00:00:06.053 --> 00:00:09.011
[gentle instrumental music]

00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:29.550
- We watchdog the county,

00:00:29.550 --> 00:00:32.730
and to some extent
the state and Feds,

00:00:32.730 --> 00:00:35.460
in our corner of the world,

00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:39.210
and we do what needs
to be done to prevent,

00:00:39.210 --> 00:00:41.610
you know, basically really
bad things happening.

00:00:45.810 --> 00:00:49.768
- It became obvious that issues of

00:00:49.768 --> 00:00:51.826
environmental protection

00:00:51.826 --> 00:00:55.410
are closely related to land use issues.

00:00:55.410 --> 00:00:58.473
The primary land use around here was,

00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:01.893
you know, cutting down
trees and developing.

00:01:03.360 --> 00:01:05.830
- There's money to be made in development

00:01:06.720 --> 00:01:09.630
because populations are expanding,

00:01:09.630 --> 00:01:12.120
people are wanting to
build new houses,

00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:15.900
and so there's always
this development pressure

00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:18.930
swirling around in the background,

00:01:18.930 --> 00:01:22.140
trying to eat up the
open agricultural land

00:01:22.140 --> 00:01:24.123
that makes this place so beautiful.

00:01:25.410 --> 00:01:27.750
- You know, I don't think
we can stop development

00:01:27.750 --> 00:01:29.280
in the way that of,

00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:31.590
we just don't want any development at all.

00:01:31.590 --> 00:01:34.410
But I think we can be extremely thoughtful

00:01:34.410 --> 00:01:35.820
and intelligent about it

00:01:35.820 --> 00:01:38.730
in a way where we're really
focusing on lifting up people

00:01:38.730 --> 00:01:40.260
and the planet.

00:01:40.260 --> 00:01:41.490
- Be there or be square.

00:01:41.490 --> 00:01:44.850
When you're there, they listen to you,

00:01:44.850 --> 00:01:47.040
and changes were made

00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:49.890
based on the things that we had to say.

00:01:49.890 --> 00:01:53.590
- I started dabbling in law,
as it were,

00:01:53.590 --> 00:01:57.180
discovered I seemed to
have an aptitude for it,

00:01:57.180 --> 00:02:00.750
and our first GMA case

00:02:00.750 --> 00:02:02.340
had some effect in Island County,

00:02:02.340 --> 00:02:04.380
but then somebody used it in Skagit County

00:02:04.380 --> 00:02:07.080
and stopped development on a
quarter of a million acres.

00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:11.100
- Steve and Marianne have
helped the public understand

00:02:11.100 --> 00:02:12.450
that every voice matters

00:02:12.450 --> 00:02:15.630
and that it is our job to
protect the quality of life

00:02:15.630 --> 00:02:18.090
that people actually
come here to enjoy.

00:02:18.090 --> 00:02:19.830
And it's been a tireless effort,

00:02:19.830 --> 00:02:21.810
I would say, a David and Goliath effort,

00:02:21.810 --> 00:02:24.623
that's fallen on the shoulders
essentially of two people.

00:02:26.476 --> 00:02:30.559
[percussive instrumental music]

00:02:38.842 --> 00:02:41.460
- When we first became aware

00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:44.820
that there were proposals to log here,

00:02:44.820 --> 00:02:48.750
a friend asked me to come
with him to look at the site

00:02:48.750 --> 00:02:51.450
and decide whether this
was worth fighting for.

00:02:51.450 --> 00:02:53.100
And the conclusion was,

00:02:53.100 --> 00:02:54.813
yeah, it's worth fighting for.

00:02:56.520 --> 00:02:58.500
- We tried to involve Fish & Wildlife.

00:02:58.500 --> 00:03:02.103
We had people studying birds
and looking at watersheds.

00:03:03.060 --> 00:03:06.270
There were hundreds of people
who were writing letters,

00:03:06.270 --> 00:03:07.863
sending petitions.

00:03:08.730 --> 00:03:11.013
We're getting zero, nowhere, nothing.

00:03:12.600 --> 00:03:13.740
It was summer,

00:03:13.740 --> 00:03:17.100
and they were going to log
before the end of the summer.

00:03:17.100 --> 00:03:18.990
And you know, once you
cut a tree down,

00:03:18.990 --> 00:03:20.098
you can't glue it back.

00:03:20.940 --> 00:03:23.523
[percussive instrumental music]

00:03:25.920 --> 00:03:29.190
- When we heard that
the loggers were coming,

00:03:29.190 --> 00:03:30.600
all of us got up very early

00:03:30.600 --> 00:03:32.610
because the loggers
showed up at 6:00 am

00:03:32.610 --> 00:03:34.610
and we had to be there
before they were.

00:03:35.760 --> 00:03:37.740
- Right in the middle of this burn ban,

00:03:37.740 --> 00:03:39.360
when nobody's supposed
to be doing anything,

00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.093
this logging company shows
up and starts cutting.

00:03:43.170 --> 00:03:46.680
150 to 200 people
walked into the woods

00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:48.753
during an active
logging operation.

00:03:51.690 --> 00:03:55.290
- A whole bunch of us literally
danced between the loggers

00:03:55.290 --> 00:03:56.373
and the trees.

00:03:57.930 --> 00:04:00.360
They did lunge at us with those chainsaws,

00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:02.430
but nobody was hurt.

00:04:02.430 --> 00:04:04.173
The trees were not cut down.

