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Oct. 7, 2003
Quiet and tireless environmental heroes honored for significant contributions
King County Executive Ron Sims today honored Ted Barnes, Joan Thomas, Northwest Women Flyfishers and the Bartell Drug Company as King County Earth Heroes for the fall of 2003. The ceremony was to honor the invaluable contributions these heroes have made in protecting and preserving King County's natural environment.
Launched in May 2000, the King County Earth Legacy Initiative celebrates the importance of conserving and enhancing our natural environment. The initiative outlines a number of innovative programs that are working hard to maintain the rich integrity of our region, as well as our high quality of life.
"Our fall Earth Heroes have given selflessly to the cause of environmental protection for the people of this region," said Sims.
"I am truly inspired by the passion, innovation and dedication of our local heroes," Sims continued. "Ted Barnes, Joan Thomas, Northwest Women Flyfishers, and the Bartell Drug Company are incredible leaders who are making environmental preservation a legacy in King County."
Six years ago, Ted Barnes moved to Spring Lake and he had no idea what would be in store for him as a new resident. Spring Lake is a 68-acre lake between Renton and Maple Valley in unincorporated King County. It maintains a rural character that is prized by residents and visitors alike. Roughly one third of the shoreline is King County natural land. Unfortunately, Spring Lake is infested with four species of noxious aquatic weeds listed on the Washington State Noxious Weed list. Learning that these weeds threaten not only the ecology of the lake but also the recreational uses that make it such a popular spot for fishermen and nature lovers, Barnes took action.
Barnes has taken it upon himself to rid Spring Lake of noxious weeds and established himself as an untiring environmental steward in the community. As a concerned resident and president of the Spring Lake Community Club, Barnes has spent countless hours of his own time organizing community members to control noxious weeds threatening the integrity of the lake.
Due to his dedication, Barnes established a partnership between the Spring Lake Community Club, King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks and the Washington State Department of Ecology that has resulted in an Integrated Aquatic Vegetation Management Plan for the lake, a $67,000 grant from the Department of Ecology to control weeds and a multi-year noxious weed control effort that is currently underway. In addition, Barnes talked to nearly all Spring Lake community members to obtain permission for weed control on their lakeside properties and garnered overwhelming support for an increase in the community club dues to pay for lake improvement projects in perpetuity.
Seattle resident Joan Thomas is no stranger to environmental activism and preservation. In 1967, Thomas founded the Washington Environmental Council (WEC), a 3,000-member statewide advocacy organization that works to protect our natural heritage for current and future generations by advocating for improved state protections and better enforcement of existing laws. The WEC works closely with state legislators, officials and community groups to ensure that environmental concerns are heard.
Thomas has continued this legacy as a founding board member of the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition (WWRC). As a current member of the WWRC Executive Committee, Thomas works with the Coalition to secure funding for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program to empower local communities to acquire land for outdoor recreation opportunities and wildlife habitat protection.
In the past, Thomas has been active in efforts to see that all wastewater treatment plants in the Puget Sound region convert to secondary treatment. As a representative of the Puget Sound Legal Defense Fund, Thomas signed the 1991 West Point Settlement Agreement that allowed the treatment plant to be upgraded to provide secondary wastewater treatment. Thomas was active in the Regional Wastewater Services Plan decision-making process. She is a member of the West Point Citizens Advisory Committee that is developing recommendations on how to use settlement agreement dollars to enhance Discovery Park.
Currently, Thomas is active with the WEC and Washington Conservation Voters. She is a Washington State Parks Commissioner, president of the Puget Sound Water Quality Defense Fund and is a Friend of Discovery Park. She is a past president of the League of Women Voters of Seattle and of Washington State.
Northwest Women Flyfishers was formed to create opportunities for women to share their interest in the sport of fly-fishing and to promote the conservation of wild fish and their habitat. For the past ten years, the Northwest Women Flyfishers Conservation Grant Program has funded several dozen fish/habitat conservation projects through various organizations in the Pacific Northwest as well as funded their own Cans for Conservation Project, providing portable toilet facilities at busy fishing destination sites. This organization strives to fund a diverse array of projects including hands-on riparian habitat restoration projects, land purchase for the purpose of wild-lands preservation, and public outreach and educational programs.
To date, Northwest Women Flyfishers has raised and awarded over $120,000 to support conservation efforts to non-profit organizations that have similar conservation goals to those of the organization. Grantees have included The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Lands, Oregon Trout, Adopt-A-Stream Foundation and Washington Trout, to name a few.
In addition to funding conservation projects, Northwest Women Flyfishers provides financial and teaching support to Casting for Recovery, a non-profit program for women who have or have had breast cancer. At weekend retreats, women are taught how to fly-fish. The casting movement restores damaged muscles, and provided with counseling and educational services, promotes mental and physical healing.
In February of this year, the Bartell Drug Company joined King County to collect and safely dispose of 30,000 mercury fever thermometers as part of the "Great Mercury Thermometer Exchange" campaign. To reduce the amount of mercury disposed each year in this region, the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County partnered with local Bartell Drug pharmacies throughout the County to help residents properly dispose of mercury fever thermometers.
Residents discarded their thermometers to 40 pharmacies in King County and exchanged them for a new digital thermometer. Bartell Drug pharmacies then safely disposed of the mercury thermometers as well as voluntarily stopped the sale of mercury fever thermometers in its stores. Mercury is a high priority toxic substance targeted for elimination by the U.S. EPA and the first priority "persistent toxic" targeted by the Washington State Department of Ecology.
In addition to infusing sound environmental business practices into its daily operations, including paper and cardboard recycling in all stores and offices, Bartell Drugs works closely with Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation to recycle small rechargeable batteries. Customers can drop off their batteries at any Bartell Drugs and they are shipped to a recycling center at no charge to the customer.
George H. Bartell, Sr., a 21-year-old pharmacist from Kansas, founded the Bartell Drug Company in 1890 when he purchased the Lake Washington Pharmacy at 2711 Jackson Street. Today, Bartell Drugs is the oldest family-owned drugstore chain in the nation. With its 52 stores, the company is headed by George D. Bartell, grandson of the founder.
Earth Hero nominations are submitted by King County employees. Individuals and businesses in King County that are working to make a positive impact on our environment are selected for their outstanding contributions to maintaining the natural beauty of this region.
Updated: Oct. 7, 2003
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