Washington Department of Ecology, Rainier Scholars, Boeing Employees Credit Union, and Arnold Air Society.

In the first two years of Duwamish Alive! Earth Day cleanups, over 1700 volunteers removed over 2 acres of invasive weeds, spread over 180 cubic yards of mulch (about 18 dump truck loads), planted more than 1,000 plants, and removed 325 pounds of garbage at 11 sites.

Continuing through Earth Month and beyond is the "10 Simple Things To Save Our Sound" pledge drive for Sound Citizens to do their part to Save Our Sound-"Click here":http://pugetsound.org/primary/act/citizen/simplethings

Get Outside, Have Fun and Do Good: Special Events Section

The weather is starting to cooperate with your desire to get out and have some fun this Summer, but what should you do and where should you go? Earth Share of Washington has selected a few of our favorite events that are not only a total blast, but help support local environmental groups in the process. For a more complete list of Summer activities see http://www.esw.org/events

TrailsFest serves up a jam-packed day of outdoor adventure
Date: Saturday, July 19
Time: 9am - 4pm
Location: Rattlesnake Lake, North Bend
www.trailsfest.org

Presented by Washington Trails Association, TrailsFest is a hands-on event for all ages, providing families and other adventurers with a fun and safe environment to explore the outdoors. This outdoor extravaganza features clinics on everything from wilderness first aid to hiking with kids to backcountry cooking. Attendees can take a guided hike, tie a fly on, climb a rock wall, try out a new s’mores recipe, or hang out with packgoats. There will be dozens of exhibitors, including gear companies and outdoor groups.

Presenters include Craig Romano, author of Day Hiking - North Cascades, the author of Freezer Bag Cooking and Hilleberg the Tentmaker will present a clinic on smart packing and learn how to take less, still be comfortable and safe, and have lots more fun!

If you’ve got kids, don’t leave them at home. They can paddle a canoe, try their hand at fly-fishing, take a hike with goats, and sign songs around the campfire. There will also be a treasure hunt for children, and lots of kid-friendly booths and activities.

TrailsFest is your passport to the great outdoors this summer, and admission is free! Rattlesnake Lake is a fantastic setting for Trailsfest, with a small mountain to hike up, the lake for watersports, and plenty of room for other activities. Parking is tight so carpooling is strongly encouraged.

To get to TrailsFest, take I-90 to exit 32, then turn right on 436th Ave SE. Follow this road 2.7 miles to Rattlesnake Lake.

For more information on TrailsFest: (206) 625-1367 / www.trailsfest.org.

Summer Youth Challenge from EarthCorps
Date: Saturday, July 1 - Aug. 31
Location: All around the area
The grand finale is August 31st featuring a concert by Dave Matthews at the Gorge
www.earthcorps.org/volunteer.php

EarthCorps Summer Youth Challenge runs from July 1 - August 31 and the challenges youth and adult volunteers to give an astounding 25,000 hours of service in just two months! These environmental service projects in forests, streams and mountains benefit urban, suburban and wilderness areas.

Activities include volunteer events, a Mt. Rainier Ice Cream Hike, a Mt. Adams Climb, and concludes with a Matthews Concert, August 31 at The Gorge.

Getting muddy for Puget Sound: Bivalve Bash and Mud Run
Date: Saturday, July 19
Time: 10:00 am -9:00 pm
Location: On the water off Chuckanut Drive, between Mount Vernon and Bellingham

Bring your family, friends and neighbors and share some food and fun. Learn more about the Bivalve Bash. $5 Entrance Fee (Kids 6 and under free) Activities for all ages. Oyster shell sculptures, Mud Run, Kid’s Beach, great food, beer garden, local bands, dancing, contests and games. Scenic beach setting.

The Mud Monster is out there! Perhaps you’ve seen him lurking on your neighborhood beach, or crawling around a low-tide mudflat. Maybe you’ve spotted him at a community festival with his Mud Buddies. Or maybe you’ve seen a T.V. ad, spied a billboard or heard a radio spot promoting MudUp. These ads and the Mud Monster have a common message: We can all help make Puget Sound a healthier, happier place by getting involved. And MudUp.org is a great place to start.

So visit MudUp.org and check out the Activities Calendar. You’ll find kids events, walks, talks, celebrations and restoration projects all over the Sound.

Click here to watch the ads, see a few upcoming events and connect to the real MudUp!

Le Tour de Fat is Back - Bicycle Alliance
Date: Saturday, August 2, 2008
Time: 10:00 am - 7:00 pm (gather 10:15 am for 11:00 am bike parade; beer garden opens at 12:00 noon)
Location: Gas Works Park on north Lake Union - 2101 N Northlake Way, Seattle, WA 98103 (next to Burke-Gilman Trail between Meridian Ave N and Densmore Ave N in Wallingford, just east of Fremont)

Grab your bike and slip into your alter-ego because New Belgium’s philanthropic cycling circus Tour de Fat is coming back to Seattle. Costumes and decorated bikes reign supreme as the participants come for a casual ride, good music, good food and lots of great and varied entertainment, then stay, of course, for the beer. Amid the hoopla and fun, Tour de Fat also raises money for the Bicycle Alliance and Bike Works.
Admission to the Tour de Fat is free. Tell your friends, mark your calendar, and design your costume (optional… come as you like!).

Please come and join in to help support the Bike Alliance and Bike Works and have fun in the process. If interested in volunteering, please contact King Cushman to volunteer at: k-kcushman@comcast.net

Give Your Car the Summer Off

Many Earth Share partners are working with the City of Seattle to help reduce our carbon footprint as part of Seattle’s Climate Action Now (CAN). This summer, as a way to engage the public in a fun way, we are encouraging people to “Give Your Car the Summer Off.”

Transportation is one of the city’s biggest sources of climate pollution, and with gas prices climbing, there’s no better time to leave the car by the curb and choose a better way to go. Residents are encouraged to reduce their personal driving by 1,000 miles annually - about 20 miles a week. One thousand fewer miles will save 1,000 pounds of climate pollution.

As part of the campaign, the city has arranged some incentives including discounts at favorite recreational destinations. To find out how you can get involved, visit www.seattlecan.org, and take advantage of the following programs.

· Giving up the car: The city’s “Way to Go” program offers incentives for cutting a few car trips a week, commuting differently, and parking or selling your car.
· Heading to summer events: Seattle are partnering with many of the city’s summer events to encourage people to use transit, bike, walk, and carpool.
· Saving green by going green: Many of the city’s premier businesses and attractions such as Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle Art Museum will be offering discounts to folks who don’t drive. By promising to take transit, carpool, walk or bike to one of the city’s business districts or community attractions, you’ll receive discounts or reduced admissions.
· Climate Action Now In-a-Box: This party-pack will contain everything you need to host a small neighborhood gathering where you can plan climate-friendly transportation projects.
· Car-Free Days: We’ll be opening up some of our city streets to bike and pedestrians.

Reducing climate pollution starts with you. Give your car the summer off.

EarthCorps Wins Alfred P. Sloan Award

EarthCorps was named a winner of the 2008 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility today, distinguishing the employer as a leading practitioner of workplace flexibility in Seattle and across the nation.

The Sloan Awards recognize organizations that are dedicated to making work “work” for both the employer and the employees. Representing employers of all sizes and all types, winners of this prestigious award not only offer excellent workplace flexibility practices, but they also use flexibility as a strategic business tool to enhance organizational effectiveness while also benefiting employees.

Congratulations to EarthCorps for earning this distinquished honor!

Local Solutions to Global Warming

With the state’s population expected to increase 15.6 percent by 2020 (according to the U.S. Census Bureau), we know choices made in local land use and zoning plans will affect our quality of life. They will also affect climate emissions. Earth Share of Washington member group, Futurewise, spearheaded the successful effort to pass Local Solutions to Global Warming this past legislative session. The bill represented a critical first step toward addressing the impact of land use decisions on climate change, and positions Washington to make major policy improvements in the next few years. Here are examples of how the program will work on the ground.

State Level Action
The bill requires a report back to the legislature about additional reforms to the Growth Management Act to significantly reduce global warming pollution. Over the next year, Futurwise will work with cities, counties, and other stakeholders to ensure local governments are making smart choices that reduce driving and meet the growing demand for green, walkable communities.

Local Government
In Washington, we are lucky to have many local governments that acknowledge the important role they play in addressing climate change. From Auburn to Washougal, thirty-two of Washington’s cities have signed on to the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Local jurisdictions representing nearly 70% of the state’s population have committed to major reductions in their global warming pollution.

Spotlight on Tacoma
For the past year, the City of Tacoma has convened a Green Ribbon Climate Action Task Force to come up with recommendations for methods of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts. Meanwhile, Futurewise is working with local partners like Friends of Pierce County to encourage Tacoma to prioritize these actions so that it can both reduce its emissions while simultaneously enhancing the city’s livability.

Safe & Active Routes to School

By Ellen Aagaard - Bike Commuter Mom Extraordinaire

As a mother of young children, it’s hard to stay active. Toddler pace isn’t exactly a strenuous workout. Life revolves around nap schedules, school drop-off and pick-up times, extra-curricular activities, work, and meals. Fitting in daily exercise takes time - exactly what mothers lack.

Ellen Aagaard has found a way to get back into shape, and still be time efficient. A self-identified “bike commuter mom,” Ellen Aagaard started biking with her children to school once she received a bike trailer as a gift. “It made it possible to get the kids to school on time since we live a mile and a half away. Now I’m totally committed to the active start to the day!”

She’s convinced that choosing active transportation to get to school, to the grocery store, to church, to meetings, and to run other errands is the way to stay fit. “If you can do the active transportation thing, exercise just becomes part of your daily routine.”

Until two years ago, Ellen’s zeal for active transportation focused on her own family. But after attending a Seattle School District workshop which Feet First organized on Safe Routes to School, she came back energized to start her own Safe & Active Routes to School program at Laurelhurst Elementary.

As a Parent Teacher Association (PTA) board member, Ellen immediately recognized how her PTA could be invested in the idea. “Safe Routes to School programs hit three major components of PTA goals. It promotes health and physical activity, issues of safety around the school environment, and is a natural way to foster school community. That’s fundamentally what PTAs are all about.” She set to work as a cycling and pedestrian advocate in her children’s elementary school and began organizing parents through her PTA connections.

Ellen’s activism has paid off. Laurelhurst Elementary has seen a 75% increase in active transportation over the course of this past year. There are noticeably fewer cars during drop-off and pick-up times, especially during her Walk a Block, Bike to School Month, and International Walk to School Month campaigns. During the months of September and October of this year, Ellen counted between twenty and thirty-five bikes each day; three times the number of bikes parked last year.

“I hear practically every day, ‘I love what you’re doing!’ I really feel like I’ve made a difference in the community and for me that’s even more rewarding than the statistics.”
You can contact Ellen Aagaard directly to learn more about Laurelhurst Elementary School’s Safe and Active Routes to School success at ellaag@yahoo.com

2008 Pro Bike / Pro Walk Conference

Hundreds of people dedicated to developing and supporting bicycle and pedestrian friendly communities will convene to meet others and learn from experts on a wide range of topics at the 2008 Pro Bike / Pro Walk conference, sponsored by the City of Seattle and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.

The Westin Seattle will be the headquarters for the September 2-5, 2008 event. Attendees have opportunities to get out and see first-hand examples of the facilities and programs that are making Seattle and the Puget Sound models for the roles bicycling and walking can play in our 21st century communities. Seattle is the only American city to host the conference twice; the Puget Sound region is recognized for making progress and leading other regions in efforts to support community bicycle and pedestrian programs, and the National Center for Walking and Bicycling is calling out the region by again hosting the conference here. In particular, the City of Seattle’s creation and plans to implement a Bicycle Master Plan has drawn national attention.
Conference participants include bicycle, pedestrian, active living and climate change advocates, elected and appointed officials, bicycle and pedestrian specialists, transportation experts, land-use planners, safe routes to school coordinators, public health practitioners, and many more who want to make our cities and communities more walkable and bicycle-friendly places.

To learn more about this conference, visit the National Center for Biking and Walking website. Conference registration is on-line.

And even if you miss registration, you still have an opportunity to attend by helping as a volunteer. The Bicycle Alliance is one of the hosts, and coordinating volunteers for a variety of roles. Contact the Bicycle Alliance of Washington at www.bicyclealliance.org or Board member King Cushman at k-kcushman@comcast.net

Puget Sound's Spring Clean Report

The Problem with Litter
Litter is more than unsightly. Animals can mistake small bits of plastic for food. In addition, discarded nets, and rope can ensnare or strangle wildlife. This is the same problem that has created the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” - an area in the central North Pacific Ocean halfway between California and Japan that accumulates incredible amounts of floating trash. This patch is said to be the size of Texas, and growing.

These bits of plastic do not biodegrade, instead they photo-degrade, which means that sunlight helps break them down into smaller and smaller bits of plastic that enter the food chain. To add to the problem, plastic also lasts decades or longer in the environment. The Puget Soundkeeper’s Alliance (PSA) volunteers and partners are stepping in to make a difference.

The most popular projects for businesses, school groups or clubs involve a waterway cleanup. Our waterways are collection points for all types of solid waste in addition to toxic stormwater runoff. Cleaning up trash is something that anyone can do, and the sight of a large pile of debris that has been removed from a waterway is very rewarding at the end of the day.

Sponsored by institutions as diverse as the Port of Everett, AVEDA and Gary Manuel Salons, Safeco, and Washington Mutual, the early months of 2008 saw an unprecedented interest in cleanup projects from area businesses, organizations and clubs.

Click here for upcoming volunteer events to keep the sound clean.

The Western Climate Initiative and Why it Matters

By Kerry McHugh, Washington Environmental Council

This summer, action in our state on climate change is heating up. Citizens are getting organized and making their voices heard, while Governor Gregoire’s Climate Action Team is making recommendations on issues ranging from green building to reducing vehicle miles traveled. A lesser known group called the Western Climate Initiative
(WCI) is working on climate emission reduction at the regional level. The WCI is made up of seven Western states and four Canadian provinces working together to reduce our region’s output of global warming pollution. Because these jurisdictions are home to over 80 million people, and because the WCI is considering policies that could be the most advanced in North America, it could set the stage for big steps forward in climate policy.

During the summer of 2007, the WCI set overall global warming pollution reduction goals. It recently released initial recommendations for how to achieve those goals through a market-based mechanism (better known as a cap and trade system). Throughout this process, WEC and partner organizations have advocated for the strongest design by providing feedback as the process has moved forward.

A cap and trade system could be a major step forward in our fight against climate change, putting a price on global warming pollution and turning our economic engines towards reducing that pollution. However, it has to be done right.

Doing it right means pollution permits under a cap and trade system are auctioned – not given away to companies for free. The point of the system is to make sure that it’s economically smart for companies that are pumping the most pollutants into the air to change their behavior and by doing so, save money. We also need to include pollution from transportation in the initial cap and trade system. Transportation produces half of Washington’s global warming pollution, so ignoring it leaves us that much more work to do in the future. Finally, the system should be set up to benefit the public, not corporations. That means investing revenues in programs to benefit low and middle income consumers, green jobs training, and energy efficiency programs.

A cap and trade system is not a panacea to our climate ills, but it is an important step in the right direction. WEC and its partners plan to continue to engage in the WCI process and advocate for strong climate action.

Wild Sky Backers Celebrate Washington’s Newest Wilderness

By Tom Uniack, Conservation Director for Washington Wilderness Coalition

More than 200 people gathered at REI’s flagship store in Seattle to celebrate the designation of Wild Sky as Washington’s newest wilderness area. The evening was focused on celebrating the work and dedication of Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Rick Larsen, other local elected officials and countless community members, businesses and organizations that helped make the preservation of Wild Sky Wilderness possible. Washington Wilderness Coalition organized the event along with the core group of conservation and recreation organizations and individuals that have led the Wild Sky effort over the past 9 years. Limited edition prints from Snohomish Artist Roy Hughes were presented Congressman Jim McDermott and representatives from the offices of Senator Maria Cantwell and Representatives Jay Inslee, Norm Dicks, Dave Reichert, Adam Smith and Brian Baird, who co-sponsored the legislation.

As part of a short program, 60 conservation staff and volunteers were honored with one of two awards recognizing their significant contributions to making the Wild Sky Wilderness a reality. The Mt Baring Award recognized individuals for their participation in the Wild Sky Working Group over the past nine years, while the Paradise Meadow Award recognized other contributions such as writing letters-to-the-editor, ground-truthing roads and trails or organizing key supporters.

WWC’s Conservation Director, Tom Uniack, recognized a number of key local stakeholders who endorsed the Wild Sky proposal and attended the event. They included local elected officials like former Index Mayor Kem Hunter and Index City Council Member Bill Cross, former Gold Bar city council member Steve Higgins and Bellevue city council member John Chelminiak. REI CEO Sally Jewel, Mountaineers Books Publisher Helen Cherullo and Wild Lily Bed & Breakfast owner Barak Gale (Index, WA) represented the business community. Other stakeholders in attendance include Mike Reedy and Bob Shonka from Backcountry Horsemen of America, Washington Chair of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Gregg Bafundo, Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington Director Paul Benz, American Whitewater Board Member Jennie Goldberg and Republicans for Environmental Protection Policy Director Jim Dipeso

Audubon Report on Common Birds in Decline Echoed Worldwide

Growing Threats Include Logging, Invasive Species & Agriculture

A new international report entitled State of the World’s Birds reveals precipitous declines in populations of many of the world’s most familiar birds, broadening the alarm first sounded in the U.S. by Audubon’s 2007 Common Birds in Decline analysis.

The BirdLife report highlights avian losses worldwide. A staggering 45% of common European birds are declining, and on the other side of the globe, Australian wading birds have seen population losses of 81% in just quarter of a century. In Latin America, the Yellow Cardinal - once common in Argentina - is now classified as globally Endangered.

Citing the 2007 Audubon report, BirdLife’s State of the World’s Birds report states that populations of “Twenty North American common birds have more than halved in number in the last four decades.” The Northern Bobwhite fell most dramatically, by 82%. As documented in Audubon’s first State of the Birds report in 2004 and reinforced in this report, “Some of North America’s fastest declining birds are grassland species whose habitat has been damaged by agricultural expansion and intensification.”

More than half of the bird species that breed North America and winter in the Neotropics show declining populations over the past 40 years. To help combat this problem, Audubon’s International Alliances Program was founded in 2006. It establishes connections that can make a difference across the Western Hemisphere. Audubon protects many wetlands and grasslands on the major flyways, by working with BirdLife to designate and protect Important Bird Areas. The global effort identifies and conserves areas vital to birds and other biodiversity. Here in the U.S. Audubon works with its extensive local Chapter network: landowners, public agencies, community groups, and other non-profits to advance the sound management of Important Bird Areas. Audubon Chapters and state offices are extend these localized efforts through alliances with other non-governmental organizations that enable Americans to help protect habitat along the entire migratory routes of familiar species.

