Sims announces Earth Legacy 2000 Program

King County Executive Ron Sims today announced Earth Legacy 2000, a comprehensive set of environmental programs that will serve as a framework for the County’s air, land and water related-efforts. The effort will also involve and recognize the public, community groups and businesses.

“Last month, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of Earth Day. But, the same week, we in King County were faced with decade old environmental problems that are the results of years of neglect,” said Sims. He cited the need for clean up of the Duwamish River and the discovery of continued high levels of heavy metals in the soil as a remnant from the long-closed smelter, as two such problems that will require on-going environmental remediation.

“Every day, we are working on dozens of critically important environmental issues, from clean water and air efforts to land use efforts to ensuring we only leave a better environment for generations to come. Therefore, celebrating an “Earth Day” just one day each year doesn’t seem enough to draw attention to the continued need for environmental safeguards and on-going efforts.

“That is why, with so many groundbreaking efforts being undertaken in King County to preserve our quality of life, I am today, announcing King County Earth Legacy 2000, a program that reflects our on-going environmental efforts. Our focus will be to increase public awareness - not only about our on-going efforts, but also as to how citizens like you and I can get involved. I urge County residents to join us.

“Our goal is simple - make sure King County is as nice a place to live on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day as it is today.”

Earth Legacy 2000 is focused on seven environmental initiatives, Sims said.

EARTH LEGACY 2000 PROGRAM INITIATIVES:

200,000 Trees
King County, in March, helped initiate an effort to plant trees throughout the County. In concert with business and non-profit partners, King County will lead thousands of citizen volunteers who will plant over 200,000 trees in the year 2000 in our County. The results of this planting effort will result in increased public awareness about the importance of reforestation, as well as a sustainable greener, healthier environment for people and for fish.

Forest Initiative
Through a number of incentives and regulations, King County is working to ensure a viable, long-term forestry industry in our region. These efforts will reduce sprawl, retain valuable timberlands, and provide tax incentives for property owners and the permanent retention of large continuous tracts of timberlands for future generations. They include technical assistance foresters, transfer of development credits, forestry education and the work of the Rural Forest Commission.

Wetland Initiative
For the first time in King County, all wetland biologists are coordinating their efforts to ensure consistency in the interpretation of wetland policy and code. An annual King County Wetland Biologist Workshop will be instituted to ensure that all County wetland experts are kept abreast of the latest research and information on this critical issue. King County will also undertake extensive review of existing code in order to identify more efficient ways to manage important wetlands and allowing for continuing responsible development. In addition, a major wetland mitigation bank will be created to allow King County to manage major wetlands on a systematic basis.

Protecting Our Salmon
The listing of the chinook salmon and other fish species under the Endangered Species Act poses a considerable problem for our region -- how will we recover these critical species without jeopardizing our region's economic vitality. King County Executive Ron Sims created the Tri-County Effort to bring together the local governments, tribes, businesses, environmental groups, educational institutions, ports, and utility districts within Snohomish, King, and Pierce Counties to create a regional salmon recovery plan. The Tri-County Effort represents regional cooperation on an unprecedented scale, and is quickly becoming a model for endangered species recovery around the country. The next step is to implement the federal requirements to protect salmon, while ensuring our vibrant regional economy continues to grow.

SmartGrowth
Aggressive growth management and land use policies are spelling success in preventing sprawl, protecting our environment, encouraging vibrant cities and retaining rural lands-making King County one of the country's most beautiful places to live. Through our SmartGrowth Initiatives, we implement policies and programs that ensure water quality improvements, regional transportation strategies for less congestion and reduced air pollution, public health and safety, and retaining the rural legacy. A prime example of our success to date, is that we have reduced rural growth to six percent, while boosting growth in cities to 94 percent, which is unprecedented nationally in older cities and suburbs.

Earth Legacy Programs
King County citizens have a long history of investing in their heritage demonstrated by their support for Forward Thrust, Farmlands Preservation, Open Space Bonds and the Waterways 2000 Initiative. Through innovative programs such as Transfer of Development Credits and the Public Benefit Rating System, we can expand this legacy. The next step is to involve the public in further investment and protecting our native environment while serving as stewards for King County. This will include dozens of Countywide efforts, ranging from native plantings, environmental clean-ups, use of the Wastemobile for household hazardous waste disposal, adopt-a-road programs to using rerefined oil in your car.

Partnerships
Other metropolitan regions, such as the Portland area, face the same type of urban growth pressures as King County. Through collaborative partnerships, information exchange and one-on-one discussions we can learn new techniques from our counterparts across the country. By adapting the most successful of these to King County, we become more efficient in issuing land use permits, protecting the integrity of our natural resources, and becoming a more effective government.

INVOLVEMENT AND RECOGNITION

To recognize the involvement and support from the public, other organizations and from businesses, Sims said he is also instituting a recognition program to honor volunteers and businesses that work with King County in their Earth Legacy Programs.

Youth Involvement and Education
Recognizing that the young people of today will be tomorrow’s environmental stewards, King County will implement an extensive effort to include young people in the preservation of our natural resources. Programs will include direct work with schools, community organizations and non-profits groups. King County will create an educational and volunteer program for youth 11 - 18 years of age, where young people will learn about the importance of environmental stewardship, participate in the planting of 200,000 trees and provide outreach to communities across the County about their experiences.

Earth Registry
Through Earth Legacy 2000 efforts, thousands of new volunteers will join in stewardship activities. A list of volunteers will be created from those who have participated in an Earth Legacy program. The goal is to reach 100,000 volunteers. Volunteers can sign up at any Earth Legacy event and various other locations to be announced later. Information can be found on the Earth Legacy 2000 web page, along with calendar of Earth Legacy 2000 events and an update of our progress on these initiatives.

Earth Hero Program
For the duration of King County’s Earth Legacy Program, two individuals and one organization will be recognized each month for their important contributions to our environment. This effort begins with and relies upon the individuals who work tirelessly to better King County’s environment. By highlighting the achievements of individuals and organizations within our area we hope to inspire others to get involved and also become important stewards of our natural resources. Sims has already named his first individual and corporate Earth Heroes:

Jim Ellis: Widely referred to as “the father of Metro,” that sewer agency that is responsible for cleaning up Lake Washington with efforts beginning in the 1950s; to today, as the creator of the Mountains to Sound Greenway effort, Ellis was named the first King County Earth Hero. Sims said, in honoring Ellis, that “he has become a living hero for his outstanding diligence, integrity and responsiveness to ensuring our air, land, and water is valued and protected for all King County residents.”

Nestlé USA: Owner of Carnation Farms and surrounding open spaces in the Snoqualmie Valley, Nestlé USA donated a major portion of those lands to King County to help preserve the land as rural, but also to further salmon protection in the Valley.