00:04:05.370 --> 00:04:08.370
- [Sue] 15 years later,
that forest became part

00:04:08.370 --> 00:04:09.813
of South Whidbey State Park.

00:04:11.670 --> 00:04:15.180
- [Marianne] It made me aware
that anybody, including me,

00:04:15.180 --> 00:04:16.443
can make change happen.

00:04:17.730 --> 00:04:20.077
Somebody has to get up and say,

00:04:20.077 --> 00:04:21.780
"Hey, we can do it.

00:04:21.780 --> 00:04:23.070
"This is bad, wrong, stupid,

00:04:23.070 --> 00:04:24.327
"and we can say no."

00:04:25.650 --> 00:04:28.503
And that gives everybody else permission.

00:04:30.270 --> 00:04:32.340
- It's visible everywhere you go.

00:04:32.340 --> 00:04:36.030
Our community has evolved
differently than other communities

00:04:36.030 --> 00:04:37.740
where there's been a lot more development

00:04:37.740 --> 00:04:39.003
or a lot more logging.

00:04:39.990 --> 00:04:42.450
There's this legacy of
this organization

00:04:42.450 --> 00:04:44.820
that has had such a lasting impact

00:04:44.820 --> 00:04:46.720
over so many years and decades.

00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:49.650
[motorcycle engine rumbling]

00:04:49.650 --> 00:04:51.450
- Time progressed, there was a move

00:04:51.450 --> 00:04:54.000
to stop county spraying on roadsides.

00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.070
We were involved in that.

00:04:56.070 --> 00:04:59.250
And then Trillium arrived in '88

00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:01.410
and started basically,

00:05:01.410 --> 00:05:04.110
you know, practicing
serious industrial forestry

00:05:04.110 --> 00:05:06.273
that people around here
had never seen.

00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:13.530
Island County had its
entire shoreline zoned

00:05:13.530 --> 00:05:16.110
for three and a half houses per acre.

00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:18.600
The county as a whole was
zoned for, I calculated,

00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:20.943
somewhere over 250,000 people.

00:05:23.100 --> 00:05:25.740
- The Growth Management Act, GMA,

00:05:25.740 --> 00:05:29.580
requires that high
density development happen

00:05:29.580 --> 00:05:31.620
inside urban growth areas

00:05:31.620 --> 00:05:35.310
where those urban services
are available,

00:05:35.310 --> 00:05:37.650
and not outside of them.

00:05:37.650 --> 00:05:39.960
- We began filing appeals,

00:05:39.960 --> 00:05:42.167
and, you know, basically winning on them,

00:05:42.167 --> 00:05:43.717
'cause all we had to do is say,

00:05:43.717 --> 00:05:46.980
"The county's not complying
with the Growth Management Act

00:05:46.980 --> 00:05:49.020
"by allowing sprawl development,

00:05:49.020 --> 00:05:51.210
"three and a half houses per acre,

00:05:51.210 --> 00:05:53.880
"around the entire shoreline."

00:05:53.880 --> 00:05:56.700
And the result is that, you know,

00:05:56.700 --> 00:05:58.530
you can go around the
shoreline of Whidbey Island,

00:05:58.530 --> 00:05:59.640
and there are those places

00:05:59.640 --> 00:06:02.520
where there was existing
dense development before,

00:06:02.520 --> 00:06:04.050
and those are still there,

00:06:04.050 --> 00:06:07.950
but all the rest of it basically is still,

00:06:07.950 --> 00:06:09.600
you know, rural density,

00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:12.450
in terms of development
that's occurred.

00:06:12.450 --> 00:06:15.630
And that's probably one of
the biggest impacts we've had.

00:06:15.630 --> 00:06:17.880
But of course, it's not
something you can point to,

00:06:17.880 --> 00:06:20.052
other than that it's not there.

00:06:20.052 --> 00:06:21.360
[Marianne laughs]

00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:24.300
Those trees are there,
the eagles are there,

00:06:24.300 --> 00:06:25.297
the herons are there...

00:06:25.297 --> 00:06:26.130
- [Marianne] There are bluffs and beaches.

00:06:26.130 --> 00:06:27.713
- [Steve] ...but there
aren't houses there.

00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:42.180
- It's called a closed coastal lagoon.

00:06:42.180 --> 00:06:45.450
There are only 5% of coastal lagoons left

00:06:45.450 --> 00:06:48.000
on the entire West Coast
of the United States,

00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:49.800
and this is one of them.

00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:54.210
It connects with this watershed
valley up here to our east,

00:06:54.210 --> 00:06:57.720
and that land is owned
by a farm family.

00:06:57.720 --> 00:06:59.760
The city of Oak Harbor
was proposing

00:06:59.760 --> 00:07:03.240
to expand its boundaries
and cut the island in half

00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:04.950
from east to west

00:07:04.950 --> 00:07:08.370
in such a way that they
would then build 1,000 houses

00:07:08.370 --> 00:07:09.540
in this watershed,

00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:10.860
and this agricultural land

00:07:10.860 --> 00:07:12.633
would be converted for development.

00:07:13.650 --> 00:07:15.270
During a super low tide,

00:07:15.270 --> 00:07:17.220
they came out in the middle of the night,

00:07:17.220 --> 00:07:20.880
dredged the beach in
order to expose culverts,

00:07:20.880 --> 00:07:23.430
patch the culverts illegally

00:07:23.430 --> 00:07:25.920
so that they could get
the water to drain better,

00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:29.310
so that this proposal to
put the 1,000 houses here

00:07:29.310 --> 00:07:30.573
could pass muster.

