Dear Friends

So much has happened since my last column in the Explorer. I will try to update you.

At our Annual Meeting in October my co-president, Pat Stambor resigned due to
family commitments. Pat did a super job and we miss her energy.

I have agreed to be the President until the next Annual Meeting in the spring. When Bob Kildall was president he put his all into Friends of Discovery Park. How can anyone fill his shoes?

I am trying to get more of the membership involved and to spread the work around to make the job of President not so overwhelming. If you have volunteered to help (or would like to) Morry Browne, Neal Cholvin and Diane Spaulding are all working on a program to coordinate volunteers and use their talent to help. If there is something you want to do right now (distribute petitions, flyers, and posters, make phone calls,
send letters) then call or preferably e-mail me (293-8643 or vpchol@aol.com).

The coalition of the Friends of Discovery Park, the Lawtonwood neighborhood, and the Magnolia Community Club has placed ads in the Magnolia/Queen Anne News and the Seattle Weekly to alert and inform citizens on the potential People's Lodge development in Discovery Park. The response has been tremendous -there is an outpouring of concern and donations. It is clear - the citizens of this city want to keep Discovery Park as a place where they can have an outdoor experience and not encounter a commercial type development in the midst of the park.

The People's Lodge EIS is scheduled for release in February. We will send a letter and e-mail the Friends members. We plan a notification program by our web site and notification through a telephone-tree program. Be sure you are on the list. Call Diane Spaulding (206) 283-9052 to be listed.

The coalition is hiring experts to respond to the technical aspects of the draft EIS. It is very important to the final decision that there be a multitude of responses from the public. One or two public meetings will be held. It is imperative to have a huge crowd present to oppose the development as proposed.

That brings me to a point –we cannot seem to make often enough –we do not oppose all development on the UIATF leased grounds. Buildings appropriate to the location, designed in accordance and the lease and the park's master plan are welcome. Friends has always felt the presence of Daybreak Star in Discovery Park is a plus. The present design and impacts on the park are not a plus.

If this cannot be accomplished then an appropriate site should be found outside the park.

We still need donations to the Save Discovery Park Fund. We will need experts to work on the technical aspects of the EIS. The UIATF has government grants for this work. We do not. Please consider a donation. If you have already donated please consider giving more.

At this time we can rejoice knowing we still have a wonderful park where we can walk in an urban forest, enjoy views of Puget Sound, skip stones on the water at the beach and get that glorious feeling of release from the tensions of the city. Let's keep it that way. Happy 1999 to one and all.
Valerie Cholvin

For a wealth of information about current issues facing Discovery Park, history of the park and much more, log into the Friends of Discovery Park new web site.

Frith Maier, a technical competent member of the Friends, put us on line. It is a job well done. It is an informative and beautiful web page we can all enjoy. Thanks, Frith.

The site covers ten major areas:

FAQs (Frequently asked questions), Development Threatens Discovery Park (UIATF People's Lodge), Background on UIATF and agreements, the Citizens' Coalition to Save Discovery Park, Information About the Friends, History of the park, Discovery Park in the Press,

Action, a Map, and How to Contact the Friends.

Each category has sub-heads that contain further detailed information.

We urge Friends'; members not only to visit the site but to also enter their e-mail addresses as a "paperless member" under the title "Join the Friends." If you prefer not to be a paperless member enter in the "Notify" list under "Action."

To spread the word about the Friends and Discovery Park remind all your friends and acquaintances to forward the URL (www.discoveryparkfriends.org)

Web surfers from all over the world can learn about this park and the issues it faces. Try it.

Members who wish can receive their copy of the EXPLORER newsletter off the web page.

We are now ready for the 21^st Century. Hold onto your hat.

With this web site we have an outreach resource we have been waiting for. People throughout the

world can learn about this park and the issues it faces. Try it. Pass the word on to your friends.

REGIONAL WASTEWATER SERVICE PLAN DECISION DUE

Whether the West Point sewage treatment plant on the beach below Discovery Park is expanded a second time might easily depend on us.

We must be vocal and write letters in support of County Executive Ron Sims' preferred alternative to build a third treatment plant in North King or South Snohomish County.

The executive, citizen's committees, and technical staff support the new plant as a feasible alternative best suited to meet the population growth expected in these counties.

The Friends and other environmental groups have a 1991 settlement agreement with King County Metro that has strict terms as to any increase in capacity. Any capacity that now exists should be used to meet future growth of sewage needs in Seattle.

A vote by Councilmember Larry Phillip's committee in December supports the Sims' proposal. It requires a super-majority by the full council to overturn this vote.

One County Councilperson, Maggie Fimia, who represents North King County, leads the opposition to Sims' plans for a third plant.

Write County Councilmember Phillips at 516 2^nd Ave., Rm. 1200, Seattle WA 98104 or email: larry.phillips@metrokc.gov

We need your help.

EDITOR'S CORNER

Regardless of the outcome of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF) People's Lodge proposal, the Development Plan for Discovery Park will have to be revised.

It has been fourteen years since it was first written. There have been many changes in the park since 1986.

One major fault in the 1986 should be corrected with the revision. The philosophy of the park on pages 1 to 3 of the 1972 Kiley Master Plan should be printed as a preamble and not scattered though the document.

This caused the Friends to reprint the 1972 plan to put the words we use so often back intact.