Audubon Washington has 73 Important Bird Areas covering approximately 1 million acres. Eco-systems covered by these sites include wetlands, forests, estuaries, shrub steppe and riparian areas. Bird data from these sites is incorporated into the Washington State Natural Heritage Program to give information to potential developers or elected officials as they consider land use changes. Our Audubon members who are citizen scientists can adopt IBA sites to monitor and assess habitat conditions.

Washington Gets a Little More Bicycle Friendly

Bicycle Alliance in Bellevue: Managing a New Commuter Station
With the opening of the Commuter Connection station at the Bellevue Transit Center on September 11, bicyclists commuting to and from Bellevue now have a secure, indoor place to park their bikes.

Bellevue is Washington’s fifth-largest city, at a population of nearly 120,000. A former bedroom community, Bellevue has enjoyed much growth in high-tech jobs and now draws commuters from throughout the Puget Sound area, including a growing number of cyclists. Working in partnership with TransManage, the transportation service of the Downtown Bellevue Association, the Bicycle Alliance will manage bike-parking for up to 27 riders. The Commuter Connection will offer 24-hour keycard access for riders who sign up and pay a fee. The station will be staffed part-time by BAW Commute Specialist Every Day, and TransManage staff will also be present to assist walk-up customers with riding the bus, carpooling, and vanpooling.

Although the Bicycle Alliance has more than two years of experience in operating BikeStation Seattle, this will be the first time for BAW to fully manage a bike parking facility, including operation of membership and security. The agreement with the City of Bellevue extends through summer 2009.

“We know that secure bike-parking is emerging as an issue in many communities that have a growth in bicycle commuting. Every downtown has lots of places for parking cars, but few cities have secure bike-parking,” said BAW Executive Director Gordon Black. “That needs to get addressed, because we think it is a barrier to getting more people biking. We hope other cities will consider this type of approach.”

Spokane Creates Bike/Ped Post
After years of effort by bicycle advocates, the City of Spokane has agreed to hire its first citywide bicycle-pedestrian coordinator. First identified in the city’s comprehensive plan in 2001, the idea of a specific staff appointment to oversee bicycle and pedestrian issues gained momentum as the city worked on its Bicycle Master Plan. “We have a very strong advocate on the city council in Councilman Richard Rush,” said Bob Lutz, a BAW member who chairs Spokane’s Bicycle Advisory Board. “Councilman Rush has been very supportive of our efforts and he is really the one who has shepherded this through the process.”

The post is being funded by the city for two years, sufficient time to implement the first stages of the bike master plan. Lutz expects to see a final version of the plan completed before the end of 2008. Unlike other similarly-sized cities in Washington, such as Vancouver and Bellevue, Spokane never had a dedicated staff position.

FREE Naturescaping Workshop and Native Plant Salvage

If you have been procrastinating on attending one of these workshops, wait no longer. The King County Naturescaping Program is proposed to be cut in the 2009 Executive Proposed Budget. Don’t put it off any longer. Why wait when you can start shrinking that lawn and improving your part of the planet this year?

http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/stewardship/volunteer/plant-salvage-program.aspx

Learn how to create a wildlife friendly landscape using native plants in your own backyard. Native plants require less maintenance and water than non-native ornamentals and local wildlife love a native landscape. You will also learn many helpful tips on controlling the weeds that may threaten your project. The workshop will be held November 12, 2008 at Rock Creek Elementary (25700 Maple Valley-Black Diamond Road SE (Highway 169).
Maple Valley, WA 98038) from 7:00-9:00 pm.

As a bonus, participants at the workshop are welcome to travel to a site scheduled for development to dig up native plants for their personal habitat and landscaping projects. The salvage site is generously provided by Brandt Properties LLC. The native plant salvage for naturescaping participants will be on Saturday, November 15th, 9am until 1pm. Directions to the salvage provided at the workshop.

If you have previously attended one of our Naturescaping workshops, you are welcome to just attend the salvage. You do not need to retake the workshop. Simply email me your name and the approximate date you attended the workshop. Space is limited so reserve your spot now!

To register, contact Greg Rabourn at 206-296-1923 or > greg.rabourn@kingcounty.gov.
http://www.kingcounty.gov/yardtalk

Keep me Lead Free!

Why should we be concerned about lead poisoning in kids? Childhood exposure to lead can lead to reduced IQs, behavior problems, learning and developmental disabilities, brain damage, anemia, and in some extreme cases, death. Kids get lead poisoning by inhaling, eating, or drinking lead from contaminated sources. Over the years, we’ve learned that exposure to lead here in Spokane comes from many different places—contaminated beaches on the Spokane River, contaminated industrial sites, lead-based paint in the home and in toys, residual deposits from past use of leaded gasoline and lead arsenate pesticides, and lead found in drinking water pipes. While the numbers of lead-poisoned children have declined in recent years, the burden of lead poisoning continues to fall disproportionately on low-income families living in older, poorly-maintained housing.

In an effort to protect the health of those most affected by exposure to this dangerous environmental toxin, The Lands Council’s Environmental Health program, with a 2-year Targeted Lead Grant from the EPA, is educating inner-city families in Spokane about the health effects, exposure pathways, and prevention of childhood lead poisoning and offering free, voluntary on-the-spot blood lead screening of children ages 0-6. In collaboration with partners such as the Spokane Regional Health District, City of Spokane, Spokane County Head Start/Early Head Start, WA Department of Health, and neighborhood councils, we are building awareness of childhood lead poisoning and increasing documentation of suspected elevated blood-lead levels in Spokane. Projects such as ours are playing a major role in meeting the federal goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning as a major public health concern by 2010.

How does it work? First, we identify Spokane neighborhoods thought to be “high-risk” for childhood lead poisoning by compiling data on age of housing stock, median household income, families in poverty, and presence of kids 6 and under into GIS software and producing detailed, color-coded maps. We then go door-to-door in these neighborhoods, passing along information about childhood lead poisoning to families, answering questions, and advertising upcoming blood lead screenings. At our screenings, our nurse takes a “finger stick” blood sample, mixes it with a reagent solution, and feeds it on a slide into a portable machine. The entire process takes approximately 10 minutes per child. Kids walk away with a lollipop, sticker, and cool band-aid, and parents receive written results of their child’s blood lead level, along with a home lead test kit. To date, we have screened 186 children, one of which has exhibited an elevated blood lead level (>10 µg/dL).

Getting kids screened for lead poisoning is one of the first—and best—steps toward prevention! For more information, please contact Kat Hall, Environmental Health Program Director, at 209-2403 or visit http://www.landscouncil.org/water/reducing_lead.asp

*The Lands Council (http://www.landscouncil.org) is a Spokane-based non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and revitalizing our Inland Northwest forests, water, and wildlife through advocacy, education, effective action, and community engagement.

BPA Baby Bottles pulled from Local Store

Last week Safeway stores, the third largest grocery chain in the U.S., announced it will stop selling baby bottles containing the plastics component bisphenol-A (BPA) in its 1,775 stores in the U.S. and Canada. BPA is a compound used to improve strength and resilience in food containers. Its safety concerns, well documented for several years, have recently made headlines as stores and manufacturers have taken steps to eliminate its exposure to consumers, particularly infants.

According to The Environmental Working Group, the combined exposures from BPA in formula and baby bottles cause a substantial number of infants to consume unhealthy levels of the chemical, which laboratory studies have linked to cancer, brain, nervous system and behavioral malfunctions, reproductive system abnormalities, obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, concurring with the American Chemistry Council, contends there is insufficient evidence to warrant ordering BPA removed from baby bottles, formula cans and other food packaging.

Canada announced an outright ban BPA in April, based on a review of 150 worldwide studies. “We have immediately taken action on bisphenol A because we believe it is our responsibility to ensure families, Canadians and our environment are not exposed to a potentially harmful chemical. It’s pretty clear that the highest risk is for newborns and young infants.”

In addition to Safeway, other companies removing BPA bottles from shelves and products include Whole Foods, Toys-R-Us, Playtex, Nalgene and Camelbak. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, announced it would stop selling BPA-laden baby bottles in early 2009.

“Major retailers can be a force in effecting positive change,” said Mike Schade of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, an Earth Share of Washington member organization, which has lobbied against the use of BPA. “Parents shouldn’t have to roll the dice with their children’s health at the checkout aisle.”

An Ocean Sanctuary in Our Backyard

Imagine the Evergreen state as your house, and the ocean as your backyard. Do you know what treasures your backyard holds? Did you know that you have some of the world’s rare and vulnerable cold-water corals? Did you see the whales roaming through and the puffins resting on the rocks? How about the sea otters that just popped out of the kelp forest?

Much of the ocean off of Washington’s outer coast is in a protected area called the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (map below). Now, for the first time in 14 years, the managers of our ocean sanctuary are taking a fresh new look at the fascinating array of marine life we have and reexamining how to protect it. And we can help by sharing our thoughts.

The sanctuary was created in 1994 with a primary mandate of resource protection. Because there is a wide range of natural and cultural resources, and because there are multiple activities in the sanctuary that might impact the resources, the sanctuary management wants our help to identify what topics are the top priorities for them to address as they plan their management actions for the next five to 10 years.

This is our opportunity to state what issues are important to us, and our comments will help shape the future protection of our ocean ecosystem. As an example, some comments that have been made so far encourage the sanctuary to:
• Enhance public awareness about the ocean
• Make biodiversity conservation the top priority
• Study the impacts of wave energy development
• Do research on ocean acidification

Do you agree? Do you have something else to add? Now is your turn to contribute your voice to this conversation. Send the sanctuary an email (mailto:ocnmsmanagementplan@noaa.gov) and tell them what you want protected in your ocean backyard. The comment period runs through November 14. Thank you for doing your part to care for our ocean.

By Fan Tsao, Conservation Scientist, Marine Conservation Biology Institute
Marine Conservation Biology Institute protects ocean life through science and conservation advocacy. Visit us at mcbi.org.

Polar Bear Plunge for Climate Change this Saturday

A Seattle version of the National Polar Bear Plunge is coming to Mathews Beach on Saturday, December 6th from 10 am to noon. EarthCorps participant, Maryland native Kristina Byrne, took part in the Chesapeake Climate Action Network’s (CCAN) plunge and decided to bring the event to the shores of Lake Washington, near Magnuson Park. The Plunge serves as a way to draw public and media attention to climate change, and it is also a benefit for EarthCorps and community partner Steven Kazlowski, a professional photographer whose work documenting polar bears is on display at the Burke Museum through the end of December.

EarthCorps’ first ever Polar Bear Plunge is tied to the “Fight Global Warming - Keep Winter Cold!” National Polar Bear Plunge (PBP), which will be held worldwide January 10, 2009, coinciding with the start of the newly-elected Congress and readying of the new President to take office.

If last year’s record-breaking arctic sea ice levels are any indication— at their lowest levels in history—the need for a powerful movement to combat climate change is at its most critical. In September 2007, an area the size of Florida, 69,000 square miles, disappeared within a week. If polar ice continues to decline at the current rate, two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population will disappear by 2050, according to a USGS study.

You can take action by coming out to this great fundraiser and community builder, and taking part in a nationally coordinated movement—building capacity for further work to combat global warming. Take the plunge or give your financial support and keep winter cold!

For more information about how a Polar Bear Plunge works, visit www.keepwintercold.org

Event information or to donate online: (be sure to specify ‘Polar Bear Plunge’)

http://www.earthcorps.org/spotlight.php?articleId=582

http://www.earthcorps.org/calendar.php

Free E-Waste Recycling Starts Soon

By Mo McBroom

Starting January 1, 2009 Washington consumers will be able to recycle their electronics for free - thanks to a law passed in 2006. With the holiday shopping season upon us, E-Cycle Washington is gearing up to give consumers an easy and, for the first time, free way to dispose of their old electronics after unwrapping their new high tech gifts. The Department of Ecology program will launch on January 1, 2009.

For up-to-date information about E-Cycle Washington, including collection site information, consumers can visit their website. Groups with over 10 units to recycle should call 1-866-779-6632 for instructions. In 2006, Washington Environmental Council teamed up with Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation, Hewlett-Packard, retailers, and other non-profits to pass this bill as one of the four Environmental Priorities. The system will provide a convenient, safe and more environmentally-sound recycling option for unwanted computers and televisions, paid for entirely by the electronics manufacturers.

At the time, Washington was the first state in the nation to pass a law putting the responsibility on the producer, not the consumer, for recycling of electronics. Now other states are following our lead. This means the companies that produce electronics will also pay for and manage their recycling. It is hoped that this will, in turn, provide additional incentives for manufacturers to reduce the use of toxic materials, since they will have to pay for their disposal.

According to the EPA’s 2007 figures, nearly 82 percent of the 2.25 million tons of e-waste generated in this country ends up in landfills or incinerators, where dangerous toxins can leach into groundwater or get released into the air. The portion collected for recycling is largely exported to developing countries, which lack regulations to protect workers or the environment.

In Washington, millions of pounds of unwanted electronic products currently end up in our landfills each year. E-Cycle Washington will change that by providing a comprehensive and convenient network of free collection sites. Products collected under the program will be taken to an approved processor that has agreed to follow the state’s standards, intended to ensure that no materials either hazardous to the environment or to human health are allowed to enter landfills in this country or abroad.

Click here to find out how to recycle your old electronics: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/eproductrecycle/

3rd Annual Green Seattle Day a Success (and How you can help continue the good work)

Green Seattle Day was a great day for Seattle’s forested parklands, as over 700 volunteers gathered on Saturday, Nov. 8, at main event site of Seward Park and 18 others around the city to plant more than 3,500 trees, shrubs and ground cover. This marked the beginning of a 50,000-plant effort between now and next April. The day celebrated the work of the Green Seattle Partnership, a public-private alliance formed between the City, the Cascade Land Conservancy and the people of Seattle in 2004. Since beginning on-the-ground work in 2005, the Partnership has brought more than 250 acres of forested parklands into an on-going restoration process. The program will ramp up in the next few years to a peak of adding about 150 acres a year.

The Partnership includes many great community partners such as EarthCorps, Nature Consortium, Urban Wilderness Project, NW Environmental Education Council and many others.

Seattle’s urban forests continue to need our help. In 2004, Mayor Nickels asked the Cascade Land Conservancy to partner with the City to help restore the city’s urban forest. The goal of the resulting Green Seattle Partnership is to improve quality of life in Seattle by restoring and maintaining 2,500 acres of forested parklands by 2025. It is now the largest urban forest restoration effort in the nation. The Green Seattle Partnership, with its focus on forested parklands, is one of several “Green” initiatives to save Seattle’s trees. Seattle Parks and Recreation and other City agencies are working on other urban forest plans that deal with street, back-yard, playground and institutionally-owned trees. For additional information on the Green Seattle Partnership and for ways to get involved visit the website at www.greenseattle.org.

Cascadia Marine Trail up for National Recognition

For thousands of years, people have plied Puget Sound waters in canoes and other small human and wind-powered craft. Today, the practice continues and interest in non-motorized boating on Puget Sound is growing. In the 1980’s, forward-thinking sea kayakers realized that rapid development and privatization of the Puget Sound shoreline threatened a 5,000-year old tradition of marine travel. They formed Washington Water Trails Association and helped establish the Cascadia Marine Trail, a growing network of campsites and launch sites for people using human and wind-powered beachable watercraft.

The goal of the Cascadia Marine Trail (CMT) is a campsite every five to ten nautical miles of shoreline, allowing people to travel between public beaches from the southern inlets to the San Juan Islands, and beyond. Patching together parcels of public shoreline suitable for recreation takes time, and the trail – at 55 sites –still has far to go. Recently introduced legislation may advance the effort by further protecting and elevating the status of the Cascadia Marine Trail. U.S. Representative Jay Inslee introduced the HR 6740 that aims to start the process of granting the CMT status as a National Scenic or National Historic Trail.

A trail has to go a through long approval process before it becomes a National Scenic or National Historic Trail. Inslee started the process in August when he introduced legislation providing for funding for a feasibility study. An avid kayaker, Inslee thinks the Cascadia Marine Trail deserves the national recognition that this designation would provide, as well as the greater protections that would result.

Following a successful study additional legislation will be required to authorize the trail designation. Finally, the National Park Service will create a management plan that will make the trail designation a reality. To be successful it will take a large amount of community support and engagement. The legislation is currently in committee and now is the time for people who enjoy the public beaches and campsites on Puget Sound to write to their representatives in support of HR 6740. You can learn more about HR 6740 at http://www.wwta.org/trails/CMT/national_trail.asp. For more information about the Cascadia Marine Trail, visit www.wwta.org/trails/cmt.

Earth Share of Washington Celebrates 20th Anniversary

- By William Borden, Earth Share of Washington’s Executive Director

February 3 marks the 20th anniversary of the Earth Share of Washington. In the mid-1980s, ten local non-profits decided to pool their resources to advance environmental philanthropy. A new opportunity had emerged – giving through the workplace – as more employees demanded greater choices for their payroll contributions. Here are the founding ten organizations:

• Friends of the Earth
• National Audubon Society, Washington Chapter
• Puget Sound Alliance (now called Puget Soundkeeper Alliance)
• Sierra Club Legal Defense Club
• Washington Citizens for Recycling (now called Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation)
• Washington Environmental Council
• Washington Foundation for the Environment
• Washington Toxics Coalition
• Washington Trails Association
• Washington Wilderness Coalition

As support for the environment continued to grow, so did Earth Share of Washington. Today we represent 65 organizations that address a broad array of issues. Over these 20 years we’ve formed lasting, rewarding relationships with businesses and those who work there. Government employees, teachers, lawyers, software designers, aircraft mechanics, bankers, accountants, sheriff's officers, bus drivers – regardless of occupation, people care about healthy communities and a healthy planet.

Also in those 20 years we've developed some expertise to share with workplace leaders. We help build their payroll contribution programs "campaigns", providing campaign best practices, education on environmentally friendly work practices, volunteer opportunities, etc. Now, businesses proudly tell us they have designed new LEED certified offices (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), or they request a presenter from our speaker's bureau for Earth Day. As clean energy, green building and environmental conservation go mainstream, Earth Share of Washington is on the front line, connecting businesses and donors with the most efficient and trusted organizations.

Throughout this anniversary year, we'll share some highlights from our organizations (see the following article from Volunteers for Outdoor Washington). As always, we welcome comments and feedback from Earth Page readers (info@esw.org). Just as we’ve evolved, we're interested in hearing how your views on the environment have evolved since 1987. Thank you for being a part of this history!