00:07:32.460 --> 00:07:36.390
Cities and counties cannot
build outside their city limits

00:07:36.390 --> 00:07:38.760
unless they have exhausted their capacity,

00:07:38.760 --> 00:07:42.240
and the city of Oak
Harbor had not done that.

00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:44.910
Steve Erickson took
the city and the county

00:07:44.910 --> 00:07:47.100
before the Growth
Management Hearings Board

00:07:47.100 --> 00:07:50.103
and he won 13 to 0 on every count.

00:07:51.180 --> 00:07:54.540
There is now a conservation
easement on this land.

00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:58.080
It will stay agricultural
land in perpetuity.

00:07:58.080 --> 00:07:59.760
Three listed species salmon

00:07:59.760 --> 00:08:02.940
have been seined right
here off the shoreline,

00:08:02.940 --> 00:08:06.120
and now it supports all
kinds of birds and wildlife.

00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:08.370
It's on the Scenic Byway for the Audubon,

00:08:08.370 --> 00:08:10.920
Washington State Scenic Byway.

00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:13.590
This whole project here inspired me

00:08:13.590 --> 00:08:15.570
to run for Island County Commissioner

00:08:15.570 --> 00:08:18.270
because I recognized that
there were elected officials

00:08:18.270 --> 00:08:20.850
who worked for their own benefit
and that of their allies,

00:08:20.850 --> 00:08:22.550
and not for that of the community.

00:08:24.751 --> 00:08:27.992
[gentle piano music]

00:08:35.040 --> 00:08:37.890
- I worked here at the farm in 1981

00:08:37.890 --> 00:08:42.890
when it was still 120
acres of loganberries

00:08:42.900 --> 00:08:46.773
and probably another 20
acres of red currants.

00:08:47.760 --> 00:08:51.783
Then the farm came under St. Michelle,

00:08:52.860 --> 00:08:54.390
and they thought that they were going

00:08:54.390 --> 00:08:57.480
to convert it to grape production,

00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:00.300
and then they learned that conditions

00:09:00.300 --> 00:09:02.370
weren't really ideal here.

00:09:02.370 --> 00:09:04.770
Too much fog.

00:09:04.770 --> 00:09:07.140
The accountants just looked it over

00:09:07.140 --> 00:09:09.097
and did their number
crunching, and they said,

00:09:09.097 --> 00:09:11.910
"The way we can make the
most off of this property

00:09:11.910 --> 00:09:14.730
"is take it out of production,

00:09:14.730 --> 00:09:17.847
"sell it for a housing development."

00:09:19.320 --> 00:09:23.100
- [Marianne] A developer was
doing the preliminary work

00:09:23.100 --> 00:09:26.043
to put 500 houses on the farm.

00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:32.010
- That's when I contacted Steve
and Marianne and asked them

00:09:32.010 --> 00:09:36.750
if they would help
organize a public meeting.

00:09:36.750 --> 00:09:37.890
- People just kept coming,

00:09:37.890 --> 00:09:39.600
and it was jammed and crammed,

00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.650
and they were all hollering
about the Greenbank Farm

00:09:43.650 --> 00:09:45.723
and what was going to happen there.

00:09:47.040 --> 00:09:52.040
- We have a very picturesque
hundred year old farm here,

00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:57.090
and thousands of people drive by

00:09:57.090 --> 00:09:59.460
in the course of a week.

00:09:59.460 --> 00:10:01.140
And I think so many of them,

00:10:01.140 --> 00:10:04.560
when they thought of looking
over at that hillside

00:10:04.560 --> 00:10:07.111
and seeing 500 houses, [laughs]

00:10:07.111 --> 00:10:09.518
it horrified them.

00:10:09.518 --> 00:10:14.100
At some point, we decided to
do a letter writing campaign

00:10:14.100 --> 00:10:17.340
to county officials.

00:10:17.340 --> 00:10:19.470
It didn't matter if the commissioner

00:10:19.470 --> 00:10:21.870
was a conservative Republican

00:10:21.870 --> 00:10:23.640
or a liberal Democrat,

00:10:23.640 --> 00:10:27.513
they were gonna support the
public purchase of the farm.

00:10:29.160 --> 00:10:34.140
- Because we were able to stop
these development proposals,

00:10:34.140 --> 00:10:36.657
Greenbank Farm is public land

00:10:36.657 --> 00:10:39.990
and it is used for
public purposes.

00:10:39.990 --> 00:10:43.920
I know that there's agricultural
stuff happening there,

00:10:43.920 --> 00:10:47.220
Conservation District does things there.

00:10:47.220 --> 00:10:49.713
- We had an organic farm school here.

00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:53.370
We started a farmer's market,

00:10:53.370 --> 00:10:55.350
community gardens for people

00:10:55.350 --> 00:10:59.100
who don't have a good site at home,

00:10:59.100 --> 00:11:02.883
a farmer with no land
that can lease land here.

00:11:04.110 --> 00:11:06.157
We had someone who said,

00:11:06.157 --> 00:11:08.100
"Well, we've got noxious weeds.

00:11:08.100 --> 00:11:09.147
"I'll spray 'em."

