J. Ingrid Lundin                                                                     Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Conservation Futures Coordinator

Department of Natural Resources

King Street Center

201 S. Jackson St. Rm.600

Seattle, WA 98104-3855

ingrid.lundin@kingcounty.gov

Top of the morning Ms. Lundin,

My name is Tom Gardner and I live in unincorporated King County where I own a home in Bryn Mawr.  I am writing today to express my gratitude for your support of green spaces in south king county and to tell you why environmental racism is alive and well. Per square mile, there are three times as many parks in urbanized north and east King County then there is in all of South King County.

Since I retired, I tried to volunteer with a non-profit agency to help African-American children emotionally appreciate and understand the science of nature. The agency toted itself on helping children of color understand the fawn and fauna of our great northwest forests. Yet, the agent never did or had planned on recruiting black children into the program. They were surprised that I expected them to incorporate black children into their camping programs.

Because of his institutionalized discrimination against blacks, he was convinced that black people did not like camping, swimming, or hiking in the woods. Those limousine liberals display this same ignorant attitude as contemptuous republicans, who do not live in the south end, but control our environment to the worse of their ability.

I’m somewhat grateful to the actual stories of black mountain men and park rangers. Their images of strength and endurance not only enabled me to challenge a lifestyle in living forests, but to win the challenge of living in the jungles of white privilege.  Forest camping, canoeing and hiking as a kid, helped me to survive the country forests of Vietnam, and prepared me for the indifferent perspectives of equality.

I would like your help into recreating the land protecting our water source into a educational living forest. I understand that over $100 million dollars is dedicated for green space in this underprivileged area lacking of trees, flowers, bees, and birds.  In addition, in order to protect our vital water resources, I would like help putting a moratorium on further building construction until it is considered or a park or public access.  We live in a delicate eco-system, and just like Flint, Michigan, no one seems to care about water consumed by African and South-East Asian Americans.

Many of my neighbor’s basements have flooded with the placement of new culverts. Did the engineers not consider the dozens of streams that have been diverted into people’s homes? And when county officials are asked for easements with trees/grass/curbs/sidewalks to help redirect water flow, we are told that our neighborhood is not eligible for such luxuries. Our working class status and affordable bungalows only qualifies us for easements filled with gravel. When did environmental racism include excluding black tree huggers by segregating trees to white neighborhoods? Does any of your staff live in the SouthEnd? Is that why white bureaucrats do not care about our living conditions?