Volunteers for Outdoor Washington: Promoting environmental stewardship, one work party at a time

To celebrate Earth Share of Washington's 20th Anniversary (1987-2007), we plan to showcase the work of our organizations over the past two decades. Each month, we'll feature a different Earth Share organization, their contributions to making our communities more vibrant & livable, and their efforts to create a cleaner Washington and a healthy planet. In 1989, Volunteers for Outdoor Washington joined a growing coalition of environmental organizations, known at the time as the Environmental Fund of Washington and later to become Earth Share. With the addition of VOW and one other organization that year, a young Earth Share of Washington grew to 12 organizations.

Nearly 25 years ago Volunteers for Outdoor Washington was established by outdoor enthusiasts who witnessed their beloved trail system fall into disrepair. The mix of ballooning trail use and shrinking budgets resulted in trails being loved to death. While that threat continues today, VOW is proud of what it’s accomplished since that first work party in 1983. There are 9,000 miles of trails in our state and we’ve been lucky to swing a Pulaksi on a range of efforts (trail building, trail restoration, invasive species removal, native plantings) and settings (both backcountry and frontcountry). On some 200 projects VOW has trained and supervised thousands of volunteers over the years--volunteers who have contributed hundreds of thousands of hours to our mission of promoting environmental stewardship.

Saturday, June 19th, 2004 was a sunny day, a perfect day for a ribbon cutting ceremony complete with trail tape and a trusty pair of loppers. The Bandera Mountain / Mason Lake Trail was re-opening after years of re-building and the Forest Service was officially re-naming the it the "Ira Spring Trail" after the famed author, mountaineer and photographer. Volunteers for Outdoor Washington, under the leadership of veteran crew leader Harold Buresh, tackled a two-mile re-route beginning in 2002. Hundreds of volunteers contributed over 4,000 hours on this challenging trail, dubbed by many to the best in the I-90 corridor.

In 2004 VOW also celebrated another trail christening, capping off years of hard work and a lot of fun. Steve Dean, a former VOW board member and longtime crew leader, convinced city and county officials, organized a team of volunteers and built a trail that brings history to the hiker. The Lime Kiln Trail, located near Granite Falls, opened in October 2004 and highlights the history of the Everett & Monte Cristo Railroad. Astride the detritus of another time--rusty saw blades, bits of leather hat, brake linkages--thunders the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River though the narrow Robe Canyon. The trail's name is from a kiln, now choked by Mother Nature who continues to reduce mortar to powder, used to cook limestone. The resulting lime was shoveled into railroad cars and carried off to a paper mill and a smelter in Everett. Why devote seven trail seasons and be a part of the over 10,000 hours it took to get the job done? "Some people do it for the satisfaction of the craftsmanship of the trail itself," says Dean. "Others just like being outdoors. And some of the volunteers have said this is their way of giving back--out of their sense of duty because they enjoy hiking trails so much."

Another trail that provides a window into another time is the Iron Goat Trail. This is VOW's signature project, and one that began in 1990. In partnership with the Forest Service, VOW dedicated the Martin Creek Trailhead and the first four miles of the trail in 1993. That first celebration was only the beginning. Volunteers continued to transform a long-abandoned Great Northern Railway bed into a hiking trail. In 2000 a second trailhead was completed at Wellington, and in the fall of 2006 the Iron Goat Interpretive Site was opened to the public. This combination Hwy 2 Rest Area/Iron Goat Trailhead/interpretive site features kiosk panels and a 29-ton all-steel bright red historic caboose. Check it out for yourself at milepost 58.3 and then walk into history along the trail. Learn about railway life in the early 1900s, including in 1910 when a massive slab of snow broke free from Windy Mountain and swept two trains off the tracks and into the canyon below. Ninety-six lives were lost in the deadliest avalanche in US history.

Today visitors know the trail as one of the kid-friendliest in the state, and over half of its now 10 miles is wheelchair accessible. It's called a lot of things—Cadillac of trails; best trail in the state; fun, factual, fantastic—and now it’s also known as "Ruth's place." A PBS documentary on the project, Back to Life: The Iron Goat Trail, showcased the volunteer effort lead by one of VOW's founders, Ruth Ittner, whose tenacity and spirit made it all happen. At the October 2006 dedication, WSDOT unveiled a sign at the new interpretive site that reads, “This site is dedicated to Ruth Ittner 'the keeper of the story of the Iron Goat Trail.' Her vision, leadership and steadfast enthusiasm continue to build alliances to provide outdoor education for future generations. Thank you Ruth!"

Like Ira Spring's legacy, Ruth Ittner, now 88 years young, continues to build trails and partnerships. The Iron Goat Trail project demonstrates partnering at all levels: the Forest Service, Washington State Department of Transportation, Great Northern Railway Historical Society, the Town of Skykomish, to name but a few of the dozens who brought Ruth's vision to life. And the work continues. In 2007 volunteers will complete the Windy Point Crossover between the upper and lower grades, and there are plans to extend the Iron Goat Trail one mile from the Martin Creek Trailhead to capture another key interpretive element in Great Northern Railway history, the Horseshoe Tunnel. You can join the Iron Goat's own history--over 800 work parties totaling 60,000 trail hours (with volunteer administrative hours that's an in-kind gift to the state worth more than $1,000,000)--by joining a work party!

These three projects provide a flavor of what we do and where we do it. In addition to these backcountry gems, Volunteers for Outdoor Washington has a long history of action in the frontcountry. We’re currently at Seattle’s Interlaken Park.

VOW is about the power of volunteering and the dedication of a core of volunteers who show us the way. The three examples above note Harold Buresh, Steve Dean and the remarkable Ruth Ittner. Citizen action is an inspiring but often under-tapped resource. It is needed now more than ever thanks to our recent record-breaking weather: heavy rains, floods and wind storms left in its wake a long list of damaged trails. Volunteers will be in great demand for maintenance work in 2007. View VOW’s entire work party schedule at trailvolunteers.org and sign up on a day that works for you. Or contact VOW’s office at info@trailvolunteers.org 206 517-3019.

Join a work party and be a part of VOW's work and long history of building trails, restoring habitat and preserving our state’s rich heritage. You just might have the same reaction as this first-time volunteer: “Within hours it was life-changing, the amount of time and energy that goes into three feet of trail--hours of human labor. I will never get on a trail again with the same consciousness I had before, just taking it for granted. It's an incredible labor of love."

Telling Our Story: the Squaxin Island Tribe Is Given a Voice

- By Earth Share of Washington Intern Maggie McKeown

“That day could possibly be the proudest day of my life�? says Rick Peters about the moment when his tribe’s story was told, by the tribe, for the first time. Rick is 52 years old and has a fresh, motivated way about him. He recently completed his Bachelor’s degree after spending most of the 1990s working as a shellfish manager for his people, the Squaxin Island Tribe. Since he was young, Rick has been fascinated by the connection his people have with the Puget Sound environment. That interest blossomed during an internship with the Thurston Conservation District and the South Sound GREEN program. Rick never had the impetus to explore that connection, however, until he met Tom Kondin of Washington Foundation for the Environment. The two discussed the lack of awareness about his people and the environment, and they came up with an idea to create a learning tool that would introduce students and the greater community to the Squaxin Islanders. Rick produced a k-12 curriculum and DVD to be used in local schools. The project discusses the importance of the Northwest's resources to the Squaxin Island people and their culture, particularly the role of fish and shellfish in tribal life. It also covers the history and the impact of settlers and the consequences of treaties signed with the American government. Finally, it lets the audience know how one can help protect these resources and the tribal way of life based on them. Rick felt this story needed to be told.

The Squaxin Island Tribe comes from the region around the seven southernmost inlets of the Puget Sound. A small tribe of about 650 members, the "People of the Water" historically flourished on the natural bounty of shellfish, salmon, berries, and other resources. They used cedar to create both spiritual and practical tools, such as oceangoing canoes. The tribe's environment is the soul of who they are, and their relationship with the earth is their culture and their spirit.

As is the case with many other tribes throughout the United States, the lives of the Squaxin Islanders changed dramatically with the arrival of Europeans. Land was becoming scarce as more people entered the region; inevitably the American government proposed a treaty to the Squaxin people. On December 26, 1854, the Treaty of Medicine Creek ceded nearly all Squaxin ancestral lands and many of their traditional rights without the tribal elders' full understanding of the treaty’s language and implications.

One hundred and twenty years later, in a landmark 1974 court decision known as the Judge Boldt Decision, the tribe had restored many of the fishing rights that were so critical to their way of life. Federal Judge George Boldt became one of the most important figures in modern day tribal history when he reaffirmed the Squaxin Island Tribe's right to fish in accustomed places. He also reallocated 50% of annual catch to the tribes. Although treaties of the past were supposed to protect these fundamental rights, settlers with modern equipment and the backing of the American government gradually displaced tribal fisherman. Judge Boldt found that, through treaties, the government promised to secure fishing rights and that the tribes had the original right to the resource, which they extended to the settlers. Finally, Judge Boldt ordered the government to limit fishing by non-Indians in these ancestral lands.

So when Rick set out to tell the Squaxin Island story and develop a multimedia curriculum, he quickly realized it would need to be a team effort. The Tribe applied for a grant from Washington Foundation for the Environment, an Earth Share of Washington organization, to help support Rick’s work. His proposal reflected his extensive research into historical archives, photographs, and dusty artifacts representing his ancestors. The WFFE grant enabled him to collaborate with the Tribe's Museum and Research Center, the University of Washington, the Washington State Historical Society, the Thurston Conservation District, and others. Rick received countless hours of support from the Museum and its volunteers, including a retired teacher who worked with Rick to write the school curriculum.

In the end, it wasn't easy pulling it together. In fact, the Tribal Council reviewed Rick's work four times before they gave their blessing to go forward with this story. But the months of work and dedication paid off, and on July 20th, 2006, Rick presented the fruit of this labor at a dinner hosted by the tribe. In celebratory fashion, Rick showed the DVD and explained the school curriculum, which will be given to Thurston County and Tribal schools. So effective was Rick's presentation and his commitment that a solid partnership formed between the Tribe and Thurston County, one that will benefit tribal and non-tribal people alike into the distant future.

It was incredibly exciting for Rick to see people come together in this effort and the greater community of the region benefit from his hard work. The curriculum has been reviewed by teachers across the County and has been delivered to schools to be used in history and social studies classes. It will also be presented at Evergreen State College and at the National Conference of Conservation Districts in October.

According to Rick, a senior tribal member recently overheard a young native dancer ask, "Who is Judge Boldt?" He told Rick, "I really hope the tribe will use this story in its education program so no other senior citizen of this tribe has to hear a Squaxin Island child ask that, unaware of the tribe's history." Rick can now relish the fact that the kids of the lower Puget Sound community will have a deeper understanding of his people.

On a Duwamish River Patrol with Puget Soundkeeper Alliance

- By R.S. Mancuso, Earth Share of Washington Guest Author

R.S. Mancuso is participating in Earth Share of Washington's Journalism Internship Program for Earth Share of Washington this winter. In addition to writing for Earth Share, she is a student at Prescott College in Arizona, working her way towards a degree in Marine Environmental Studies and Creative Writing.

As a scuba diver, I have spent more time under the ocean than on its surface. Today, I wasn't in a boat to see what lay beneath the surface; I was on the water to see what was affecting the marine world from above. I had been invited to join a pollution patrol with Paul Fredrickson, the Outreach Coordinator for the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance. We set out from Elliott Bay Marina to patrol the industrial mouth of the Duwamish River, where a large amount of stormwater runoff is introduced to Puget Sound.

Copious amounts of rain here in the Pacific Northwest contribute not only to the beautiful, verdant foliage, but also to the toxic soup that runs down gutters and storm drains into Puget Sound. If you can imagine all of the dirt, brake dust, and oil that accumulates on roadways, the fertilizers and pesticides used on lawns and gardens, construction sights, industrial work sites--all of this and more washes into Puget Sound each time it rains. This water flows into Puget Sound untreated. This soup contaminates the waterways, kills wildlife, and pollutes the fragile ecosystem. The Duwamish River, with its major industrial traffic, ten combined sewer overflows, three emergency overflows, and two hundred storm drains, plays a very major role concerning the health of Puget Sound.

We arrived at the marina around noon. The sky was mottled gray, interrupted with sun breaks. As I walked down the dock, I was taken by how tidy this marina was. I was aware that they participated in the Clean Marina program, a sponsored program of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, but I was very impressed with the appearance of the water. Most marinas that I have visited, the water is covered with an oily rainbow sheen and accented by frothy brown water.

As the boat motored out of the marina a smile spread across my face from ear to ear. I pulled my scarf tight around my shoulders and stared out over the deep blue water. The air was brisk, chilling my nose. The wind picked up with the speed of the small boat. As we bumped across open water the Seattle skyline stretched out before me. The buildings interspersed with trees made me think of my conversation with Sue Joerger, the Soundkeeper and Executive Director of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, that I had earlier in the week. We discussed water quality and her organization's role in improving the health of Puget Sound.

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance's primary objective is to enforce the Clean Water Act. They accomplish this mission in many ways but one of their most unique programs is active monitoring of the waterways of Puget Sound. In addition, they train individuals to identify and report pollution and people violating laws. They also participate in the Clean Marina program along with the EnviroStars program, a program that rates small businesses on how Eco friendly they are. Their small group of volunteers and staff members are on the water at least once a week, collecting water samples and helping to enforce standards in boatyards and marinas.

"We have people trained or equipped to find pollution, and the majority of the pollution is really from the stormwater," explained Soundkeeper Sue Joerger. "Most of the storm drains and pipelines are very deep underwater, therefore invisible to the average person. Stormwater pollution is out of sight and out of mind."

The other important thing she pointed out was the fact people should be aware what they throw down their drains "You should not assume anything that’s going down a storm drain, or going down a sink, is being treated." This means everything from household cleaners to prescription medication, is potentially escaping into our waterways.

As we approached the mouth of the Duwamish River I found myself looking upwards. Huge ships, massive cranes, and stacks of cargo containers dwarfed our small boat. These ocean-going vessels represented this city's interconnectedness to the rest of the world. Just the existence of these massive structures gives proof to the ingenuity of the human mind. That same ingenuity, if applied to the problems of the environment, will carry us far into the future.

Between these mammoth hunks of steel I could see the shoreline: pilings and concrete stacked with machinery, men in hard hats building and or cleaning ships, factories, processing plants... It was clear to me the river played a vital role in the economic health of Seattle. At the same time I could see the huge impact we have on this waterway that flows through our communities, where residents recreate, relax, and sometimes rely upon for subsistence.

Paul Fredrickson pointed out active Superfund clean up sites along the Duwamish. As we traveled upriver I learned from Paul which businesses were working closely with the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, and which businesses still refused to make the necessary effort. The clean up of this waterway is a joint effort between the communities, the government, and the businesses.

My father once told me "to change the world, you needed to start with your own backyard." As a scuba diver I feel the underwater world is my second home. The entire problem is too big for one person alone to turn the series of events.

When asked what individuals could do to make the most difference, Sue Jorger responded, "If people could be aware of the issues and understand them from their personal perspectives then call their legislators, and say 'We want to save Puget Sound.' Remember, government is not going to lead us, government is not going to save Puget Sound-- it's not until you and I stand up that the government and the governor are going to do something about it."

To get involved with Puget Soundkeeper Alliance or to participate in the active Citizen Soundkeeper Program, call them at (206) 297-7002 or visit their website – http://www.pugetsoundkeeper.org/

Priorities for a Healthy Washington’s annual Lobby Day takes place on February 14 where you can join hundreds of citizen lobbyists from around the state meeting face-to-face with legislators on important environmental issues. For more information or to signup, please visit http://www.environmentalpriorities.org/

The Biggest Fish (News) of 2006

- By Liz Banse of Earth Share organization Washington Foundation for the Environment

2006 has come to a close and the verdict is in. The most headline-grabbing international ocean news of last year was a provocative study published in the November 3 issue of Science magazine.

The study, "Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services," by an international group of ecologists and economists, predicted the collapse (defined as 90% depletion) of all species of wild seafood that are currently fished by 2048, if current trends are not reversed. The tuna fish sandwich you want to buy from the deli at lunchtime today? Gone. The Chilean sea bass you were hoping to order at the restaurant tonight? Gone.

Who is to blame? There are a lot of factors at play in this doomsday scenario. Overfishing, including damaging bottom trawling, coastal pollution, poor ocean governance and more.

What is more important to focus on is that this study shows that it is not too late to reverse this downward trend. With better ocean policy – through an ecosystem based management approach – many species can rebound in a surprisingly short period of time – in less than ten years. The study authors point to integrated fisheries management, pollution control, and maintenance of essential habitats and creation of marine reserves as key ways to restore the health of our oceans.

"From the [Seafood Choices] Alliance's perspective, one of the more significant findings of this study is the inherent ability of the ocean to self-heal and regenerate, but only if given the opportunity," says Mike Boots, Seafood Choices Alliance director.

Seafood buyers and sellers can play a role in ensuring the health of our oceans. Consumers can look for an "eco-label" from a certification outfit like the Marine Stewardship Council. Retailers and restaurants are building environmental sustainability into their purchasing as well. These little steps, combined with large-scale ocean governance changes, will reverse the staggering biodiversity losses now happening in marine environments around the world.

As Jay Stachowicz, marine ecology professor at UC Davis stated in a Sacramento Bee article after the Science study came out, "Diversity is a good thing in our diet, it's a good thing in our stock portfolios, so why shouldn’t it be a good thing for our oceans?"

Earth Share's 20th Anniversary Showcase – Washington Native Plant Society

- By Peg Pearson, Washington Native Plant Society Steward

To celebrate Earth Share of Washington's 20th Anniversary (1987-2007), we plan to showcase the work of our organizations over the past two decades. Each month, we'll feature a different Earth Share organization, their contributions to making our communities more vibrant & livable, and their efforts to create a cleaner Washington and a healthy planet. In 1990, Washington Native Plant Society joined a growing coalition of environmental organizations, known at the time as the Environmental Fund of Washington and later to become Earth Share. With the addition of WNPS and one other organization that year, a young Earth Share of Washington grew to 14 organizations.

The Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS) became the fourteenth member admitted to Earth Share of Washington in 1990 – an exciting step during WNPS's 14th year of operations.

Now beginning its 31st year, WNPS continues to grow and collaborate to accomplish its mission to "promote the conservation of our native flora and their habitats through study, education, and advocacy." WNPS's successes such as the Appreciation Week and Stewardship programs discussed below are due in part to its seventeen-year partnership with Earth Share of Washington.