00:11:10.350 --> 00:11:14.010
There are kids and dogs
roaming all over the place

00:11:14.010 --> 00:11:16.530
that there was no way
he could do this

00:11:16.530 --> 00:11:19.050
without risking the public,

00:11:19.050 --> 00:11:22.050
and that made a case for,

00:11:22.050 --> 00:11:24.840
if it's gonna be a
community farm park,

00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:29.103
it makes a lot of sense to
make it an organic farm.

00:11:32.036 --> 00:11:35.002
[gentle piano music]

00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:46.340
- A permit was submitted
for a 137 house subdivision

00:11:47.160 --> 00:11:49.893
in what is now known
as the Saratoga Woods.

00:11:51.450 --> 00:11:55.320
- My husband and I owned a
property right next to it.

00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:58.110
We had just retired and
came from Los Angeles,

00:11:58.110 --> 00:12:03.110
and we were not figuring on
living next to 135 homes.

00:12:05.490 --> 00:12:07.650
One of the first things
was getting in touch

00:12:07.650 --> 00:12:09.270
with Marianne Edain.

00:12:09.270 --> 00:12:12.930
We spent hours on the phone
and it was like, you know,

00:12:12.930 --> 00:12:16.620
going to school and getting an education.

00:12:16.620 --> 00:12:18.750
- It was high density development

00:12:18.750 --> 00:12:21.483
outside of a designated urban growth area.

00:12:23.940 --> 00:12:26.790
- WEAN was on the front line
of tracking all those things,

00:12:26.790 --> 00:12:29.430
and then they had the
resources and the connections

00:12:29.430 --> 00:12:31.650
and the brilliant legal advice

00:12:31.650 --> 00:12:34.143
to go out there and challenge the county.

00:12:35.010 --> 00:12:38.820
- Well, they already had a
lawsuit going against the county,

00:12:38.820 --> 00:12:42.480
and our job, Save the
Woods on Saratoga,

00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:47.480
was basically raising funds
to fund all these lawsuits.

00:12:47.670 --> 00:12:50.310
- Basically, anybody
could have brought this

00:12:50.310 --> 00:12:52.417
to the attention of
Island County and said,

00:12:52.417 --> 00:12:54.967
"Whoa-ho," you know.

00:12:54.967 --> 00:12:56.460
"Here are the rules,
here are the standards.

00:12:56.460 --> 00:12:58.677
"This doesn't meet those
rules or standards."

00:12:59.550 --> 00:13:02.580
We're anybody, we're the
ones who end up doing it.

00:13:02.580 --> 00:13:04.747
So the developers came back
and said,

00:13:04.747 --> 00:13:07.800
"Oh, okay, here's our alternative.

00:13:07.800 --> 00:13:12.800
"We'll do a five story
hotel and 72 'cottages,'

00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:15.330
"3,000 square feet each."

00:13:15.330 --> 00:13:18.363
- It was going to be a master plan resort.

00:13:19.770 --> 00:13:22.653
Beautiful drawings with
it, looked very impressive,

00:13:23.700 --> 00:13:26.040
and they were proposing
the biggest septic tank

00:13:26.040 --> 00:13:27.783
in the state of Washington.

00:13:29.310 --> 00:13:33.210
- Again, it did not meet the standards,

00:13:33.210 --> 00:13:36.180
and we were able to
scotch that one.

00:13:36.180 --> 00:13:37.357
So they came back and said,

00:13:37.357 --> 00:13:38.997
"Okay, so we'll clear cut it."

00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:42.607
- When they basically said,

00:13:42.607 --> 00:13:44.730
"We're just gonna cut all the trees down,"

00:13:44.730 --> 00:13:47.730
that's when they
approached the Land Trust,

00:13:47.730 --> 00:13:50.970
and it took, like, walking
up the path for us to realize

00:13:50.970 --> 00:13:52.370
what a special place it was.

00:13:54.300 --> 00:13:56.730
- Huge community involvement.

00:13:56.730 --> 00:13:58.710
People wrote letters to the editor.

00:13:58.710 --> 00:14:00.870
There were editorials.

00:14:00.870 --> 00:14:03.540
What we now have as the Saratoga Orchestra

00:14:03.540 --> 00:14:07.620
started as a fundraiser
for Save the Woods.

00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:09.630
And that was the start

00:14:09.630 --> 00:14:14.630
of fundraising for six
years, basically, nonstop.

00:14:15.810 --> 00:14:17.490
- We were able to go out to the community

00:14:17.490 --> 00:14:19.800
with over half of it raised already,

00:14:19.800 --> 00:14:24.600
and the rest came from
small community donations.

00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:26.700
We were able to secure this whole property

00:14:26.700 --> 00:14:28.860
and then work together
with the county

00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:30.753
to put a conservation easement on it.

00:14:32.430 --> 00:14:34.890
- It would not have been
possible for them to do that

00:14:34.890 --> 00:14:37.920
had we not done the
preliminary work,

00:14:37.920 --> 00:14:41.640
but there was no way that we
could have done that last part

00:14:41.640 --> 00:14:42.750
about fundraising.

00:14:42.750 --> 00:14:47.163
So, it's a form of synergy and
teamwork that really works.

00:14:49.573 --> 00:14:52.939
[gentle instrumental music]

00:14:56.700 --> 00:14:59.070
- This is kind of like
an old growth forest,

00:14:59.070 --> 00:15:00.723
only it's an old growth prairie.

00:15:01.920 --> 00:15:04.383
Here we've got the native camas,

00:15:05.790 --> 00:15:09.150
and this was one of the
main food stuffs used

00:15:09.150 --> 00:15:10.563
by the Native peoples.