Robert Kildall

kildalr@accessone.com

LETTERS TO FRIENDS

Dear Friends:

On September 26^th, I saw the Brown Pelican again. It floated over West Point to the South Beach cove area and pushed several gulls off a big atoll. There is sat for awhile as I watched.

Two women went, OOH! As it opened its jaws wide and then flapped its giant wings and flew-off.

Victor Koyano

Seattle

Dear Friends:

Hope the Seattle populace is coming to its senses regarding the latest threat to the park.

Brandt Morgan

Santa Fe NM

POTPOURRI

Discovery Park naturalist, Julie Luthy, in a "Join the Fun-Take A Bird Walk article in Seattle Child (Mar. '98) says "The neat thing about birding is that you can do it anywhere. You can look for birds on a walk, in your backyard, while you're on vacation.

"Winter is a great time for beginners because the bare trees make it easier to spot feathered inhabitants. Birdwatchers are also likely to see ‘mixed feeding flocks' in the winterm when little birds such as chickadees and nut hatches eat together for protection."

Friends would like to thank Howard Stambor and his firm, Davis Wright Treamain, for their help in preparing our approach to the UIATFs People's Lodge.

Earthcare, Seattle Audubon Society's (SAS) newsletters (May-June '98) reported 400 Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels first sighted off West Point on October 13. The next day an estimated 1900 individuals flew south past West Point in a four-hour period.

For more information on Audubon's Important Bird Areas Program trywww.audubon.org/chapter/wa/wa/iba.htm .

In the July/August issue of Earthcare, SAS declared they oppose the use of genetically engineered organisms, sewage, biosolids that contain heavy metals and pesticides, and unspecifierd inert ingredients in fertilizer, which may be toxic on organic farms.

Nature Conservancy (Mar.-Apr. '98) quotes Dr. Thomas Eisner saying that the oil of the rare scrub mint (Dicerandra frutescens) appears to be a natural insecticide. The plants are almost entirely free of insect injury. Eiser and his Cornell University colleagues presented their findings at a National Academy of Sciences conference.

A Bellevue property owner was faced by a tenant rule that demanded he trim two tall fir trees behind his house. The rule said "trees and shrubs shall not be permitted to block the view from other houses, except for existing trees of exceptional beauty.

He responded, "I hereby declare these to be existing trees of exceptional beauty."
(Weekly 5-9-98)

In a letter to the Seattle Times editor, (Feb. '97) on cutting old-growth trees and then reseedling, Douglas Tompkins, of Puerto Montt, Chile, made this comparison, "Tree farms are to forests what painting by numbers is to art."

The Society of American Foresters reports that a cholesterol-cutting margarine will soon be available in the U.S. The key ingredient is a fat-soluble stanol ester made from a chemical commont in pine trees.

Known under the brand name Benecol, it can lower cholesterol levels by 10 to 14 percent.

There is always one like this one. In a letter to the editor in the Nature Conservancy magazine (Sept./Oct. '98) a New Jersey man writes: "for whom are we preserving biodiversity? Is it for mankind as I have supposed, or for some mysterious higher purpose of which I am unaware? If preservation of a species requires that it be sheltered from human contact forever (except perhaps for the'elite'), is it still worth saving?…

If yes, please enlighten me why. If on the other hand, my supposition of mankind being the ultimate benefactor is correct, perhaps you should acknowledge that fact in future communications."

WHAT VISITORS ARE SAYING

Editor's Note: Our elected officials must realize how important the beauty, quiet and solitude of Discovery Park is to preserve sanity and give renewal to citizens of a modern city like Seattle.

This park was created by citizens' efforts, not by our politicians. Beforewe allow an over-sized Peoples' Lodge to be built or again expand a sewage treatment plant, it would be well for these leaders to appreciate the precious open space and natural values of this park. Too many parks were ruined because governments chose not to defend the people's property they held in trust.

Here are comments from Seattle citizens and visitors from all over the World. Nature and natural parks can be understood and treasured by everyone.

"Exelente lugar para correr."

-Managua, Nicaragua

Beautiful right in the middle of a city. Great trails! Beautiful. Majestic.

-Ann Arbor MI

"It's a wonderful park. We will come again."

-Buckholz, Germany

"Great open space for walking."

-Bullhead City AZ

"You should be proud of this park"

–Edmonton, Alberta

"It looks like Israel and I love Israel"

--Israel

"I'm going to miss my favorite place-Moving from Seattle to Austin TX. "

-Seattle to Austin

"I love this park. Nice new visitor center. Why put the sanitation plant in the most beautiful park in Seattle?

-Salida CO

"Never been here before. Lived in area 8 years. Lovely!"

-Ballard neighborhood

"Beautiful-heel moor."

-Zaandam, Holland

"Beautiful park. Jennifer is most helpful and pleasant"

-Miami Fl.

"Penny does a great job! Especially relating to children."

-Sunnyside Montessori Seattle

"Found map confusing. But great Park."

-Ottawa, Ontario

"The environment is where we all have a mutual interest. It is the one thing all of us share."

Lady Bird Johnson

(1912)

Submitted by Jean Ockenden, Austin TX

WINTER PLANTING EVENT

SET FOR FEBRUARY 20TH

Here is an event you can't afford to miss. Join up with other Friends' and Discovery Park supporters in the Park's Adopt-an Area Winter Planting Event.

It will be held on February 20^th from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. They meet at the Visitor Center.

To sign up or for more information ask the naturalists at the Visitor

Center or call the park at (206)386-4236.