WNPS roots
With widely varied geographic and climatic conditions, Washington is home to over 3000 vascular native plant species, ranking 12th in diversity among states behind the leaders California and Texas. More than 360 state species are currently listed as endangered, threatened or sensitive due to the disappearance or degradation of their habitats and from pressures such as loss of pollinators and over harvesting. The world's only known population of the dainty, white showy stickseed, for example, clings to survival in the Wenatchee Mountains. Hundreds more are on watch and review lists.

Plant life is the basis of healthy ecosystems by producing oxygen, supporting and feeding all creatures (including humans), and purifying air and water through carbon sequestering, erosion control, and filtration. Diverse in their beauty and function, native plants inspire wonder and provide environs in which to recreate and reflect. Including thousands of species of lichen, mosses, macrofungi and marine algae, Washington landscapes are natural heritages of complex biodiversity to enjoy and conserve.

Since 1976, WNPS has been promoter, educator, researcher, protector and restorer on behalf of native plants and their habitats. Eleven chapters statewide offer local opportunities to learn more and volunteer. Guest speakers, field trips, events, workshops and publications cover a wide array of topics related to healthy environments. Some chapters maintain demonstration gardens. Others hold sales of native plants propagated or salvaged by members. While botany is the backbone, people enthusiastic about every aspect of the environment in addition to professionals from many disciplines help contribute to the variety of issues and projects addressed and managed by WNPS volunteers.

Appreciation
In 2004, over 40 governmental agencies and environmental organizations led by WNPS participated in the first statewide celebration of our native flora. Governor Gary Locke declared May 24-30th Native Plant Appreciation Week. Across the state, activities helped people explore backyards and urban forests, parks and preserves, beaches and salmon streams. They were introduced to the native plants in their communities and heard discussions about threats to large and niche ecosystems. Nearly 40 cities in addition to King, Pierce and Snohomish counties signed proclamations endorsing the events.

During the first week of May in 2005, Governor Gregoire invited citizens to join in the second Native Plant Appreciation Week. Nurseries throughout the state created native plant displays for customers to select from. Walks, talks, tours and restoration projects engaged the minds and muscles of participants. Oregon's Governor Kulongoski proclaimed the same week to honor that state's native plant heritage.

The cooperation of state and federal agencies, cities, counties, colleges, non-profit organizations, private foundations and many volunteers has continued. In 2005, the third Native Plant Appreciation Week was held with increased outreach and attendance. A WNPS members' photo contest each year has produced stunning posters of a delicate white anemone, a Calypso bulbosa orchid, and the bitterroot, Lewisia redivida. What beauty will announce this year's fourth celebration occurring April 29th through May 5th?

Education
While Appreciation Week activities might give a person a brief, first introduction to native plants, the acclaimed Washington Native Plant Stewardship Program has trained 335 stewards to be specialists in research, education, conservation and restoration. Modeled after the Master Gardener training, the steward program began in 1996 in response to growing demand for speakers, instructors, and leaders. Ten spring classes in King County, five fall classes in Snohomish, and a 2006 first class in Pierce County have each provided 100 hours of instruction that has resulted in over 57,000 hours of volunteer work on many types of projects... and thousands of other hours not reported by stewards and the folks they have inspired and subsequently trained.

Through a collaboration of WNPS and the Society for Ecological Restoration, two abbreviated programs have been offered to government and private sector professionals. Design and management plans for green spaces have improved among agencies, businesses and volunteers because of the shared knowledge base acquired during these Design to Dirt sessions.

This May, the WNPS steward training will be adapted to prepare new forest stewards for Seattle's parks. The Green Seattle Partnership (a public-private venture of the City of Seattle, the Cascade Land Conservancy and other non-profits committed to restoring 2500 forested acres over the next 20 years) will team with WNPS and King Conservation District to train 25-30 stewards. Small teams of stewards will then devote 100 volunteer hours each to remove invasive species and replant a minimum of 200 native trees and shrubs within one acre in their assigned park. Seattle's forested parks are presently besieged by invasive English ivy, clematis and other weeds, which damage trees and prevent native seedlings from sprouting. It is estimated that 1,750 acres (70%) will cease to be forests within 20 years without removal and restoration efforts. The stewards will also coordinate large public work parties. Hopefully, individuals and communities will step up and learn how to protect their parks alongside the stewards and park crews.

WNPS salutes Earth Share of Washington's 20 years of success and looks forward to continued participation in this state's respected workplace giving federation for the environment. To learn more about WNPS and the programs mentioned above, please see our website at www.wnps.org or call 206-527-3210. Volunteers are always appreciated.

Community Stewardship Along the Shores of the Duwamish

- By R.S. Mancuso, Earth Share of Washington Guest Author

R.S. Mancuso is participating in Earth Share of Washington’s Journalism Internship Program for Earth Share of Washington this winter. In addition to writing for Earth Share, she is a student at Prescott College in Arizona, working her way towards a degree in Marine Environmental Studies and Creative Writing.

I recently had the opportunity to visit a restoration site on the Duwamish River, organized by People for Puget Sound. Herring House Park in South Seattle is a lovely little park, formerly the site of Seaboard Lumber, one of the first and largest mills in Seattle from 1929 to the 1980's. When restoration commenced in 2000 the land was a barren dirt lot. With the help of the People for Puget Sound’s Sound Stewards, this park has been transformed into a lush haven for returning wildlife.

Eliza Ghitis, the Habitat Restoration Coordinator for People for Puget Sound, is proud of the fact that community members conduct the maintenance of each of the restoration sites. The volunteer Sound Stewards are responsible for maintenance, monitoring, and data collection from their adopted site. Eliza says, "One of the things that is helpful about the Sound Stewardship program, is it helps connect people to Puget Sound."

Sound Stewards, a program run by The People for Puget Sound, consists of ordinary - yet extraordinary – people who make this restoration possible by volunteering their time. When they sink their hands into dirt to plant grasses and trees, these volunteers are literally changing their world. Sound Stewards are trained by People for Puget Sound to care for shorelines and, in the process, they develop communities to help maintain and beautify the adopted shoreline.

Here at Herring House Park, little paths wind through grassy patches. Trees and assorted plants line the walkways. There are benches to sit on and watch the river drift by. The park is peaceful despite being situated in an industrial area. While I was visiting, quite a few people strolled through the park while others walked their dogs. This park held the feeling of community.

On the bank of the Duwamish River you can see a fenced area with strings running back and forth, cordoning off different sections where replanting of native grasses takes place. If you follow the path through Herring House Park, you walk through other restored sites, Terminal 107 and Puget Creek.

Eliza pointed out that Puget Creek was once a dumping ground for cement kiln dust. In 1999, it was prepared for restoration by excavating 5,000 cubic yards of contaminated soils.

As a visitor in 2007, I see no evidence of its polluted past. What I see is a place where squirrels and crows have a home. I was able to walk down to a section of beach, watch the birds, and listen to the water lap at the shore. While this shoreline will never be completely wild again, it has been reclaimed by nature with a little help from caring individuals.

With the largest percentage of shoreline property being privately owned, there is a great opportunity for individuals to contribute to improving the health of Puget Sound. Eliza hopes to help people understand how this benefits the community. "We are trying to draw attention to the fact it can raise property values," says Eliza. "There is wildlife returning to these areas - osprey and beavers have moved into the area. I was just at Puget Creek on Saturday and a bald eagle flew by."

Everyone at some point has picked up a newspaper, or magazine, and felt despair when reading about the environment. Puget Sound is in poor heath: orcas are endangered; invasive species have seized hold in waterways; stormwater pollutes the water, poisoning marine creatures.

Can you make a difference?

The answer I found: yes, one person can make a difference. The change one person can effect on his/her surrounding may be small, but with enough people doing something, the total outcome can be vast. Little things can help such as, such as safely disposing of prescription medication (not in toilets or down drains), washing the car at a facility that reuses water, avoiding chemical pesticides. Organizations like People for Puget Sound give everyone a way to get involved with the greater issues concerning our local communities, Puget Sound, and parks.

Washington Wilderness Coalition Celebrates 20 Years as an Earth Share Organization

- By Nalani Askov, Executive Director of Washington Wilderness Coalition

To celebrate Earth Share of Washington's 20th Anniversary (1987-2007), we plan to showcase the work of our organizations over the past two decades. Each month, we'll feature a different Earth Share organization, their contributions to making our communities more vibrant & livable, and their efforts to create a cleaner Washington and a healthy planet. In 1987, Washington Wilderness Coalition joined a growing coalition of environmental organizations, known at the time as the Environmental Fund of Washington and later to become Earth Share. WWC was one of the founding 10 organizations in this young and growing coalition.

Washington Wilderness Coalition (WWC) was founded in 1979 to preserve wilderness and biodiversity for future generations. We work to protect wildlands, waters and wildlife though outreach, public educations, organizing and support of grassroots conservation groups.

In its early years, WWC enjoyed many successes, including:

• Playing a key role in passage of the 1984 Washington Wilderness Act protecting over 1 million acres of Wilderness;
• Lobbying successfully for the creation of the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area;
• Coordinating citizen response that defeated plans to drill for oil in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area;
• Stopping dam construction on Railroad Creek and the Duckabush River;
• Helping to stop timber sales in areas proposed for wilderness including south of Glacier Peak and in the Kettle Range in E. Washington;

In February 1987, WWC Executive Director Karen Fant was one of the 11 founding board members of the "Environmental Fund of Washington," which later became Earth Share of Washington. In the past 20 years, the successes of WWC and Earth Share have continued to grow, even as challenges to protecting our environment have become more complex.

Working on wildland conservation issues requires a great deal of patience. Often, sustained effort over many years is required before success is realized. Few achievements happen quickly. Nearly a decade of work by environmental and conservation organizations, including WWC, was needed before President Reagan signed a bill in 1988 establishing the 1,800-acre National Wildlife Refuge in Grays Harbor, WA to protect wetlands of critical importance to migratory shorebirds and other fish, wildlife and plant species.

Sometimes initial successes must be revisited - again. In 1992, Washington Wilderness Coalition, along with the Washington Trails Association, North Cascades Conservation Council and other groups, intervened in a law suit by the Northwest Motorcycle Association challenging a Forest Service’s ban on off-road vehicle use in the North Fork Entiat section of the Wenatchee National Forest. We won and in 1994 the Ninth Circuit also upheld the ban. The case was the first in the country to give judicial guidance on user conflicts with off-road vehicles on federal public lands. In 2005, WWC and these groups, along with the Cascade Chapter of the Sierra Club, sued the Forest Service to stop it from creating a "world class" motorcycle trail in a nearby area of the Wenatchee National Forest - an area previously proposed for wilderness designation. The Forest Service wanted to embed thousands of concrete blocks in the trail and install a large steel bridge to create a loop trail. The Federal Court found the Forest Service did not adequately consider the cumulative impact of incremental expansions of the off-road vehicle trail system before approving the project and issued an injunction prohibiting it from going forward.

Success comes in many forms. It may be a successful lawsuit, the adoption of new legislation or policy - or preventing the adoption of bad legislation or policy. Success is also found in educating others and building collaborative efforts that can sustain our conservation goals over time. In 1999, WWC co-founded the Fair Trails Coalition. Like many conservation victories, we were successful only after many years of effort in stopping the State of Washington from spending a disproportionate amount of state gas tax funds to build backcountry motorcycle trails. This victory resulted in a fairer distribution of gas tax funds to support the development and maintenance of hiking trails. The Fair Trails Coalition continues to monitor this important issue.

Public education about wilderness preservation has been an essential part of WWC's mission since its founding. Over the past 20 years, the Washington Wilderness Coalition has literally had personal contact with and helped to educate over 100,000 people in King County and throughout Washington state about a wide range of wild land conservation issues. That number doesn't include the many thousands of others who have been reached indirectly. In 1998, WWC worked with members of the popular rock bands REM and Pearl Jam to speak out against the destruction of our national forests. The musicians held benefit concerts for WWC, produced PSAs which ran on CNN and VH1 and served as spokespersons for State and national media outlets on forest issues.

WWC's work has always emphasized building connections with people. That focus is strongly evident in our work over the past 6 years on the Wild Sky Wilderness. WWC's local outreach efforts to diverse groups including hunters and anglers, small businesses, local elected officials, and religious communities was recently called a model of the nation by those working to protect wilderness on a national level. Our work with Republican Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn is a good example. Many said it was a waste of time to even try to get her support for a proposal to protect the Wild Sky area but WWC did more than try, we succeeded. Through good old-fashioned grassroots efforts, WWC convinced Rep. Dunn of the merits of the Wild Sky Wilderness Bill and her co-sponsorship underscored the bipartisan support for the legislation.

This is necessarily only a brief sample of WWC's achievements over the past 20 years. We are very proud to count Earth Share as one of those achievements. With the help of many others, the original dream for Earth Share has been richly achieved. Earth Share of Washington, its organizations and the thousands of individuals who give to help protect our environment can look forward to another 20 years of successful work.

Earth Month 2007

To celebrate Earth Day on April 22, Earth Share organizations will play host to celebrations and volunteer events throughout Washington.

April 21 & 22, Earth Share of Washington and IKEA will host an environmental fair at the IKEA store in Renton, featuring sign-up for volunteer events throughout the spring and summer, interactive educational exhibits, and fun activities for kids and families.

Go outside, get your hands dirty, and sign-up for a volunteer event in your neck of the woods! See a complete list of Earth Month activities below.

Hiking Trails Slow to Recover from 2006 Storm Damage

- By Lauren Braden of Earth Share organization Washington Trails Association

Massive storm damage to the backcountry washed out roads, trails and footbridges on National Forest and National Park lands throughout the Cascades and Olympics late last year, causing an estimated $67 million in damage. Hikers are being urged to use extreme caution when out on storm-damaged trails this spring and summer.

Storms destroyed dozens of bridges throughout backcountry parks and forests that carried hikers easily across creeks and rivers. Two hikers from Puyallup were killed in late March at Mount Rainier National Park after falling off a makeshift log bridge while trying to cross Ipsut Creek, which flows into the Carbon River.

Spring hiking often carries a unique set of dangers for hikers. Mild weather can turn cold and snowy in an instant. Winter storms can send huge trees down across trails, making passage dangerous or impossible. Streams that are mere trickles in late summer can be full, frothy and dangerously raging in spring when carrying early-season rainfall and snowmelt. Given the unprecedented extent of recent storm damage, the usual dangers to hikers this spring pose even more risk.

Hikers are advised to research conditions thoroughly ahead of time before setting out, and definitely carry the "ten essentials". Hiking poles can be of help on stretches of snow-covered patches, in crossing over downed logs, and in stream crossings. In addition, your car should include a safety kit with chains, warm clothes, radio, food, water, shovel, and first aid kit.

Hikers will have to do a fair amount of research before they set out on a trail this year, starting with whether or not the trailhead can even be accessed, because of all the washed-out access roads. As always, it’s crucial to check ahead with local ranger stations for current conditions on roads and trails, and closely watch weather forecasts. Hikers can find a contact list of ranger stations on the Washington Trails Association website section called "Whom to Ask." This year, WTA's trip report section of its website, www.wta.org, will be even more important than ever; if you’re out hiking on the trails, post a trip report to share with others what conditions are like.

Once hikers reach the trail, they can expect to encounter more damaged bridges, puncheons and trail structures than usual. There are ten known bridges out on the Wonderland Trail in Mount Rainier National Park. A suspension bridge was destroyed on the Buck Creek Trail over the White River in the Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest. Access to trailheads of the Green Mountain Trail, Downey Creek Trail, and Huckleberry Mountain Trail are inaccessible by car because of major washouts on the Suiattle River Road. The Big Four Ice Caves near Darrington are completely inaccessible due to the trail bridge over the south fork of the Stilliguamish broken in three places. The list goes on and on, and much of the specific damage to trails is unknown as it lies waiting to be discovered under a blanket of snow.

In response to the fall storms of 2006, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Student Conservation Association, the Washington Trails Association and the Washington National Park Fund have formed a coalition to facilitate the restoration of Northwest National Parks and Forests. Funded in part by REI, Inc., the groups will facilitate volunteer restoration of trails and bridges throughout the spring and summer. WTA will coordinate five volunteer work days a week from Memorial Day through to Labor Day at Mount Rainier. To volunteer call (206) 625-1367 or visit www.wta.org.

Securing federal funding to repair the estimated $67 million in storm damage to roads and trails is a top priority for Washington Trails Association. Eight member of Washington's congressional delegation have pulled together to draft a letter of support for damage repair funds to Congressman Norm Dicks, who chairs the Interior Appropriations Committee.

"The funds needed to repair this winter's storm damage dwarf the annual budgets of our local parks and forests," said Elizabeth Lunney, executive director of Washington Trails Association. "Washington's delegation must ensure that Congress provides the support necessary to fully address damage to roads, trails and other recreation facilities incurred during the storms of 2006."

Keeping Medicine Out of Our Water

- By Eva Dale of Earth Share organization Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation

What should we do with our expired or leftover medications? For a while we were told to flush them or put them in the trash. Now we know better. We know that toilets, sinks and garbage cans are not the right places to dispose of unwanted medicine. Improper disposal of unwanted medicines increases the risk of environmental contamination, accidental poisoning, and abuse. Earth Share organization Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation is partnering with several agencies, organizations, and pharmacies to provide a disposal solution through a medicine return pilot program. Unwanted medications should be as easy to return for proper disposal as they are to purchase.

Environmental Impact
Studies show that medicines are making their way into Puget Sound and waterways nationwide. A nationwide study performed by the United States Geological Survey showed trace amounts of chemicals found in prescription drugs in 80 percent of the streams surveyed across the country. Medications can enter the water when they are flushed down toilets and sinks or put into the garbage, or when humans and animals pass drugs through their bodies. If disposed of or excreted to the sewer (via sinks and toilets) medicine goes to wastewater treatment plants that offer varying levels of treatment. Regardless of the level of treatment, most conventional wastewater treatment is not effective in eliminating the majority of pharmaceutical compounds. For homes that have septic tanks, medicines may enter the environment through seepage into the groundwater or soil. There is a risk that medicines disposed of at landfills can leach into the soil and water. In the case of modern landfills, leachate is often collected and sent to wastewater treatment plants, also ultimately going into the waterways. How much each source of disposal contributes to the contamination is unknown.

More recently, scientists are beginning to see that some of the same medicines that are showing up as contaminants in the water can have negative effects on animal and aquatic. Of particular concern is the impact on hormone systems regulating such things as reproduction and development. For example, when developing tadpoles are exposed to tiny amounts of the main ingredient in Prozac, they do not develop limbs.

Abuse and Accidental Poisoning
Medications account for the most common poison exposure category in the U.S. The large number of medications available in the home presents a substantial accidental poisoning risk if they are not properly stored or disposed. Also, unsecured disposal to the garbage and stockpiles of unwanted, leftover medicines in the home increase the risk of drug abuse. Access to prescription drugs for the purpose of diversion can be as close as a household medicine cabinet.