00:15:11.850 --> 00:15:13.440
You know, all these prairies,

00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:14.580
they produced, you know,

00:15:14.580 --> 00:15:19.230
many, many, many tons and tons of food,

00:15:19.230 --> 00:15:22.290
and they managed them in a
fairly sophisticated way.

00:15:22.290 --> 00:15:25.830
Besides burning, the way they dug them

00:15:25.830 --> 00:15:30.641
actually seems to stimulate
the bulbs propagating.

00:15:31.658 --> 00:15:34.241
[gentle instrumental music]

00:15:37.260 --> 00:15:42.237
- In 1945, the state of Washington
purchased this 175 acres,

00:15:43.410 --> 00:15:46.020
mostly prairie but also forest,

00:15:46.020 --> 00:15:49.080
and started a pheasant farm here

00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:51.780
to rear and release pheasants for hunting

00:15:51.780 --> 00:15:53.850
all across the state.

00:15:53.850 --> 00:15:56.160
They closed down,

00:15:56.160 --> 00:15:59.040
and this place had a likelihood

00:15:59.040 --> 00:16:01.863
of being put into housing development.

00:16:03.660 --> 00:16:07.380
Steve came out and found
over 15 species

00:16:07.380 --> 00:16:11.550
of rare native plants in
less than five minutes.

00:16:11.550 --> 00:16:13.725
- This is snakeroot.

00:16:13.725 --> 00:16:16.500
The fernleaf biscuitroot.

00:16:16.500 --> 00:16:19.980
Other plants out here are the chickweed.

00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:22.140
You can see chocolate lilies in flower.

00:16:22.140 --> 00:16:23.550
- [Filmmaker] Oh, it's so pretty.

00:16:23.550 --> 00:16:27.870
- The number of species and
their spatial arrangement

00:16:27.870 --> 00:16:30.663
really told him that
this was a special place.

00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:34.470
- Prairies are really unusual ecosystem

00:16:34.470 --> 00:16:36.570
in western Washington.

00:16:36.570 --> 00:16:38.640
You know, this is the land of the conifer.

00:16:38.640 --> 00:16:40.170
This is the land of lots of rain

00:16:40.170 --> 00:16:42.720
where trees grow everywhere.

00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:44.220
The indigenous people who live there

00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:45.630
really like the prairies.

00:16:45.630 --> 00:16:48.240
There were plants there such as the camas,

00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:50.253
plus open areas for hunting.

00:16:51.090 --> 00:16:54.963
They managed those areas by
burning them very regularly.

00:16:56.160 --> 00:16:59.460
- You've got a serious flush
of the native plants

00:16:59.460 --> 00:17:01.680
and it cleared the thatch away,

00:17:01.680 --> 00:17:04.020
so that gives the native
plants that are there

00:17:04.020 --> 00:17:05.310
a little bit of a head start

00:17:05.310 --> 00:17:08.553
because they have adapted
to fire over the millennia.

00:17:10.830 --> 00:17:13.770
- The modern Western
mindset of "what is nature"

00:17:13.770 --> 00:17:18.000
has focused on, it's a
place without humans, okay?

00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:21.210
But the prairies are ecosystems

00:17:21.210 --> 00:17:22.890
that are maintained by humans.

00:17:22.890 --> 00:17:24.870
If they're not burned,

00:17:24.870 --> 00:17:27.270
then they will become forest.

00:17:27.270 --> 00:17:30.390
We filed a strategic lawsuit
that tied up Fish & Wildlife

00:17:30.390 --> 00:17:32.430
so they couldn't sell it.

00:17:32.430 --> 00:17:33.900
Kids were writing letters

00:17:33.900 --> 00:17:36.690
to the legislature and the governor,

00:17:36.690 --> 00:17:40.320
and we had scientists from
all around the Northwest

00:17:40.320 --> 00:17:42.210
writing letters.

00:17:42.210 --> 00:17:44.130
- And so it was finally determined

00:17:44.130 --> 00:17:47.010
that this place could
be restricted for sale

00:17:47.010 --> 00:17:48.843
to a conservation organization.

00:17:50.010 --> 00:17:53.250
We believe we're called to
be stewards of the Earth,

00:17:53.250 --> 00:17:56.340
and that a steward is someone
who cares for something

00:17:56.340 --> 00:17:57.690
that belongs to someone else,

00:17:57.690 --> 00:18:00.780
whether you believe that
belongs to some Creator

00:18:00.780 --> 00:18:04.083
or you believe it belongs
to the next generations.

00:18:05.520 --> 00:18:08.100
- [Steve] One of the things
that made the game farm

00:18:08.100 --> 00:18:09.900
so exciting

00:18:09.900 --> 00:18:12.690
was because it's big enough to do burning,

00:18:12.690 --> 00:18:14.640
where you can let a fire go

00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:17.010
and let it do its patchy kind of thing

00:18:17.010 --> 00:18:19.950
of creeping along here
and flaring up here,

00:18:19.950 --> 00:18:21.650
and then going back to the ground.

00:18:24.330 --> 00:18:26.460
- [Robert] We wild collect seed

00:18:26.460 --> 00:18:29.040
from over 40 species of native plants,

00:18:29.040 --> 00:18:30.540
some exceedingly rare,

00:18:30.540 --> 00:18:33.183
and one of them on the
endangered species list.

