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?