Safe, Free, Convenient Return
Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation is working to provide free and safe disposal of unwanted household medicines through participating local pharmacies. This is the first program of its kind in the country. To use the Medicine Return pilot program, leave medicines in their original containers and bring them to a participating pharmacy. Currently there are seven drop-off pharmacy locations in Washington State. This pilot project will be expanding to additional locations soon. To find a pharmacy drop-off location near you, visit www.MedicineReturn.com or call 1-800-RECYCLE (1-800-732-9253).

Items you can return (to participating pharmacies):

• Prescription medications
• Over-the-counter medications
• Medication samples
• Medications for pets
• Vitamins
• Medicated ointments/lotions
• Inhalers
• Liquid medication in glass or leak-proof containers

Items NOT accepted:

• Needles
• Thermometers
• Narcotics (controlled substances)
• IV bags
• Bloody or infectious waste
• Personal care products
• Business waste
• Empty containers
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Aerosol cans

No nearby participating pharmacy? If a there isn’t a pharmacy drop-off location nearby or you have unwanted medications that aren’t accepted, the next best option is to follow these steps:
1. Keep the medication in its original container. 2. Modify the contents to discourage consumption. Add water and flour or kitty litter. 3. Seal and Conceal – tape the bottle closed, securely double wrap the medications in a nontransparent bag and 4. Discard in the garbage not in the recycling bin.

For more information about this program, visit www.MedicineReturn.com or call 1-800-RECYCLE (1-800-732-9253). For information on waste reduction or recycling, visit www.wastenotwashington.org.

Earth Share's 20th Anniversary Feature - Washington Foundation for the Environment

To celebrate Earth Share of Washington's 20th Anniversary (1987-2007), we plan to showcase the work of our organizations over the past two decades. Each month, we'll feature a different Earth Share organization, their contributions to making our communities more vibrant & livable, and their efforts to create a cleaner Washington and a healthy planet. In 1987, Washington Foundation for the Environment joined a growing coalition of environmental organizations, known at the time as the Environmental Fund of Washington and later to become Earth Share. WFFE was one of the founding 10 organizations in this young and growing coalition.

As one of the original ten environmental nonprofit members when Earth Share of Washington was first formed, the Washington Foundation for the Environment (WFFE) lauds Earth Share as it marks its 20th anniversary. We take this time, too, to look back at our own achievements over this time, made possibly largely through the support of Earth Share and its donors, as well as our own active, volunteer board.

For more than 20 years WFFE has been identifying and supporting individuals and groups who are active on the cutting edge of environmental issues in Washington state. That support has taken many forms:

• Monetary grants between $200 and $2,000, towards small, well-focused local environmental projects, such as marine science camp scholarships and tree inventories. This grassroots grant program has been the heart and soul of WFFE for the past twenty years. One of our more recent highlights has been the establishment of a Stewardship Grants program for middle and high school students engaged in stewardship projects. As an example, in 2006, Olympia High student Luca Provenzano received a grant to spearhead a student project to remove invasive species from the campus glacial retention pond and reintroduce native species. The $500 grant was used to buy native species.
• Sponsorship of environmental education projects for students, government agencies, businesses and the general public. In the early 1990’s WFFE produced a curriculum on Washington's environmental heritage for the state's middle and high schools. "Washington's Resource Heritage: Then and Now" included an activity guide, background information, and an award winning video component. It was designed for Washington history classes, and took 7th through 9th graders through the different regions, building awareness of the resources within each, and the connections between humans and these resources, including the impacts we have on them.
• Conferences and Roundtables on crucial issues of environmental concern, such as the Public Trust Doctrine and salmon recovery strategies. One of the most successful conferences was held in 1993. Called "Risk: Creating Conflict or Building Consensus," the conference focused on risk-based decision making. Attendees examined the scientific methods underlying risk estimates and shared perspectives on the value of using risk as a guide for making policy choices. WFFE pulled together people who often can be adversaries and gave them made-up problems to debate and solve where they had to work together in teams and understand each other's perspective. Presentations were also given to the full group on different aspects of risk including risk communication, risk assessments, and how they both are used in risk management and decision making.

Through such efforts WFFE plays a unique and vital role in Washington's environmental community, providing forums for the discussion of current issues and raising money to support the innovative works of others. We all recognize that there are no new frontiers on this planet. It is our mission to educate and inform, to help ensure that our environmental heritage is sustained for generations to come.

Priorities for a Healthy Washington update - Washington passes landmark legislation to ban toxic flame retardants

- By Ken Steffenson of Earth Share organization Washington Toxics Coalition

As the dust settles on the 2007 Washington legislative session, Washington Toxics Coalition achieved an important victory -- a statewide ban on toxic flame retardants known as PBDEs –- addressing a key 2007 environmental priority that was identified by the coalition Priorities for a Healthy Washington. They collaborated with a crack team of policy experts, doctors, nurses, public-interest lobbyists, firefighters, children's advocates, moms, and scientists to support the ban. By pursuing a reasonable approach of phasing them out in favor of safer alternatives, they won the support of legislators on both sides of the aisle.

Rep. Ross Hunter (D-Medina) and Sen. Debbie Regala (D-Tacoma) shepherded the bill from its inception in 2005. Rep. Hunter worked day and night to ensure the passage of this bill because of his concern for children’s health.

"Washington state is leading the way for improving the health and safety of our children," said Hunter. "We've come up with a common-sense strategy for preserving fire safety while getting rid of chemicals like PBDEs that build up in our environment, in our bodies, and even in mothers' breast milk.”

As a mother and grandmother, Sen. Regala fought passionately for the bill's passage. "Companies have proven that we don't need toxic chemicals like PBDEs to make effective products. It’s up to us at the state level to move the rest of the industry toward safer practices," she said.

The Washington State Departments of Ecology and Health requested the legislation, which was supported by Gov. Gregoire, three state fire associations, the Washington State Nurses Association, the Washington Medical Association, and many others.

While other states have passed bans on the penta and octa forms of PBDEs, which have been phased out of manufacture, Washington is the first to act on the deca form. Deca has by far the highest production volume of the PBDE forms.

"Fire fighters are concerned about preventing fires and reducing exposure to toxic chemicals, because we’re on the front lines in both cases," said Keven Rojecki of the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters. "Fire fighters are already exposed to so many deadly carcinogens, it is critical that safer alternatives be used to ensure products are fire safe. This bill is a victory for protecting the health of firefighters and the public from harmful toxic chemicals."

The legislation does the following:

• Bans the use of the penta and octa forms of PBDEs, with limited exceptions, by 2008;
• Bans the use of the deca form in mattresses by 2008; and
• Bans the use of the deca form in televisions, computers, and residential upholstered furniture by 2011, as long as a safer, reasonable, and effective alternative has been identified by the state departments of Ecology and Health and approved by fire safety officials.

Three hundred healthcare professionals signed a letter supporting the ban on PBDEs, citing harmful health impacts from PBDEs including learning and behavioral disorders, memory impairments, disruption of thyroid function, reproductive effects, and cancer. The letter's authors noted that substantial evidence shows the buildup of PBDEs in people, orca whales, and the environment, and new studies find that the deca form breaks down into other forms of PBDEs that have already been phased out.

"This action by the Washington State Legislature marks a crucial step forward for the health, development and learning of Washington's children," said Barry Lawson, MD, immediate past president of the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "By phasing out PBDEs, we can safeguard our children from exposures to these persistent toxic chemicals and act on our responsibility to provide them with a healthier future."

"This is truly a case where prevention is essential," said Judy Huntington R.N., Executive Director of the Washington State Nurses Association. "By passing this legislation, we are making vital progress in protecting our state's children, families and workers from permanent yet preventable harm."

Earth Share's 20th Anniversary Feature - Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation

To celebrate Earth Share of Washington's 20th Anniversary (1987-2007), we are showcasing the work of our organizations over the past two decades. Each month, we'll feature a different Earth Share organization, their contributions to making our communities more vibrant & livable, and their efforts to create a cleaner Washington and a healthy planet. In 1987, Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation (then known as Washington Citizens for Recycling) joined a growing coalition of environmental organizations, known at the time as the Environmental Fund of Washington and later to become Earth Share. WCRC was one of the founding 10 organizations in this young and growing coalition.

On Earth Share of Washington's 20th anniversary, Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation celebrates the impact Earth Share and its member organizations have had on the human and environmental health of Washington State. We are very grateful to Earth Share and to all the individuals who donate through their workplace giving campaigns.

In Washington, recycling is now a household word - and a household activity. However, that wasn't the case in 1980 when Washington Citizens for Recycling (now Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation) opened its doors. WCFR was started by a group of citizens who had worked together on a hard fought but unsuccessful attempt to pass a bottle bill in Washington. Those concerned citizens recognized the need for a statewide group that would advocate on behalf of the public interest on solid and hazardous waste issues.

Over the past 20 years, WCRC has worked to enhance recycling and waste prevention through a combination of policy initiatives, education campaigns, and pilot projects to demonstrate the changes they were seeking. In the early years of the organization, they actively engaged in numerous legislative efforts. They also operated a recycling center in north Seattle (before the age of curbside recycling) and ran "recyclathons" that brought media attention to the issues of litter and recycling.

Perhaps their most ambitious and successful early effort, however, was a multi-year campaign advocating for a solid waste management system that would encourage waste reduction and recycling as top priorities. The campaign gained momentum and culminated in the passage of the 1989 Waste Not Washington Act, the nation’s first comprehensive solid waste law. This omnibus law addressed a range of solid waste issues: recycling goals and collection practices for recyclable materials; local planning; problem wastes, including tires and batteries; market development; public education; packaging practices; and more. This influential law set a 50% statewide recycling goal and initiated the activities that made curbside recycling a widespread reality in Washington.

In the 1990’s, WCRC's used motor oil collection program stands out for its creativity and effectiveness. It is also a noteworthy early example of engagement of the retail sector in the takeback of one of the products they sell. From 1990-1994, they pulled together many players to establish a network of retail collection sites for used motor oil at over thirty locations in western Washington. This served as a catalyst for an additional 60 sites statewide. In total, the program diverted nearly one million gallons of used motor oil from polluting Washington's waters in the first 24 months of collection. The program also helped spur the use of re-refined oil by many fleets, thus “closing the loop” between collecting the used motor oil and purchasing the recycled product.

Today, takeback of toxic products by retailers - sometimes funded by manufacturers - is a growing trend. Most notable is the private sector "Take It Back Network" for computers and TVs in King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Yakima Counties. Other private sector collection programs exist (sometimes statewide, sometimes in specific counties) for rechargeable batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, and thermostats.

Over the years, WCRC has continued to advocate for convenient, responsible and expanded recycling. Washington's recycling rate, which was 15% in 1986, has risen to 44% in 2005. While still short of the state's 50% recycling goal, the success of recycling programs has caused some people to ask, “What's left to do?” The answer is, "Plenty!" Individual waste generation is continuing to rise (from 6.7 pounds per person per day in 1993 to 7.9 pounds in 2005). Much recycled material is actually "down-cycled" – made into products that will be thrown away when we’re done with them. And, many products contain toxics, making them more difficult and risky to recycle.

We can learn a lot from the citizens who banded together to pass a bottle bill in the late 70’s and went on to create WCRC. Bottle bills were early precursors of an idea that is now beginning to emerge in the United States – product stewardship.

Product stewardship signals a sea change. It looks upstream to product design. It also revisits the question, "Who is responsible for the health and environmental impacts of a product – including when it’s recycled or disposed?"

In the past, local governments typically have been responsible for providing disposal or recycling for products. With product stewardship, manufacturers take responsibility for sustainable product design up-front and pay for recycling or disposal at end-of-life. Product stewardship is therefore often called producer responsibility or shared responsibility. Although not well known in the U.S., product stewardship has swept like wildfire throughout the European Union, Canada, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere, and is being applied to many different products such as paint, pesticides, medicines, tires, batteries, thermostats, fluorescent bulbs, and beverage containers.

In early 2006, with WCRC’s leadership and lots of teamwork, Washington passed its first product stewardship law. This is the biggest step forward for recycling in Washington in over a decade and is the most progressive law of its kind in the country. This landmark law creates a manufacturer-financed system for recycling computers and TVs starting in 2009. This will mean free and convenient electronics recycling for all residents, schools and small businesses throughout Washington – in rural and urban areas, and both east and west of the mountains. In addition, when electronics manufacturers pay to recycle their products, they will have a financial incentive to make computers and TVs that are less toxic and easier to recycle.

From curbside recycling to the new electronics recycling law, it's been an exciting and productive 20 years. As WCRC continues advocating for waste prevention and recycling, seeking ways to influence product design will be an essential part of our plan. WCRC looks forward to additional significant strides in the next 20 years as products are designed with recycling in mind.

A Western Screech Owl Returns Home

- By Kevin Mack of Earth Share organization PAWS Wildlife Center

On March 3, 2007 a Western Screech Owl found herself sitting in a familiar wooded area next to a stream along Highway 101 just north of Shelton. For the first time in more than six weeks, she was home. Before that evening, her last flight in the area had occurred on January 13th. It had ended abruptly when the owl collided with the passenger side door of a passing truck. The man who had been driving the truck scooped up the stunned owl, and after two days and several phone calls he transported her to the PAWS Wildlife Center in Lynnwood.

Upon admission at PAWS, the screech owl was assigned the case #07-0031. She was still showing signs of head trauma, and she had a pronounced droop in her left wing. X-rays showed that the bird had broken her left humerus when she collided with the truck. Her wing was wrapped to immobilize the fracture and allow the bone to heal. The owl did not approve. She repeatedly removed her bandage and attempted to use her wing. It became clear that surgical intervention would be necessary in order to immobilize the fractured bone.

On January 19, PAWS wildlife veterinarian Dr. John Huckabee performed surgery on screech owl 07-0031. Dr. Huckabee stabilized the humeral fracture with a steel pin and a small piece of wire (known as "cerclage wire"). Post-surgical X-rays showed that the broken ends of the bone were in excellent alignment. The wing was re-wrapped with a difficult-to-remove bandage, and the owl finally began to recover.

By January 26, the screech owl's bandage was removed. The fracture site was well stabilized by the metal pin and wire, and the bone seemed to be healing very well. At the beginning of February, the owl was examined by veterinary ophthalmologist Dr. Tom Sullivan who determined that she had not suffered any eye damage at the time of her injury. Her prognosis was looking better every day.

On February 6, Dr. Huckabee removed the pin from the owl's humerus. The fracture site was very stable, and the bird seemed to have the full range of motion in her left wing. The following day she was moved to a small outdoor cage, and three days later she was ready to test her newly healed wing in a large flight enclosure.

It took owl 07-0031 some time to regain her stamina, and to condition her newly mended wing. During the first week of her pre-release conditioning, her left wing appeared slightly stiff and weak in comparison to her right wing. The owl's flight steadily improved, and by her third week in the flight enclosure she was flying as if her wing had never been broken. Her treatment was complete and it was time for her to resume her life.

On March 3 the owl exited her transport carrier and took her first free flight since her injury. This time the owl's flight did not end with a sickening thud against a metal door. It ended with a perfect, soft landing on a sheltered cedar branch. The only sounds to be heard were the gurgle of the creek nearby and the occasional passing car on the highway above the slope.

State Legislature Votes for a Healthy Washington

For the past five years, twenty-two Washington-based environmental groups have come together and identified four critical environmental issues and committed to promoting solutions in the state legislature. Known as the Priorities for a Healthy Washington, this collaborative and focused approach is innovative and has proven to be a highly effective and a formidable force for change in the state.

2007 was a banner year for the Priorities. The coalition, led by Earth Share of Washington organization Washington Environmental Council (WEC) and our friends at Washington Conservation Voters, went an unprecedented four for four, as all of the Priorities passed and were signed into law. This is great news. It means a healthier Puget Sound, more money for Washington Wildlife and Recreation Programs, better air quality because of cleaner fuels, and ban on toxic fire retardants – the first of its kind in the nation!

A quick recap of the bills:

Clean-Air/Clean Fuels
The Clean Air-Clean Fuels bill will bring better air quality, reduced petroleum dependence, and a new source of good jobs to Washington. It will help keep Washington’s money in Washington, rather than using it to import gas and oil.

Passage of this bill will lead to 100% biofuels use in state and local fleets by 2015, dramatically increasing the Washington market for cleaner fuels and vehicles. This increased demand for cleaner fuels and vehicles should make both more available to the average consumer, as well as improving air quality.

Under the new regulations, Washington will create the infrastructure and incentives to produce and use biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol, actions which should reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and improve the quality of the air we breathe

Save Our Sound
Puget Sound touches almost all aspects of Pacific Northwest life, from recreational activities to providing livelihoods to the local fishing industry. And Puget Sound is sick. Thankfully, steps are being taken to return the Sound to health by 2020. These steps include a new commitment to action and accountability – real emphasis on making sure all money allocated to restore Puget Sound is part of a smart, coordinated, and prioritized effort.

To best organize these measures, a new agency has been created – the Puget Sound Partnership. This agency will ensure that our tax dollars are used for solutions for Puget Sound which make a difference. It will serve as a command center for all Puget Sound related actions – coordinating and evaluating relief efforts. This new agency and a newly created independent science panel will galvanize Washington’s fight to protect and restore the Sound for generations to come.

$100 Million for Wildlife and Recreation Programs
Included in this year’s budget was a big win for everyone who enjoys Washington’s outdoors. Priorities for a Healthy Washington lobbied hard and succeeded in having $100 million included for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) over the next two years.

This was a huge step, as the valuable programs administered by the WWRP have suffered from a stagnant budget since 1990, despite Washington’s dramatic population growth of 25% in the same period. The funds will support 135 projects, including new state and local parks, shorelines and wildlife habitat, plus the state's first ever funding for a farmland preservation program.

Eliminating Toxic Flame Retardants
Washington is the first state in the nation to ban all types of toxic flame retardants (PBDEs). Despite the existence of safer alternatives, until now, many manufacturers have used PBDEs in ordinary household products: televisions, computers, furniture, and carpeting. Unfortunately, like other toxic substances like mercury, PBDEs build up in the food chain and levels detected in humans, animals and the environment are sharply increasing. Exposure to PBDEs can negatively impact learning, memory and behavior. Thanks to Priorities legislation, Washington state will begin the process of ending PBDE usage.

While we’re only halfway through 2007, WEC and our partner groups are already thinking about the 2008 legislative session. To learn more about the Priorities and to get involved in the effort to make them a reality, visit www.environmentalpriorities.org.