00:18:34.710 --> 00:18:37.230
- This is our remnant prairie.

00:18:37.230 --> 00:18:38.310
And most of this,

00:18:38.310 --> 00:18:41.520
it was covered in six to eight foot tall

00:18:41.520 --> 00:18:44.640
snowberry, rose, and Oregon grape.

00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:47.040
We brush-hogged four acres,

00:18:47.040 --> 00:18:48.720
and the next spring

00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:51.840
it just exploded with camas and buttercup

00:18:51.840 --> 00:18:54.630
and spring gold and chocolate lily.

00:18:54.630 --> 00:18:58.470
They were able to survive under that cover

00:18:58.470 --> 00:19:00.570
of the snowberry and rose,

00:19:00.570 --> 00:19:04.620
which crept out, encroached
onto the prairie,

00:19:04.620 --> 00:19:07.113
because people weren't burning anymore.

00:19:08.310 --> 00:19:12.960
- This is a really great
conservation success story.

00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:16.110
The golden paintbrush
here, Castilleja levisecta,

00:19:16.110 --> 00:19:21.110
had been reduced to just five
or six populations worldwide.

00:19:21.420 --> 00:19:24.720
Most of them were on the
west coast of Whidbey Island,

00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:27.090
but it has now been recovered enough.

00:19:27.090 --> 00:19:30.663
It has been introduced to enough
locations that are secure.

00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:36.500
- Our population went from six in 2007

00:19:36.657 --> 00:19:38.973
to 45,000 last year.

00:19:40.350 --> 00:19:42.090
We got some financial support

00:19:42.090 --> 00:19:43.890
to put that fence up and another one

00:19:43.890 --> 00:19:48.270
because that's the thickest,
richest golden paintbrush,

00:19:48.270 --> 00:19:51.603
which is another word
for cocaine for deer.

00:19:52.590 --> 00:19:54.630
They'll nip this, they'll chew that,

00:19:54.630 --> 00:19:58.920
and they will deadhead
the golden paintbrush.

00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:00.120
- We have a greenhouse,

00:20:00.120 --> 00:20:02.820
a shade area, and nursery beds,

00:20:02.820 --> 00:20:07.170
where we grow over 40 species
of rare native plants.

00:20:07.170 --> 00:20:11.070
Currently, we have over 35 acres

00:20:11.070 --> 00:20:14.610
at one stage or another of being restored,

00:20:14.610 --> 00:20:16.260
and what that means to us

00:20:16.260 --> 00:20:20.253
is dominated by a mix
of native plant species.

00:20:21.690 --> 00:20:24.690
Whether there was a looming
climate crisis or not,

00:20:24.690 --> 00:20:27.840
we should all be thinking of ourselves

00:20:27.840 --> 00:20:29.490
as stewards of the Earth,

00:20:29.490 --> 00:20:31.203
which gives so much back to us.

00:20:35.461 --> 00:20:38.736
[relaxed instrumental music]

00:20:43.560 --> 00:20:45.093
- So I've had the pleasure of working

00:20:45.093 --> 00:20:47.310
with Steve and Marianne
for about 17 years,

00:20:47.310 --> 00:20:48.750
and about a year and a half ago

00:20:48.750 --> 00:20:52.230
they brought it to my attention
and others in the community

00:20:52.230 --> 00:20:55.470
that the Washington State
Parks and Recreation Commission

00:20:55.470 --> 00:20:57.240
voted four to three

00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:00.150
to allow covert military
surveillance training

00:21:00.150 --> 00:21:03.333
in up to 28 Washington
state coastal parks.

00:21:04.830 --> 00:21:07.405
- So they'd bring submersibles up

00:21:07.405 --> 00:21:08.310
and they'd land them,

00:21:08.310 --> 00:21:09.690
and they'd climb up cliffs,

00:21:09.690 --> 00:21:11.370
and they'd sneak around
in the woods,

00:21:11.370 --> 00:21:13.893
and, you know,
practice their skills.

00:21:14.910 --> 00:21:15.840
Nobody knew about it.

00:21:15.840 --> 00:21:18.180
There was no public notice,
there was no hearing,

00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:19.653
there was no public decision.

00:21:20.790 --> 00:21:24.930
Most of those places were
places with campgrounds,

00:21:24.930 --> 00:21:26.640
and these guys would
be there at night,

00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:29.370
and so if you got up to go for
a walk or look at the stars,

00:21:29.370 --> 00:21:30.570
you could run into them.

00:21:32.310 --> 00:21:35.280
Navy Seals like or need
to sneak up on people,

00:21:35.280 --> 00:21:37.110
and they don't get a
lot of practice in that,

00:21:37.110 --> 00:21:38.820
so if they used the parks,

00:21:38.820 --> 00:21:40.110
and there were people in the parks

00:21:40.110 --> 00:21:42.960
and they didn't know the
Navy Seals were there,

00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:46.170
they could be used as
surveillance subjects.

00:21:46.170 --> 00:21:48.990
- It's very concerning,
and I am a Navy wife,

00:21:48.990 --> 00:21:52.860
and my husband's a Veteran,
and I support our troops.

00:21:52.860 --> 00:21:54.300
And I believe they need a place,

00:21:54.300 --> 00:21:56.430
especially those with PTSD,

00:21:56.430 --> 00:21:59.073
we all need a place to go
for respite and nature.

00:22:00.660 --> 00:22:04.380
- Our state parks are for people
to be, you know, relaxing.

00:22:04.380 --> 00:22:05.880
What if they have PTSD

00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:06.713
and they carry a gun,

00:22:06.713 --> 00:22:07.680
and they're a Vet,

00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:09.180
and somebody comes out of the woods?

00:22:09.180 --> 00:22:10.170
Is there gonna be a gunfight

00:22:10.170 --> 00:22:11.760
and somebody's over there having a picnic

00:22:11.760 --> 00:22:12.760
and gets in the way?

00:22:16.710 --> 00:22:18.780
- [Reporter] Navy Seals
stopping their training

00:22:18.780 --> 00:22:20.190
in Washington state parks

00:22:20.190 --> 00:22:24.813
because residents are
scared of seeing armed men.

00:22:25.830 --> 00:22:27.960
- A few thousand comments
that were sent in,

00:22:27.960 --> 00:22:30.993
and the vast majority of
people were against it.

00:22:32.070 --> 00:22:34.020
There were people with families,

00:22:34.020 --> 00:22:35.077
there were people who just said,

00:22:35.077 --> 00:22:36.990
"This is not what our
parks are for."

00:22:36.990 --> 00:22:39.090
You know, it's just,
like, the wrong thing.

00:22:40.140 --> 00:22:41.913
And it was just plain creepy.

00:22:43.860 --> 00:22:45.330
Really creepy.

00:22:45.330 --> 00:22:46.740
We went to the legislature,

00:22:46.740 --> 00:22:51.157
and even the legislators
who were favorable said,

00:22:51.157 --> 00:22:54.300
"Nobody in the legislature is
gonna take on the military.

00:22:54.300 --> 00:22:55.450
"It's not gonna happen."

00:22:56.640 --> 00:22:59.700
So there was one avenue
left, and that was a lawsuit,

00:22:59.700 --> 00:23:01.323
and Steve and Marianne filed it.

00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:04.200
- There was two major issues.

00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:05.640
The first issue was that

00:23:05.640 --> 00:23:10.020
the State Parks Commission
went beyond their authority,

00:23:10.020 --> 00:23:12.270
and the second issue was that

00:23:12.270 --> 00:23:14.910
the State Parks Commission
failed to comply fully

00:23:14.910 --> 00:23:16.980
with the State Environmental Policy Act

00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:20.520
by not considering the
recreational impacts on the users

00:23:20.520 --> 00:23:23.310
who would be so concerned
with the use of parks,

00:23:23.310 --> 00:23:25.803
not knowing that they
might be spied on.

00:23:28.560 --> 00:23:32.040
- What might be the
impression of a park goer

00:23:32.040 --> 00:23:37.040
when a park goer sees
somebody in military garb

00:23:37.740 --> 00:23:39.690
on state park lands?

00:23:39.690 --> 00:23:41.250
It boggles the mind.

00:23:41.250 --> 00:23:42.100
At least my mind.

00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:44.880
- He went through all
their legal authorities.

00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:48.810
Said, "They had no authority
to grant this permission

00:23:48.810 --> 00:23:51.630
"for this kind of activity in a park,

00:23:51.630 --> 00:23:54.180
"which is supposed to be for
recreation to the public.

00:23:54.180 --> 00:23:55.013
"No."

00:23:55.013 --> 00:23:56.490
And then he said

00:23:56.490 --> 00:24:00.120
that part of their
environmental review

00:24:00.120 --> 00:24:01.620
that they failed to do

00:24:01.620 --> 00:24:05.460
was to consider that
people would feel creepy

00:24:05.460 --> 00:24:09.537
about being surveilled in a
park and not being informed.

00:24:10.470 --> 00:24:12.150
- And the judge had a
hard time thinking

00:24:12.150 --> 00:24:14.310
of any sort of a legal
term to define "creepy,"

00:24:14.310 --> 00:24:16.350
and in the end he said
he couldn't

00:24:16.350 --> 00:24:18.210
and ruled in the favor of WEAN,

00:24:18.210 --> 00:24:21.300
which I believe is a capstone.

00:24:21.300 --> 00:24:24.120
They will go on to do
more wonderful things.

00:24:24.120 --> 00:24:26.730
It's not our state parks' job

00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:29.433
to allow covert military warfare training.

00:24:33.177 --> 00:24:36.035
[gentle instrumental music]

00:24:40.560 --> 00:24:44.130
- Modern Western thought:
Nature is separate from people.

00:24:44.130 --> 00:24:47.793
But the physical reality is
that's not the case at all.

00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:50.400
The most obscure plant in the world

00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:53.670
that's inhaling carbon dioxide
and breathing out oxygen

00:24:53.670 --> 00:24:55.230
is working for you,

00:24:55.230 --> 00:24:57.270
whether you know it
exists or not,

00:24:57.270 --> 00:25:00.060
whether it has a cure
for cancer or not.

00:25:00.060 --> 00:25:02.640
If it wasn't for all those obscure things

00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:05.580
that we don't think about
in nature,

00:25:05.580 --> 00:25:07.440
then we wouldn't be here.

00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:08.763
It's that simple.

00:25:10.260 --> 00:25:11.700
- When we started,

00:25:11.700 --> 00:25:14.280
WEAN was especially critical to us

00:25:14.280 --> 00:25:18.120
for their depth of
knowledge about ecosystems

00:25:18.120 --> 00:25:19.290
and native plants,

00:25:19.290 --> 00:25:22.230
and how different plants
work in different areas

00:25:22.230 --> 00:25:24.960
and how we can really
make a difference.