Earth Share's 20th Anniversary Feature - Washington Trails Association

To celebrate Earth Share of Washington’s 20th Anniversary (1987-2007), we are showcasing the work of our organizations over the past two decades. Each month, we’ll feature a different Earth Share organization, their contributions to making our communities more vibrant & livable, and their efforts to create a cleaner Washington and a healthier planet. In 1987, Washington Trails Association joined a growing coalition of environmental organizations, known at the time as the Environmental Fund of Washington and later to become Earth Share. WTA was one of the founding 10 organizations in this young and growing coalition.

Washington Trails Association (WTA) is the voice for hikers in Washington state. WTA protects hiking trails and wildlands, takes volunteers out to maintain our trails, and promotes hiking as a fun and healthy way for people to explore the outdoors.

WTA first began with Signpost, a grassroots magazine started in 1966 by guidebook author Louise Marshall as a way for trail lovers in the Northwest to share their backcountry adventures and trail conditions. It soon became much more than a magazine, and under Louise’s leadership it evolved into Washington Trails Association, a community of hikers speaking out for trails and wildlands. The late hiking guidebook author Ira Spring was also an instrumental force in the creation of WTA, serving on its Board of Directors from 1982 until his passing in 2003.

WTA still publishes a magazine for hikers, now under the name Washington Trails. And the trip reports hikers shared with each other in Signpost are still one of the most-used hiker resources out there--the trip reports section of WTA’s website. In fact, WTA’s dynamic website launched in 1995 and was an early model, long before the days of Wikipedia, of how website users can contribute and share content through its photo gallery, trips reports, and online trail guide. The website has continued this legacy in recent years through the launch of the Signpost blog (named as a tribute to the earlier magazine) and online storm damage map and database.

Over the past two decades, WTA has been at the forefront of trail issues in our state, continuing to build on its legacy of advocacy and stewardship for hiking trails and wildlands. One of WTA’s most successful accomplishments began as a modest idea of WTA’s former executive director, Greg Ball. He envisioned connecting hikers directly with the stewardship of the trails they traveled on. In the early 1990s, as trail budgets began to wane, a backlog of trail maintenance repairs piled up. WTA responded by creating its volunteer trail maintenance program. Although it had humble beginnings, the program grew quickly. That first year, in 1993, volunteers completed 250 hours of trail work on National Parks and Forest trails; in 2006 volunteers logged 75,000 hours. It’s now the largest program of its kind in the nation.

Hiking trails and wildlands in Washington state have benefited tremendously from the sharp increase in volunteer stewardship and trail maintenance on our public lands, especially in light of diminishing trail budgets. “Without the WTA trail volunteers, we would barely be able to keep a lot of trails open," said Gary Paull, wilderness and trails coordinator for the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Over the past decade, WTA has added week-long Volunteer Vacations to its program, youth trail maintenance for high school students, and expanded regionally to host trail maintenance work parties throughout the Cascades and Olympics.

Speaking out for hiking trails has always been a key component of WTA’s core mission. WTA weighs in on a variety of issues that impact hikers, from trail funding to wilderness protection to forest planning. In the late-1990s WTA mobilized a large-scale lobbying effort to reform a state trail-funding program that was unfair to hikers. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people explore Washington's parks and forests by hiking, backpacking, sightseeing, mountain biking, and using stock like horses and llamas. They contribute millions of dollars annually through a gas tax to the state NOVA (Non-Highway and Off Road Vehicle Activities) program, but received only a small percentage of the benefit in grants to maintain hiking trails. Recognizing the disparity of the NOVA program allocations, WTA and other representatives from all recreational trail users came together and developed a consensus solution that reallocates NOVA funds to more fairly benefit the trail users that pay into the NOVA program. After many years of strategic advocacy in this effort, a bill to enact this solution was passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor in 2004. As a result, NOVA funding for non-motorized recreation increased by more than $1 million each year.

It’s been fourteen years since Washington Trails Association hosted its first TrailsFest, an outdoor extravaganza packed with fun for all ages. For its first several years, the event was held indoors at Seattle Center, but WTA moved TrailsFest into the great outdoors in 2002 to the shores of Rattlesnake Lake near North Bend. Moving the event outside allowed attendees to experience many hands-on outdoor activities like hiking, rock climbing and kayaking, while still visiting with dozens of outdoor exhibitors and gear companies and attending workshops on everything from predicting mountain weather to hiking with kids. The event targets both novice and avid hikers of all ages, offering a little something for everyone who enjoys exploring outside. This year, WTA’s fourteenth TrailsFest takes place Saturday, July 21.

Our mountains and forests are big enough to provide us with a lifetime of outdoor adventure and exploration, but we need trails to get us there. Washington Trails Association plays a unique role in Washington’s environmental community, bringing enthusiasts for recreation and conservation together to protect the awesome wild places we love to explore, and to protect the opportunities for people to enjoy them.

Dive In - The Mud's Great

- By John Daly, Alliance For Puget Sound Shorelines

Most parents would discourage their kids from getting their hands dirty and tracking mud into the house, but a new campaign to clean up Puget Sound is, surprisingly, pushing people to do just that. MudUp, a bold and fun new campaign to engage the public in protecting and restoring the Sound, was launched May 31 by the Alliance for Puget Sound Shorelines (a joint effort with Earth Share organizations The Nature Conservancy, People For Puget Sound and The Trust for Public Land).

Everyone who cares about the health of Puget Sound can now get in on the action. We all have a big stake in the Sound, and we’ve seen the effects of increasing pollution and disappearing habitats on our precious marine life. Seventy-five percent of the Sound’s salt marsh habitat has been destroyed, and only about 10 percent of our shoreline is open to the public. Native plants and wildlife have had to “move over” for human development like bulkheads that now edge about one-third of the total Puget Sound shoreline, resulting in damaged beaches and estuaries. (See State Legislature Votes for a Healthy Washington above for promising new measures to protect the Sound).

The idea behind Mudup.org is an online web portal that works as a one-stop-shop for Puget Sound cleanup events and activities. Through Mudup.org more people can get involved in hands-on cleanup events like removing invasive species, cleaning up beaches and planting native plants. All of this restoration will eventually lead to healthier near shore habitat for us and for our children.

But if you don’t feel like getting your hands dirty, web users will also be able to find out how to attend lectures, go on field trips, take their kids on treasure hunts and even share their favorite Puget Sound stories, photos and videos (perhaps of the Mud Monster, Puget Sound’s elusive but friendly new mascot?). MudUp emphasizes that there are many different levels of involvement to which people can commit, from sending an email to their representative to participating in cleanup events.

So if you’ve never taken part in a Puget Sound cleanup event before, dive in -- the mud’s great! By June 2009, the program aims to build 10 new parks and natural areas along Puget Sound shorelines, restore 100 miles of shoreline, and protect 1,000 miles of shoreline. It’s time to get dirty for the Sound. To find out how you can take part in MudUp, just go to www.mudup.org.

Earth Share's Day in the Park

Day in the Park is presented by IKEA

When: Saturday, September 29, 2007, 9:30am – 1:30pm

Where: 8 park locations around the greater Seattle Area

• Carkeek Park, Seattle
• Frink Park, Seattle
• Golden Gardens, Seattle
• Grand Ridge Trail, Sammamish
• PAWS Wildlife Center, Lynnwood
• Richmond Beach Strandberg Preserve, Shoreline
• Seahurst Park, Burien
• Seward Park, Seattle

What:
Day in the Park invites volunteers to team up with leading non-profit conservation organizations and community groups for an honest day's work enhancing local parks. Volunteers remove invasive plant species, plant trees & native vegetation, clean up beaches, and rebuild trails. Under the guidance of parks personnel and Earth Share of Washington crew leaders, hundreds of volunteers join together to the values of teamwork and stewardship while having fun and giving back to the community.

Learn more, then register at http://dayinthepark.org/

See you at Day in the Park!

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS: We will send a personalized invitation to your friends, family and/or coworkers on your behalf, inviting them to Day in the Park to join your volunteer team -- http://www.dayinthepark.org/tell_more.html

Earth Share's 20th Anniversary feature - Puget Soundkeeper Alliance

To celebrate Earth Share of Washington's 20th Anniversary (1987-2007), we plan to showcase the work of our organizations over the past two decades. Each month, we'll feature a different Earth Share organization, their contributions to making our communities more vibrant & livable, and their efforts to create a cleaner Washington and a healthy planet. In 1987, Puget Sound Alliance (later to become Puget Soundkeeper Alliance) joined a growing coalition of environmental organizations, known at the time as the Environmental Fund of Washington and later to become Earth Share. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance was one of the founding 10 organizations in this young and growing coalition.

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance (PSA) was founded in 1984 to protect and preserve Puget Sound by tracking down and stopping the discharge of toxic pollutants into its waters. PSA is the only organization that actively monitors and patrols the waters of Puget Sound to detect and document sources of illegal pollution. While this is not their only approach to conservation efforts in the Sound, it is one of their greatest strengths. PSA is part of the Waterkeeper Alliance founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the fastest growing environmental movement in the world. These keepers act as stewards for their rivers, lakes, bays, sound, or coast.

Pollution prevention is ultimately cheaper and better for the environment than superfund cleanups. Their short-term goal is to turn off pollution one pipe at a time by taking legal action against permit violators, reviewing pollutant discharge permits, monitoring on the water, expanding their coverage of Puget Sound, reporting and responding to incidents of pollution, and educating and empowering businesses and citizens to get involved in protecting Puget Sound.

Over the past two decades, PSA is proud to have an ongoing track record of success:

1. LEADING THE REGION'S EFFORTS TO ADDRESS STORM WATER POLLUTION - Just since 2002, PSA has successfully reduced storm water pollution from over 2,000 industrial facilities and construction sites. Despite being a primary source of Puget Sound water quality degradation, storm water pollution had historically been largely unregulated, and so PSA has taken the leadership role – by rigorous permit review, monitoring enforcement, and building strong local coalitions - in bringing it under control.
2. EDUCATING AREA RESIDENTS ON WAYS TO PROTECT & PRESERVE PUGET SOUND - Better than addressing pollution after it happens is to educate people on ways to reduce the pollution that finds its ways into the Sound. The following are some of their actions and results over the past two decades:
   • Distributed 50,000 Clean Boating Guides
   • Conducted 2 Lake Union Clean Ups
   • Distributed 2,000 watershed pledge booklets.
   • Partnered with Marine Business Coalition to conduct 10 Ship Canal Clean Ups (Fremont Bridge to the Locks) collecting 12-18 dumpsters of garbage/year
   • Distributed over 5,000 oil absorbs capable of cleaning up 500 gallons of oil each.
   • Worked with King County to create and build EnviroStars, a program with over 500 member businesses demonstrating practices friendly to Puget Sound water quality
3. ENFORCING THE CLEAN WATER ACT - Just over the past 5 years, PSA has filed 40 legal actions to protect Puget Sound water quality; 25 of these actions were citizen suits under the Clean Water Act and 5 were administrative appeals of industrial or storm water permits.

   PSA supports its enforcement activities through regular on-the-water patrols on both the Soundkeeper vessel and kayaks in the central Sound. PSA staff and volunteers patrol 6 times a month during the spring, summer and fall and 4 times a month in the winter. Permit violations are observed, documented and reported on approximately 30% of the patrols. PSA conducts pollution detection trainings 2-4 times a year. In addition, PSA has received over 400 calls on its Pollution Hotline number since its inception. The hotline database is used during the review of draft permits to evaluate ongoing compliance and the need for more BMPs or monitoring requirements. Between the North Sound and Commencement Baykeepers and PSA, most major NPDES permits have been reviewed for compliance with the Clean Water Act since 1999.

4. DISPENSING CLEAN WATER ACT MITIGATION FUNDS TO WORTHWHILE PROJECTS - Successful litigation against Clean Water Act violators delivers not only future compliance, but often “mitigation” funds as well… funds the violator makes available for productive Puget Sound water quality initiatives. Through their successful legal efforts, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance has generated $317,000 in mitigation project funding, benefiting 19 organizations, agencies or municipalities.

Their four program initiatives – monitoring, engagement, enforcement and partnerships – are sharply focused and action-based to address the Washington State Department of Ecology’s number one identified water quality issue facing Puget Sound – polluted stormwater runoff. Stormwater enters the Sound directly through storm drains after rain washes off streets, lawns, industrial facilities and construction sites.

On-the-water monitoring is essential to an effective Keeper program. No other environmental organization or government agency actively monitors and patrols the waters of Puget Sound to detect and document sources of illegal pollution. The Soundkeeper then works directly with the source responsible for the discharge, collaborates with government agencies to resolve the problem, or in ongoing and egregious cases (at times, when our government agencies fail to act), takes citizen enforcement action to stop the pollution at its source. Their citizen lawsuit scorecard against Puget Sound polluters is perfect – over 40 wins and no losses. The visible presence of the Soundkeeper boat out on the water also serves as a deterrent to potential polluters. The goal of the organization is simple: to prevent pollution. Clean water will bring Puget Sound back to life – both above and below the waterline.

For more information, please visit the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance website at www.pugetsoundkeeper.org

CAT Calls for Carbon Cuts

- By Emily Murphy from Earth Share organization NW Energy Coalition

With the federal government showing little leadership on clean energy and climate change, state and local governments are picking up the slack. This February, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire issued an executive order known as the “Washington Climate Change Challenge” setting goals for reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The goals were then codified through passage of Senate Bill 6001, which legally commits the state to reduced carbon emissions.

Developing initial strategies for reducing emissions and building a clean-energy economy is the responsibility the governor-appointed Climate Advisory Team. CAT members include representatives of assorted state interests -- businesses and manufacturers, state and local governments, and various public-interest, faith, labor and environmental groups.

Subgroups called Technical Working Groups or TWGs are now closely examining specific areas such as agriculture, transportation, forestry and energy supply and will forward their recommendations to the CAT. CAT members will evaluate input from the TWGs and the public during its five 2007 meetings, then present a suite of recommended programs and legislative proposals to the governor.

It is critical that the Climate Advisory Team endorse policies and programs that will slash global-warming pollution. To do so, the CAT must base its recommendations on:

• Sound science. Aside from a few well-funded naysayers, the international science community is quite clear that we must reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050 in order to avoid the devastation associated with global warming. While an 80-percent reduction may seem overwhelming, it actually works out to a 2-percent reduction in current CO2 emission each year – a goal that’s well within our grasp.
• Clear legal commitment. Explicit policies and legislation are essential to reducing carbon emissions. In addition to market-based approaches, we must adopt firm, legally binding timelines with clear directives. Combined with natural market mechanisms, this approach will encourage investment and job opportunities in renewable energy, energy efficiency, low-carbon technology, green buildings and smart growth.

The people of Washington have a critical role to play in helping the CAT reach meaningful conclusions. Washingtonians should pay attention to the CAT process and tell team members what they think. A list of participants can be found at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/cat_members.htm.

Washington state has the potential to set a national precedent for a low-carbon economy that benefits both public and private interests. Energy conservation is one of the cheapest and most effective means of avoiding greenhouse gas emissions. Tremendous economic opportunities in efficiency and renewable energy development abound in Washington. And transportation alternatives such as mass transit, biking and carpooling save one pound of carbon dioxide for each mile of driving eliminated. NW Energy Coalition is looking for engaged citizens to become more involved in shaping this exciting new policy.

For more information, please visit the NW Energy Coalition’s website at http://www.nwenergy.org/ or Climate Solutions at http://www.climatesolutions.org/

Earth Share's Day in the Park - September 29, 2007

Day in the Park is presented by IKEA

When: Saturday, September 29, 2007, 9:30am – 1:30pm

Where: 8 park locations around the greater Seattle Area

• Carkeek Park, Seattle
• Frink Park, Seattle
• Golden Gardens, Seattle
• Grand Ridge Trail, Sammamish
• PAWS Wildlife Center, Lynnwood
• Richmond Beach Strandberg Preserve, Shoreline
• Seahurst Park, Burien
• Seward Park, Seattle

What:
Day in the Park invites volunteers to team up with leading non-profit conservation organizations and community groups for an honest day's work enhancing local parks. Volunteers remove invasive plant species, plant trees & native vegetation, clean up beaches, and rebuild trails. Under the guidance of parks personnel and Earth Share of Washington crew leaders, hundreds of volunteers join together to the values of teamwork and stewardship while having fun and giving back to the community.

Learn more, then register at http://dayinthepark.org/

See you at Day in the Park!

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS: We will send a personalized invitation to your friends, family and/or coworkers on your behalf, inviting them to Day in the Park to join your volunteer team --

Bicycle Commuter Specialist Peddles the Case for Bikes

- Submitted by Bobby Mullins from ESW organization Bicycle Alliance of Washington

Bicycle commuter specialist Kent Peterson completed a pedal-powered mission to check on the status of bicycle facilities around the state, meet local cycling advocates and spread the word about bicycles as transportation. Peterson, who combines his love of long-distance cycling with a job as the commute-program director at the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, racked up more than 1100 miles on a multi-county loop.

Peterson set off July 14 on a two-week odyssey that included visits to Port Townsend, Bellingham, Spokane, Walla Walla and Vancouver. In addition to long days on his bike saddle, Peterson scheduled visits to bicycle advocates in communities he pedaled through. Some joined him on the road to talk to him first-hand about the status of cycling in their own communities.

“I wanted to get a sense of what it's like to cycle in various parts of the state - cities, small towns and little country roads. I figured the people who can give me the best information about these places are the folks who live and ride there every day, so I spent a lot of time chatting with local cyclists.” Peterson says. “The issues that might come up in a place like Spokane are very different from those in rural areas like the Methow Valley.”

The information Peterson collected on his cross-state journey was used by the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, a Seattle-based group that represents the interests of bicyclists all over Washington. The group works with law-makers in Olympia to ensure that transportation plans include provisions for bicycles and addresses safety issues.

"As a state-wide group, it's really important that we know what kinds of problems local communities are dealing with," says Bicycle Alliance executive director Gordon Black. "An issue that is a barrier to bicycling in one city might well have been satisfactorily solved in another community. Kent's trip will allow us to gather information and at the same time strengthen our connections with groups all over the state."

Kent Peterson provided the Bicycle Alliance with updates from the road via phone calls, digital photos and blog entries. His complete trip report can be read at the Bicycle Alliance website at: http://www.bicyclealliance.org/, or follow his trip blog:
http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html

Potential Alpine Lakes Wilderness Addition Considered

- Submitted by Nalani Askov of ESW organization Washington Wilderness Coalition

Middle Fork Valley - At an August 8 event held at the Middle Fork (Snoqualmie River) Campground, Congressman Dave Reichert announced his intention to introduce legislation that would add to the existing Alpine Lakes Wilderness area and designate the Pratt River as a Wild and Scenic River. Washington Wilderness Coalition and a host of other conservation groups joined local stakeholders and elected officials in highlighting conservation opportunities in the remaining wild forests and rivers in the 8th congressional district.

Washington Wilderness Coalition’s Conservation Director Tom Uniack facilitated the event which featured statements from Congressman Reichert, King County Executive Ron Sims and several representatives from the conservation and recreation communities. Following the announcement, more than 40 elected officials, members of the media and local stakeholders participated in a tour highlighting the values of this remarkable area.

“This is an exciting time for Wilderness in Washington,” said Uniack. “We have worked for new wilderness legislation in Washington for more than two decades and this fall we could have two efforts making their way through Congress. The Wild Sky Wilderness campaign has really shown what is possible when our champions come together in a bipartisan collaborative effort." The Wild Sky Wilderness, which lies north of Index, awaits approval by the U.S. Senate, which is expected this fall. President Bush says he will sign the legislation.

The Alpine Lakes Wilderness was designated by Congress in 1976. The designation permanently protected what has become one of the nation’s most popular wilderness destinations. Unfortunately, some of the region’s most important low-elevation forests including the Pratt, Middle Fork and South Fork Snoqualmie Valleys were left out of the 1976 proposal. These areas are truly the backyard wilderness for the millions of people who live in the Puget Sound basin, providing world-class recreation and ensuring the region's clean water and environment. During the past 30 years, local grassroots supporters have continued working to see these spectacular low-elevation forests protected.

In addition to the wilderness protections, Congressman Reichert also expressed his intention to designate the entire Pratt River as a Wild and Scenic River. This designation will ensure that the Pratt River is fully protected, securing critical habitat for cutthroat trout, elk, mountain goats and many other species. Wild and Scenic designation will also ensure that recreational opportunities on the river including unique backcountry kayaking and world-class hiking can continue, while safeguarding clean water resources for hundreds of thousands of local residents.

"The Pratt is one of the last pristine rivers in western Washington. It is a rare and special thing to have a wild river so close to an urban area, and it’s rivers like the Pratt that make living in the Pacific Northwest so special," said Bonnie Rice, associate director for conservation for the Northwest office of American Rivers. "A Wild and Scenic designation would protect the Pratt’s clean water, fish and wildlife, and recreation opportunities for future generations. There is no question the Pratt deserves to join the ranks of Washington’s other great Wild and Scenic rivers, like the Skagit and White Salmon.”

Congressman Reichert has indicated his intention to introduce legislation to protect the Pratt after Congress returns from recess in September.

Earth Share of Washington News & Notes - October 2007

At a time of renewed public interest in our environment - nearly three-quarters of Americans (73%) consider global warming a threat to human life on earth, according to an August, 2007 Newsweek poll – this is an ideal time to support Earth Share of Washington through the workplace.

As you probably know, we are best known for helping build effective employee giving programs at government and corporate workplaces throughout the state. We expect to participate in more than 100 events this fall promoting our member organizations and their work. This year, Washington Mutual selected Earth Share as one of its featured charities in its giving program, and we’re thrilled that thousands of WaMu employees will learn more about outstanding conservation activities in their communities and around the planet.

It may surprise you to know our "administrative percentage" – the dollars we spend for management and fundraising vs. our revenue – is 3.1%, one of the lowest in the industry. We take pride in our efficiency. If your workplace conducts a giving program, please consider supporting Earth Share of Washington.

William Borden
Executive Director

A Record Year for Earth Share's Day in the Park

What began many years ago with a handful of volunteers at Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island, Day in the Park 2007 hosted over five hundred volunteers working together at a record eight locations in the greater Seattle area.

Park restoration projects included a beach & dune clean up at Golden Gardens in Seattle, construction of a new hiking trail at Grand Ridge in Sammamish, and the ongoing battle to remove invasive plants like English Ivy & blackberry bushes at almost all of the parks. Volunteers accomplished in one day what would take weeks for the parks staff. "At Seward Park, we have very small staff and many ongoing [restoration] projects," said Seattle Parks Naturalist Christina Gallegos. "We rely on volunteer groups from Earth Share of Washington ... to care for the park."

Day in the Park invites volunteers to team up with leading non-profit conservation organizations and community groups for an honest day's work enhancing local parks.

"Earth Share of Washington is one of the only organizations bringing together businesses, community groups, and conservation organizations under its umbrella," remarks Earth Share of Washington Program Director David Manelski. "Inspiring people to volunteer at local parks is part of our mission… to support livable communities and a healthy planet."

Specific accomplishments and event photos from Day in the Park 2007 will soon be posted on the official website – www.dayinthepark.org.

Earth Share's Day in the Park is made possible by generous support from IKEA, the principal sponsor of the event for the past four years.

Conservation Group Works to Protect Mount St. Helen's National Monument

- Submitted by Kay Crider from Earth Share of Washington (ESW) organization Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics

The Mount St. Helen's National Monument, established by President Reagan in 1982, showcases the remarkable natural recovery of the landscape impacted by the famous May, 1980 eruption. The monument designation protects the cool, clean water that was choked by logs and sediment just two and a half decades ago.

The waters of the Mount St. Helen's Monument are threatened by a giant gold and copper mine recently proposed within the monument. The proposed mine site, located in the Green River Valley below Goat Mountain, was originally acquired by the Trust for Public Land as a conservation easement. The Trust later sold the land to the U.S. Forest Service, which purchased the site with money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. That Fund is intended to protect lands from resource extraction and create a legacy of high quality recreation areas. See http://www.nps.gov/ncrc/programs/lwcf/

Mining in the Green River Valley risks impacts to threatened salmon and steelhead runs and drinking water for the nearby communities of Kelso, Longview and Castle Rock. The drainage methods proposed for this area also risk the release of toxins like sulfuric acid into rivers and streams. Mining activities, including truck traffic, will degrade popular recreation destinations like the Goat Mountain Trail and the Green River Horse Camp. Finally, the mine would spill over into the Tumwater roadless area, protected by the Clinton Roadless Rule.

The Green River Mine would be in operation for 5-30 years, but the potential environmental impacts could persist for more than a century, far longer than it took the forests and waters surrounding Mount St. Helen's to recover from a volcanic eruption.

Earth Share of Washington member group, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (FSEEE), recently filed detailed comments on the mining proposal, detailing the reasons why the mine does not conform to the National Monument Plan or the Northwest Forest Plan. In addition, FSEEE emphasized the primary purpose for the U.S. Forest Service’s acquisition of lands in the area: preservation of the integrity of the Green River and its recreation opportunities for Washington citizens.

Northwest Solutions to Climate Change - Part 1 of 2 - Explaining Cap & Trade

- Submitted by Jesse Stanley from Earth Share organization NW Energy Coalition

In this two-part series, we will be featuring articles from two Earth Share of Washington organizations – NW Energy Coalition and Climate Solutions – offering potential solutions to the climate crisis. Part one delves into some of the strategies to lower CO2 emissions while part two outlines some specific legislation that makes up one of this year's Priorities for a Healthy Washington.

Global warming, and global-warming solutions, will dramatically affect Washington state residents in the coming years and decades. The state's coastal areas and shoreline cities are threatened by rising sea levels, and much of our electrical power - not to mention irrigation and municipal water supplies and other Columbia River benefits - depends on already diminishing mountain snow pack.

Thus, it's no accident that in the absence of a comprehensive federal approach, Washington is in the vanguard of states responding to the climate change challenge. The state has passed aggressive renewable energy and conservation standards and set limits on the amount of global-warming pollution that power plants serving its residents are allowed to emit.

And now Washington has assumed leadership of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), an association of states and provinces that have collectively committed to substantial reductions in total emissions of carbon dioxide and other climate-changing emissions. The WCI's current task is to fashion a regional “cap-and-trade” system to help achieve the reduction goals. Staff from the NW Energy Coalition, many of its member organizations and from other environmental and energy organizations are involved in helping to refine a proposal for release next August.

While the term "cap-and-trade" is being tossed around quite a bit these days at both the local national levels, it’s a hard concept to get your arms around. Basically, cap-and-trade systems are market-based approaches to reducing greenhouse gases. Government would impose a cap on total greenhouse emissions (principally carbon dioxide) and gradually lower that maximum. Government would distribute allowances – basically pollution permits – equal to the cap. Trading in those allowances is where the market comes in. Those with extra allowances could sell them to those wishing to pollute more than their permits allow.

Allowances would become valuable commodities. Businesses and utilities would save money by having to buy fewer of them, or make money by selling those they don’t use. An electric utility that reduces its global-warming emissions through investing in energy efficiency or clean renewable power could sell its freed-up allowances in the market.

Why do we need cap-and-trade in the electricity sector in Washington when we’ve already passed a clean-energy initiative and greenhouse-gas emissions performance standards? These laws work well for NEW electric generation decisions, but they have limited effect on existing fossil fuel plants.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council recently noted that coal-fired power plants produce 80 percent of the region’s generation-related CO2 emissions. It says cutting climate emissions by at least 70 percent of 1990 levels by 2050 will require both aggressive development of conservation and renewables AND closure of all Northwest coal plants.

A well-designed cap-and-trade system for the electric sector could achieve that goal. We need a robust public debate because a fair and effective system requires some difficult decisions. For example:

1. Who gets the credits? Allowances can be granted to power generators based on their plants' emissions, or to utilities based either on the emissions created in producing the power that serves their customers, or simply on the amount of power they sell. The latter choice rewards utilities, such as Seattle City Light, for having relied primarily on hydropower. Their customers will benefit from sales of unneeded allowances to relatively carbon-heavy utilities, such as Puget Sound Energy. That satisfies the "polluter pays" principle, but is it fair to Puget customers, who have no choice about which utility serves them?
2. Free or auction? Auctioning off allowances makes polluters pay and gives them greater incentive to reduce emissions. But again, what’s the effect on consumers, especially those struggling financially, when rates rise to cover their utility’s emission permits? Revenue from the auction might be used to assist low-income consumers and spur clean-energy development.

Among the myriad other issues that merit public discussion are the rate of ramping down the cap, potential purchase of offsets in place of direct reductions, and avoiding the export of pollution and jobs to other countries. The questions aren't easy to answer, but we must address them and construct a fair and effective means to slash carbon emissions . . . and do it soon.

For a more in-depth discussion of cap-and-trade issues, you may watch a debate on the subject between two noted Western energy experts, Ralph Cavanagh of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Microdesign Northwest consulting economist Jim Lazar, which was recorded at the NW Energy Coalition's fall conference this October. See the debate at www.nwenergy.org/blog.

American Forests Pledges Support to Restore Wildfire-Stricken California

Earth Share of Washington organization American Forests wants to match $2.8 million already in place for planting over 5.5 million trees

A nonprofit group awarded nearly $3 million to plant trees in California announced today it was launching a fund to double that amount to reforest fire-scarred areas of the state.

American Forests, the nation's oldest nonprofit conservation group, was awarded $2.8 for tree planting earlier this year, in a settlement with ConocoPhillips. The nonprofit also announced it is forming a task force to determine where to plant the trees and the best species to locate there.

"Our hearts go out to all those in California who have lost so much in these fires," Executive Director Deborah Gangloff said. "As soon as assessments have been done and planting can proceed, we are ready to help the state begin the healing process. And that process begins with trees."

American Forests' Global ReLeaf program has planted more than 27 million trees in the U.S. and around the world. Of those, more than 800,000 have been planted in California since 1991, with more than 500,000 planted to reforest wildfire-stricken areas. Each $1 donation plants 1 tree.

"Our California Wildfire ReLeaf Fund is now accepting money to match the $2.8 million we were awarded. We appreciate the trust that has been placed in us and are eager to begin the process of healing the land with trees," Gangloff said.

American Forests’ mission is to grow a healthier world with trees. Through community-based initiatives we help people understand the many values of trees and restore forest ecosystems in urban and rural areas. Our work encompasses tree planting, urban forestry, environmental education, and community-based forestry. American Forests is on the World Wide Web at www.americanforests.org.

On the Water (Trail) with Lewis & Clark

- By Reed Waite of Earth Share organization Washington Water Trails Association

On a June morning in 2001 Washington Water Trails Association member Bob Burco, visiting eastern Washington, walked into the Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District office and asked a simple question. "Why is it that all the Lewis and Clark signs I see are on the highways, when in fact they traveled on rivers?" Phil Benge, Corps recreation planner, didn’t have an answer that morning.

On the sunny afternoon of August 27, 2007 in Cascade Locks, Oregon, Phil Benge had the answer to the question - a 367-mile water trail beginning at Canoe Camp on the Clearwater River in Idaho and flowing down the Snake and Columbia Rivers through Washington and Oregon. The route ends at Bonneville Lock and Dam, miles downstream from his Walla Walla office, where four national agencies and numerous state and local organizations held a signing ceremony pledging to work together on the Northwest Discovery Water Trail. Congressman Brian Baird was among the speakers to herald the good news of so many entities working together to build a better future on the water.

Linked at Bonneville with the Lower Columbia River Water Trail, the two form a 500-mile river highway for boaters wanting to explore native American trade routes, numerous wildlife refuges, historic towns, and the path the Army Corps of Discovery, under Lewis and Clark, traversed over 200 years ago.

The Northwest Discovery Water Trail (www.ndwt.org) MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) signing culminated over 5 years of planning. During this time a steering committee conducted public meetings and workshops from Orofino, Idaho to Portland, Oregon and identified 200 sites along the three rivers suitable for camping, picnicking and launching motorized- and non-motorized boats. The goals of the Northwest Discovery Water Trail include improving public launch and landing sites and other facilities that support the water trail user, promoting boating safety, commemorating water trail heritage, and supporting environmental stewardship along the trail.

At the first public meeting in Richland in November 2001, participants requested the Army Corps of Engineers, with its extensive shoreline property, lead the effort. Others offered help and many partners – a library district, paddle clubs, parks, and community groups – brought their energies to the project. Washington State Parks won technical assistance from the National Park Service Rivers and Trails Program and funding for trail markers. The Nez Perce Tribe and nine partners conducted a cleanup on the Clearwater, removing rusting car chassis from the shore. The Army Corps of Engineers published a trail guide, visual aids, and bookmarks. Washington Water Trails Association (WWTA) members donated $25,000 to fund planning efforts for the water trail system that crosses the width of the state.

Joining Washington Water Trails Association as MOU signatories are the Army Corps of Engineers; US Forest Service, Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership, National Park Service, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, Idaho State Parks, Oregon State Parks, Oregon State Marine Board, U.S. Coast Guard, and Columbia Riverkeeper. "Each organization agreed that strategies should focus on what is best for the users of the water trail,” said Patricia Williams, Natural Resources Chief for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Portland. "That focus highlights the water trail and not the individual agencies' goals and supports what is important for the water trail's success."

The next steps are completing a multi-agency management plan, finishing marking the trail on riverbanks, and ground-truthing information collected during six years of planning. In September and October BLM and Army Corps employees placed signs on the Clearwater reach of the trail and mid-Columbia.

Northwest Solutions to Climate Change - Part 2 of 2 - Building the Clean Energy Economy

- Submitted by Patrick Mazza of Earth Share organization Climate Solutions

In this two-part series, we feature articles from two Earth Share of Washington organizations -- NW Energy Coalition and Climate Solutions -- offering potential solutions to the climate crisis. Last month’s article delved into some of the strategies to lower CO2 emissions, while part two outlines some specific legislation that makes up one of this year's Priorities for a Healthy Washington.

Climate Solutions readies a plan to reduce global warming pollution and build the clean energy economy

Climate Action legislation will be one of the environmental community’s four top priorities for the 2008 legislative session, and Earth Share of Washington organization Climate Solutions will take a leading role in developing clean energy solutions for Washington state.

The Washington Climate Action bill will put in place an implementation plan to meet global warming pollution reduction goals announced by Gov. Chris Gregoire and reaffirmed by the Legislature in 2007 (with passage of SB6001). Enacting a global warming pollution reduction plan will set priorities for Washington state and local public agencies as they make crucial decisions on transportation and energy. It will also create the legal groundwork for the state to take part in the carbon cap and trade system being negotiated among western states and allied jurisdictions in the Western Climate Initiative. In addition, a firm climate commitment by Washington, the second largest state in the Western U.S. with the West’s third largest metropolitan area, will send a powerful message to the nation – building support for enactment of strong climate legislation in the U.S. Congress.

A firm commitment to reducing global warming pollution is important for the Washington economy as well. It will send a strong signal that new markets are opening for low emissions technologies. This will draw investment and help build Washington’s budding clean technology sectors including energy efficiency, smart electric power grids and advanced bio-energy. Economic modeling of California’s binding cap enacted in 2006 finds that by driving new investments in efficiency and innovation, the cap could add up to 89,000 new jobs and $74 billion annually to the California economy by 2020. Clear limits on global warming pollution will drive similar economic benefits for Washington.

In fact, leadership in the clean technology economy is closely tied limiting global warming pollution. Around the world, the countries that have adopted strong limits on greenhouse gases are leading the way in transforming their economy. The two regions of the country that already have enacted caps, California and the Northeast, are drawing more than half the nation’s clean technology investments. Massachusetts, with a population slightly larger than Washington state, has garnered the largest share of Northeast clean tech venture funding.

Legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr, who helped Google and Intuit start up, notes, "Green technology is bigger than the Internet. It could be the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century." That is part of the reason he was one of the leading voices for passage of the California’s groundbreaking legislation limiting climate pollution. For him, transforming our fossil fuel economy to clean energy sources is not only a moral imperative: "It's good for the California economy." As new economy guru Thomas Freedman has noted, “In pushing our companies to go green we are spurring them to take the lead in the next great global industry -- clean power.”

Legally binding limits on global warming pollution will be good for the Washington economy, not to mention the planet and our children’s future. It will place Washington in the front rank of states working to cool down global warming, and help move the nation as a whole in that direction. Climate Solutions will be working to make sure legislation that puts our state in the lead on climate passes in the 2008 session.

To learn more about the Washington environmental community’s Priorities for a Healthy Washington, visit www.environmentalpriorities.org. Look for a comprehensive review of the top 4 2008 legislative priorities in the January 2008 edition of The Earth Page.

A Tidal Force to Restore Puget Sound Shorelines

- By Melinda Milner of Earth Share organization The Nature Conservancy

What a difference a year makes. The Alliance for Puget Sound Shorelines kicked off officially more than a year ago. Since the campaign began, the Conservancy and its partners have made major strides toward their ambitious goals.

10 new parks and natural areas
The Conservancy recently purchased 28 acres of uplands and a one-half interest in 30 acres of tidelands in Tarboo-Dabob Bay on Hood Canal, the first acquisition in pursuit of the Alliance’s goal to create 10 new parks and natural areas around the Sound.