00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:26.167
We've got some plants
for you all set up...

00:25:26.167 --> 00:25:28.500
- You know, you can always
find lots of--

00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:29.820
we call 'em "friends of the puddle,"

00:25:29.820 --> 00:25:31.860
"friends of the pond" groups.

00:25:31.860 --> 00:25:33.060
People get activated

00:25:33.060 --> 00:25:35.760
because there's a bulldozer
in their backyard,

00:25:35.760 --> 00:25:38.400
somebody's gonna do a
development down the street,

00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:39.420
they come together,

00:25:39.420 --> 00:25:42.480
they maybe deal with
that or not successfully,

00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:43.803
and then they go away.

00:25:44.700 --> 00:25:46.050
We've always looked at this

00:25:46.050 --> 00:25:48.813
in terms of operating at a higher level.

00:25:49.710 --> 00:25:52.980
Because somebody found a
development sign down the road,

00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:55.660
you don't have to suddenly
dive into land use law,

00:25:56.520 --> 00:26:00.240
because there's kind of an
umbrella or larger organization

00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:01.770
that is continuing

00:26:01.770 --> 00:26:04.803
which has that skillset
and knowledge.

00:26:05.850 --> 00:26:07.966
- They didn't start out to make

00:26:07.966 --> 00:26:10.260
a permanent, huge difference,

00:26:10.260 --> 00:26:12.150
but the things that
they've done,

00:26:12.150 --> 00:26:13.560
the court cases,

00:26:13.560 --> 00:26:15.900
the administrative decisions,

00:26:15.900 --> 00:26:19.293
the things they've won have
made a vast difference.

00:26:21.210 --> 00:26:24.900
And we see it now, but I
think in decades to come,

00:26:24.900 --> 00:26:26.310
it'll become even more apparent

00:26:26.310 --> 00:26:28.443
because those things build on each other.

00:26:30.281 --> 00:26:33.414
[gentle instrumental music]

00:26:34.680 --> 00:26:37.260
- The structure of this society--

00:26:37.260 --> 00:26:39.810
and unfortunately it looks
like the entire world--

00:26:39.810 --> 00:26:44.810
is that those who are willing
to exploit the natural world

00:26:45.840 --> 00:26:49.140
and people for profit

00:26:49.140 --> 00:26:50.850
want to continue to do that.

00:26:50.850 --> 00:26:52.877
And, you know...

00:26:52.877 --> 00:26:55.270
"Après moi, le déluge"

00:26:56.520 --> 00:26:59.970
- We're facing drought,
extreme weather,

00:26:59.970 --> 00:27:01.290
power outages,

00:27:01.290 --> 00:27:02.460
the development pressures,

00:27:02.460 --> 00:27:03.840
folks moving here,

00:27:03.840 --> 00:27:04.890
climate migration,

00:27:04.890 --> 00:27:05.943
climate migrants,

00:27:07.410 --> 00:27:09.270
you know, the erosion
of our bluffs,

00:27:09.270 --> 00:27:10.103
sea level rise.

00:27:10.103 --> 00:27:11.790
There's so many challenges.

00:27:11.790 --> 00:27:14.970
And how do we create
a resilient community,

00:27:14.970 --> 00:27:16.260
something that we're proud of

00:27:16.260 --> 00:27:19.143
and that can weather
these challenges?

00:27:20.335 --> 00:27:22.290
[waves lapping]

00:27:22.290 --> 00:27:24.030
- We've thought of ourselves
for all these years

00:27:24.030 --> 00:27:26.130
as drag anchors,

00:27:26.130 --> 00:27:30.930
that if we can slow down
the rate of destruction,

00:27:30.930 --> 00:27:33.600
maybe people will have
come to their senses

00:27:33.600 --> 00:27:35.733
before we get to the
edge of that cliff.

00:27:36.600 --> 00:27:41.100
I fear now, no, we are in
fact tumbling over that cliff.

00:27:41.100 --> 00:27:45.813
But let's see to what extent
we can reduce the destruction.

00:27:47.580 --> 00:27:48.840
We have shorelines.

00:27:48.840 --> 00:27:51.480
Those shorelines,
they're being reduced.

00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:53.403
The sea level is rising.

00:27:54.570 --> 00:27:57.540
- Are we gonna start
working proactively on this?

00:27:57.540 --> 00:28:00.210
Are we gonna end up with
a lot of derelict houses

00:28:00.210 --> 00:28:01.473
falling into the sea?

00:28:03.330 --> 00:28:05.460
Anybody who's running for
public office,

00:28:05.460 --> 00:28:08.040
I don't care if it's dog
catcher or president,

00:28:08.040 --> 00:28:09.870
what are you gonna do
about climate change?

00:28:09.870 --> 00:28:10.703
Period.

00:28:12.150 --> 00:28:16.230
- Most people duck their
heads so that they can get by,

00:28:16.230 --> 00:28:18.288
and Stephen and Marianne don't,

00:28:18.288 --> 00:28:19.121
[chuckling]

00:28:19.121 --> 00:28:23.209
and that's been a great
benefit to all of us.

00:28:23.209 --> 00:28:28.053
And it has cost them at times,
but they are pretty fearless.

00:28:30.389 --> 00:28:34.230
[gentle instrumental music]

00:28:59.987 --> 00:29:03.404
[music continues]