Tarboo-Dabob Bay has one of the largest and best examples of undisturbed saltmarsh estuaries and shorelines remaining in Puget Sound. Stands of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and western red cedar cover the uplands, while overhanging vegetation and natural landslides supply shade and new sediment to the beaches. The tidelands and shallow waters near the shore provide key rearing habitat for juvenile salmon. Pacific sand lance and surf smelt—small fish that are a crucial part of the Sound’s food web—spawn on the undisturbed beach. Olympia oysters, dabbling ducks, brant, loons, and western and red-necked grebes also call the bay home. Although the bay is largely undeveloped, private timberlands in the area are being converted to other uses.

Restoring 100 miles of shoreline
Summer is prime time for on-the-ground restoration. This summer the Conservancy undertook several restoration projects that show the breadth of restoration actions that will help the Alliance achieve the goal of restoring 100 miles of shoreline around the Sound.

At the Conservancy’s Port Susan Bay Preserve near Stanwood, the Conservancy initiated an experiment to learn whether placing giant tree-sized logs in intertidal channels of the estuary will enhance habitat and benefit juvenile salmon. A helicopter and crew from Columbia Helicopters first dropped concrete ballasts, then ferried large logs--actually, whole trees with rootwads attached--from a nearby staging area and placed each one in careful position next to the ballasts. Ground crews quickly cabled the logs into position.

The next day, project manager Danelle Heatwole and Conservancy colleagues Robert Warren and Roger Fuller went out on the tideflats and discovered that the logs already were having the desired effect of increasing the channels’ complexity. The channel bed was scoured away in new places, and sediment had already started to accumulate in other places. “I was amazed at how dynamic an environment it is out there,” Fuller said.

The Conservancy continues to work with partners to eradicate invasive plants such as Spartina (a saltwater cordgrass introduced to the Pacific Northwest from the East Coast) from Puget Sound shorelines, and restore native Olympia oyster populations where they once thrived. In partnership with Puget Sound Restoration Fund, for example, the Conservancy is doing oyster restoration in Liberty Bay, near Poulsbo, and in Woodard Bay and Eld Inlet, near Olympia.

Promoting public policies that protect shorelines
Improved shoreline regulations in four counties have enhanced protection on more than 500 miles of shoreline. The Alliance has also made progress in pushing for toxic control and cleanup, wastewater and septic management, and efforts to control invasive species.

You can learn more about all these initiatives at www.nature.org/washington

The mud monster wants you to save Puget Sound
Did you know that there are more than 3.5 million people living around Puget Sound? The Mud Monster says it’s time for us to MudUp and do our part to save the Sound.

There are all kinds of ways to MudUp. You can MudUp figuratively, with activities such as writing letters, making phone calls, and letting your public officials know that the health of Puget Sound is important to you. Or you can MudUp literally, by pulling Spartina, helping spread oyster shells, doing a beach cleanup, or inventing your own activity.

Join with the Mud Monster at www.MudUp.org , where you can find a whole host of family-friendly ways to get muddy and help save Puget Sound.

With generous support from The Russell Family Foundation, three organizations--The Nature Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land, and People For Puget Sound--are working together to protect and restore Puget Sound’s ecologically rich shorelines. The three groups, along with many other partners, are creating 10 new parks and natural areas along Puget Sound shorelines, restoring 100 miles of shoreline, and promoting policies that will protect 1,000 miles of shoreline by June 2009.

Developing Transportation Choices in 2008

- By Shefali Ranganathan of Earth Share organization Transportation Choices Coalition

Transportation Choices Coalition seeks to bring Washingtonians more and better transportation choices -- real opportunities to take a bus, take a train, ride a bike, or walk -- as well as drive alone. This year with the support of community groups, businesses and citizens, we were able to educate more than 7000 Washingtonians on transportation issues, increase resources for programs that provide commuters with transportation choices, and change the paradigm for transportation planning in the state with an emphasis on moving people and goods. We were also able to ensure that the new SR-520 Bridge across Lake Washington included a health impact assessment during the design phase. This health impact assessment - the first in the country - will identify and seek to mitigate the impacts of construction that adversely affect public health.

And we’ve still got a lot of work to do. In 2008 - with your help - we will:

• Confront the challenge of climate change by working with citizens, community groups, other environmental organizations and decision-makers to develop and implement innovative transportation policy, such as prioritizing transportation projects that reduce vehicle trips.
• Develop strategies to make more efficient use of our existing roads. These strategies will include comprehensive policy decisions and a public education campaign.
• Work with cities across the state to implement our new Sustainable Cities program, which will create and foster local transportation polices and budget decisions that encourage people to drive less.
• Work to redefine the goals of transportation planning to focus on “moving people and goods” rather than “moving cars” as a means of producing environmentally-sound and community-sensitive transportation projects.

There will be plenty of opportunities to get involved in 2008. You could volunteer, come to monthly educational forums, write letters to the editor, engage with policymakers and much more. If you would like more information on how you can help, please contact Shefali Ranganathan at 206-329-2336 or email shefali@transportationchoices.org.

Focusing for 2006: Priorities for a Healthy Washington

- Submitted by Washington Environmental Council

By working together, the environmental community achieved major wins last spring in the 2005 Legislative Session. A coalition of Washington environmental groups helped pass legislation setting new, cleaner car emissions standards, and they helped establish the nation’s first green building law requiring new public construction to use sustainable materials and design concepts. Passing these bills wasn’t easy, but it was made possible by thousands of environmentally minded people across the state who came together to support these priorities by spreading the word, writing to their newspaper, and calling their legislators to demand change.

This year is no different. The environmental coalition has narrowed their agenda to just a handful of joint priorities for the 2006 legislative session. They’re organizing for energy security, a cleaner Puget Sound, electronics recycling and the elimination of toxic flame retardants. They are also united to defend our state’s land protections. Their shared goal is to have these priorities signed into law in 2006 to ensure that our health and the health of our environment and economy will be protected.

Priorities for a Healthy Washington - 2006

• Promote Energy Independence Through Renewable Fuels. “Biofuels�? – renewable fuels produced using plant materials – can dramatically improve our energy security and agricultural viability by reducing expenditures on imported petroleum and providing a major new market for Washington farm products. Biofuels reduce emissions of global warming pollution, which is a serious threat for our snow pack-dependent region. By replacing some of our gasoline and diesel fuel with renewable fuels, this legislation will increase our energy independence by powering our lives, our jobs and our economy with homegrown fuels.
• Launch Electronic Waste Recycling. Millions of unwanted computers, monitors and TVs are piling up in homes in Washington State, and there are relatively few options available for their safe recycling. These obsolete electronics turn into millions of pounds of “e-waste�? each year, which contains toxic chemicals that are hazardous to human health and the environment. This legislation will give people a simple, free and safe way of recycling their old computers and TVs, creating jobs, conserving valuable resources and protecting public health.
• Clean Up Puget Sound. Puget Sound is in trouble. The water is polluted, our Orcas are endangered, and dead zones have destroyed marine habitat. Unfortunately, a recent Puget Sound Action Team report on the state of the Sound found that the solutions underway and those proposed are not scaled, paced or funded to match the magnitude of the problems the Sound faces. In this first step of our two year priority, we are working to support the Governor’s Puget Sound Initiative and to promote funding for cleanups, water quality improvements and shoreline restoration.
• Protect Kids’ Health by Eliminating Toxic Flame Retardants. PBDEs are persistent toxic chemicals used as flame retardants in countless consumer products including televisions, computers, furniture, and carpet. Chemical cousins of PCBs, these toxic flame retardants are rapidly building up in our bodies, our food supply, and wildlife. Building upon the significant progress made on this issue in 2005, the coalition will work to pass a bill that bans PBDEs, particularly the most heavily used form called “deca�?.

In addition, the defensive priority is to protect our quality of life from efforts to roll back land protections. The Growth Management Act has helped maintain a high quality of life in Washington over the past 15 years even as we have faced dramatic population growth. Unfortunately, these land protections are at risk as irresponsible developers seek to exploit fallout from Oregon’s Measure 37, an attempt to discard land use protections. The environmental community is united to combat this effort by halting the rollback of land use protections, and finding solutions to legitimate problems that hamper effective growth management.

Washington State's environmental community is building bipartisan support for these essential priorities. The public overwhelmingly supports a new generation of protections for our air, land and water, and our elected leaders are starting to respond. Working together, we can create a model for the nation and true legacy for generations to come.

The organizations participating in Priorities for a Healthy Washington are:
American Rivers
Audubon Washington
Center for Environmental Law & Policy
Climate Solutions
Conservation Northwest
Futurewise
Heart of America Northwest
League of Women Voters of Washington
NW Energy Coalition
People for Puget Sound
Puget Soundkeeper Alliance
Sierra Club Cascade Chapter
Transportation Choices Coalition
Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation
Washington Conservation Voters
Washington Environmental Council
WashPIRG
Washington Toxics Coalition

You can learn more about the Priorities for a Healthy Washington by visiting http://www.environmentalpriorities.org/ or by attending the upcoming workshop – see upcoming events listed below.

In short supply: Responsible, Sustainable Water Management for the Northwest's Largest River

- Submitted by Shirley Nixon from ESW organization Center for Environmental Law & Policy

Those who receive tap water from public utilities are sometimes surprised to learn that the source of their water supply could be under stress. Washington’s water history - and indeed the philosophy prevalent when much of the west was being developed - was grounded in the illusion that fresh water resources would always be abundant. “Take whatever water you need! There’s plenty for everyone and everything! First come, first served!�? The “prior appropriation doctrine�? was, and still is, a fundamental principle of western water law. Unfortunately, however, the pressure of population growth is demonstrating that clean fresh water is an increasingly limited commodity. Many of Washington’s streams, rivers and aquifers are today over-appropriated and lack sufficient flows to meet the needs of people and of fish.

The Columbia River is a highly visible example of such over-use; it is also a “poster-child�? for what can go wrong when many diverse interests compete for domination of a scarce and valuable resource. Columbia Basin salmon stocks are in a state of perilous decline – with 12 species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Annual salmon and steelhead runs estimated to be as high as 16 million fish per year during the late 1800’s, have dropped by over 90%. Most fish returning to the Columbia today are hatchery bred; wild salmon are at an all time low. Impaired river flows - caused by too many diversions for out of stream uses (mostly for irrigation), combined with the unnatural conditions created by the many Columbia River dams - are a significant cause of this degradation.

In late 2004, following a long stakeholder-driven effort, former Governor Gary Locke unveiled proposed legislation and a draft Columbia River management rule. Neither of these proved to be politically feasible. Among other reasons, agricultural interests vehemently opposed the idea that all new water users should pay a nominal fee to offset state investments in Columbia River enhancements. The struggle over the river’s fate will undoubtedly continue into 2006. A special web-page is now devoted to this issue: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/cwp/crtfhome.html

The Center for Environmental Law and Policy (CELP) for many years has played a significant role in efforts to move the state toward a more ecologically sound water management policy in the Columbia Basin. Staffed by specially trained public interest water lawyers and water policy researchers, CELP is viewed as the “go to�? group for technical information and policy advice on Columbia River issues. CELP has published a set of eight fundamental principles for shaping future Columbia River policy, and believes that these guiding principles also apply to managing water in all of our beautiful rivers. In short, CELP recommends that the state explore creative ways to improve conditions for fish while at the same time living within the existing water allocation budget (meaning: issuing no new water rights). CELP believes it is possible with everyone’s energy and commitment, to share and equitably allocate water resources and to achieve the goal embodied in CELP’s motto: Leaving a Legacy of Clean, Flowing Waters for Washington.

Read more about CELP and its vision for Washington’s water future at: www.celp.org

New Coal Plant Planned Western Washington Promises Significant CO2 Emissions

A few months ago Energy Northwest, formerly known as the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS), announced its plan to build a new coal plant in Kalama, just south of Longview, Washington. Energy Northwest, an agency comprised of 19 public utilities, is working with the Port of Kalama, which recently approved a 50-year lease for an 80-acre industrial site for the coal plant.

The project has been dubbed the Pacific Mountain Energy Center (PMEC), an idyllic-sounding title that masks the real nature of the proposed facility. PMEC is promoted as an “environmentally friendly�? resource that will bring family-wage jobs and economic development to the Kalama area. It would consist of two 300-megawatt coal-powered plants. Public utilities would finance and get the power from one; private interests would purchase power from the second plant.

Because the $1 billion facility will utilize so-called “clean coal�? technology – specifically integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology – it should produce far fewer pollutants than traditional coal plants do. IGCC technology is effective in dramatically reducing the volume of emissions that cause smog and acid rain, for example.

Traditional coal plants are noted for the tremendous amounts of climate-changing carbon dioxide they produce. But while IGCC technology offers the potential of capturing CO2 for long-term storage, Energy Northwest has decided against installing what would be a very expensive add-on. The agency notes that the technology to permanently store (sequester) the vast amounts of carbon dioxide the plant will emit simply does not yet exist.

That means the plant would dump millions of tons of CO2 into our atmosphere, worsening the global warming that’s already affecting the Northwest’s hydropower supply. Replacing a dirty coal plant with an IGCC plant is one thing; choosing a climate-worsening option over readily available, less costly and truly clean energy options is a great concern.

Energy Northwest officials express commitment to renewable energy and energy efficiency, but don’t believe they will provide enough power to meet growing demand. That belief flies in the face of the energy prescription written by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, the regional energy-planning entity, in its Fifth Northwest Power Plan, released in the past year.

The Council projected the region’s 20-year power needs and evaluated various means of meeting those needs in the most cost-effective way. It first determined that half the growth in demand should be met with energy efficiency. Almost all of the rest, the Council said, should come from renewable energy. The Council’s recommendations reflected the findings of a 2002 NW Energy Coalition-commissioned study that found the Northwest has nearly three times as much potential cost-competitive clean energy as the expected growth in energy demand.

By no means is the Kalama coal plant a done deal. Energy Northwest must secure permits from the state’s Energy Facility and Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC), the “one-stop shopping�? entity for permitting large-scale power plants. Energy Northwest estimates this process will take about 20-months.

The NW Energy Coalition and other advocates of clean, stable and affordable energy see the proposed coal plant as a major step backward for Washington residents. True, coal won’t be burned directly to produce electricity (it will be gasified first), but that does little to reduce emissions of climate-changing gases.

Plus, coal will never be “clean�? as long as it’s mined. The environmental and human health effects of coal mining and transportation are staggering.

Ultimately, wouldn’t we all be better off investing the $1 billion this inadequate facility will cost in renewable energy and energy efficiency? If we care about protecting our pocketbooks, our environment and our health, the answer must be “yes.�?

For more information and to learn how to get involved, contact Lisa Noble-Rennick at (206) 621-0094.

Salvage Logging Rears Its Head Again

- Submitted by Liz Banse from ESW organization Washington Foundation for the Environment

It's mid-winter in the rainy Northwest and only the most avid hikers are hitting the trails. While we are denned up in our homes, Congress is hard at work tinkering with national forest policies that could affect the health of our beloved Northwest forests.

To meddle or not to meddle with nature, that is the question. U.S. Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Brian Baird, D-Wash., are proposing legislation to allow quick logging and replanting after forest fires on National Forest land.

Environmental groups, scientists and others believe this one-size-fits-all approach to managing our nation's forests is not in our best interest. This is a mandate from the federal government that insists we cut trees whether or not scientists or on-the-ground managers think it is appropriate. Plenty of economists, agency officials and conservation groups have made the case over the past decade that this will be a money loser for taxpayers and a management nightmare for the Forest Service. It risks long-term damage to some of our most pristine places and will almost certainly hurt the forests' ability to naturally recover, which they quite often can do better on their own through their unique adaptive traits.

To be sure, it often makes good sense to cut and replant after a fire. However, there will be many instances where logging could go into fragile areas with rare plants, wild salmon streams, few roads and some of our last remaining old-growth trees. Industrial-style reforestation would follow, making the area look and function more like a runaway lawn than the remarkably diverse conifer forest it once was.

A logged over and planted plantation has trees, but it's not the type of place you would want to visit with your family to view wildlife, camp or pick wildflowers. And without proper management, it’s a tinderbox.

A burned forest is still a forest, and our forests have evolved to deal with fire on their own terms. Scientists tell us that burned trees serve a vital role in the forest's web of life. As University of Washington Biology Professor James Karr recently wrote, “These forests have evolved with fire. Periodic fires have been part of a normal cycle lasting thousands of years. Logging a burned forest damages the soil, carrying away nutrients, robbing seedlings of moisture, and clogging nearby streams. Trees in a burned landscape, both dead and alive, continue to provide homes for wildlife after a fire and form the building blocks of new forests. Yet these are precisely the trees that would be burned or hauled away under Baird and Walden’s proposed legislation.�?

"Baird and Walden would have us believe that forests are restored by replanting seedlings. In reality, left alone, a forest with intact soils and the shade of big, even burned, trees will establish, as one informal survey showed, up to four times as many seedlings as a logged area. And the seedlings that recolonize these sites are the descendents of trees naturally selected over many generations to grow in these places."

Northwesterners admire our forests’ ability to flourish in our temperate climate, succumb to disaster, and bounce right back. This is a good example of where nature should be trusted to manage its own affairs.

Note: The Washington Foundation for the Environment is a charitable foundation and does not take official positions on issues, but seeks to educate the public on current events.

Storm Victims Find Help at PAWS

- Submitted by Kevin Mack from ESW organization PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

2006 started off with a bang at the PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center as 57 Western Grebes and one Clark's Grebe arrived from Ocean Shores. Thin and weak, the grebes had been tossed up on the shore by heavy, wind-driven surf. Grebes' legs are specialized for swimming, but they do not work well for standing or walking on land. Once the birds are on the beach, they have extreme difficulty getting back into the water. They also become soiled by sand and dirt, which compromises the waterproofing of their feathers. Even if they do make it back into the water, the birds may return to the beach to avoid hypothermia or drowning. Without help, many slowly starve to death.

At PAWS, the grebes receive very specialized care. Each bird is given a full physical examination and treated for any wounds or injuries. The birds are tube-fed a rehydrating solution and slowly introduced to a richer liquid diet over the course of a few days. They are tube-fed as many as seven times per day during their treatment. PAWS houses the birds in special net-bottomed pens that help prevent them from developing pressure sores when they are out of the water. They are also placed in pools regularly to allow them to preen sand and other debris from their feathers. In the pools, the grebes are offered as much fish as they will eat. Over time, and with a lot of preening, the grebes are able to restore their own waterproofing. If they are having difficulty, the birds are washed to speed up the process.

Once they are entirely waterproof, the grebes stay in water pools around the clock. Their tube feedings may be decreased as they begin to eat more fish on their own. Once they have regained both their health and their strength, they are ready for release. For a species whose population has decreased by as much as 90 percent or more in recent years, every individual that can be returned to the wild is extremely important. It is very possible that the birds that entered PAWS care in January will have been released by the time you read this!

PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is located in Lynnwood, WA (see www.paws.org).