Kitsap Environmental Coalition
Donation protected
UPDATE AUGUST 14, 2019
What a whirlwind year for KEC! In 12 short months we’ve learned a lot and made remarkable progress on many fronts. After eye opening lessons on challenging the timber industry via state government’s regulatory system and the exorbitant legal costs associated with that, KEC shifted gears and turned instead to community mobilization and political pressure to protect the environment from toxic pesticides.
Educating ourselves and the north Kitsap community through in depth research, public presentations, speakers, films, flyers, letters to the editor, mainstream media coverage, digital social media, newsletters, tabling at farmers markets, and peaceful picketing has created a powerful force in our campaign for safe and sustainable forestry practices.
Combining that with relentless outreach to government officials and our public utilities commission as well as frequent communications to Pope Resources has let us make incredible strides, including:
* North Kitsap School District glyphosate ban
* Village Green Community Center and the Port of Kingston ceasing to use
glyphosate
* Kitsap County Resolution discontinuing the use of glyphosate on county owned and
maintained properties (roadsides, parks, schools, and other public facilities)
* Bainbridge Island City Council Resolution supporting KEC and a county-wide ban
on aerial pesticide spraying
* Pope Resources NOT aerial spraying in Kitsap county this year and not using
glyphosate (though they will spray other extremely toxic chemicals by backpack)
* Senate Bill 5597, sponsored by Senator Christine Rolfes, creating a 23 member
study group to assess aerial pesticide spraying and make recommendations to the
Washington state legislature by December, 2019
* Local garden stores removing RoundUp from their shelves
* Private citizens discontinuing their use of toxic preparations and changing to safe
alternatives
We deeply appreciate the thousands of volunteer hours from committee and board members, as well as friends and members of KEC. We cannot do this without you. Our gratitude to financial supporters is immeasurable: you let us rent meeting spaces, hold workshops, fund speakers, show films, maintain a website, and print monthly newsletters, emergency bulletins, and flyers!
KEC kicks off our second year with a major community offering in September: Democracy School, a day and a half program conducted by legal activists from CELDF
(Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund). Democracy School educates the public about confronting corporate control and state preemption through rights based strategies and community organizing. If you can’t join us, please consider a donation - large or small - to help defray the cost of flying two professionals to Kitsap, their honoraria and per diem’s.
In this time of unprecedented climate and environmental emergencies KEC is committed to working as hard as we can to move things in a better direction.
———————————————————————————————————————————
Last month (July, 2018) Pope Resources received a permit to spray glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) and other chemicals on clear cut forest lands in Kitsap County. The permit lasts for 3 years and typically includes two sprayings during that time. The recent lawsuit against Monsanto (jury award of $289 million) was based on overwhelming evidence that glyphosate is carcinogenic. When used in combination with other chemicals its carcinogenicity is even worse - for amphibians, wildlife, humans, and the environment. Kitsap Environmental Coalition, a group of over 325 concerned neighbors and community members, has engaged experienced and successful lawyers to appeal Pope's permit. Pope plans to spray 333 acres in north Kitsap as soon as one or two weeks from now and the **deadline for filing the appeal is August 25th, 2018**. We need to raise $5,000 to retain our legal counsel. Every penny of these funds will be used for legal research and the filing processes. Give whatever you can to save our water, land, creatures, and critical habitats! Give $3.33, $33.30, $333.00 - or any other amount! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
What a whirlwind year for KEC! In 12 short months we’ve learned a lot and made remarkable progress on many fronts. After eye opening lessons on challenging the timber industry via state government’s regulatory system and the exorbitant legal costs associated with that, KEC shifted gears and turned instead to community mobilization and political pressure to protect the environment from toxic pesticides.
Educating ourselves and the north Kitsap community through in depth research, public presentations, speakers, films, flyers, letters to the editor, mainstream media coverage, digital social media, newsletters, tabling at farmers markets, and peaceful picketing has created a powerful force in our campaign for safe and sustainable forestry practices.
Combining that with relentless outreach to government officials and our public utilities commission as well as frequent communications to Pope Resources has let us make incredible strides, including:
* North Kitsap School District glyphosate ban
* Village Green Community Center and the Port of Kingston ceasing to use
glyphosate
* Kitsap County Resolution discontinuing the use of glyphosate on county owned and
maintained properties (roadsides, parks, schools, and other public facilities)
* Bainbridge Island City Council Resolution supporting KEC and a county-wide ban
on aerial pesticide spraying
* Pope Resources NOT aerial spraying in Kitsap county this year and not using
glyphosate (though they will spray other extremely toxic chemicals by backpack)
* Senate Bill 5597, sponsored by Senator Christine Rolfes, creating a 23 member
study group to assess aerial pesticide spraying and make recommendations to the
Washington state legislature by December, 2019
* Local garden stores removing RoundUp from their shelves
* Private citizens discontinuing their use of toxic preparations and changing to safe
alternatives
We deeply appreciate the thousands of volunteer hours from committee and board members, as well as friends and members of KEC. We cannot do this without you. Our gratitude to financial supporters is immeasurable: you let us rent meeting spaces, hold workshops, fund speakers, show films, maintain a website, and print monthly newsletters, emergency bulletins, and flyers!
KEC kicks off our second year with a major community offering in September: Democracy School, a day and a half program conducted by legal activists from CELDF
(Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund). Democracy School educates the public about confronting corporate control and state preemption through rights based strategies and community organizing. If you can’t join us, please consider a donation - large or small - to help defray the cost of flying two professionals to Kitsap, their honoraria and per diem’s.
In this time of unprecedented climate and environmental emergencies KEC is committed to working as hard as we can to move things in a better direction.
———————————————————————————————————————————
Last month (July, 2018) Pope Resources received a permit to spray glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) and other chemicals on clear cut forest lands in Kitsap County. The permit lasts for 3 years and typically includes two sprayings during that time. The recent lawsuit against Monsanto (jury award of $289 million) was based on overwhelming evidence that glyphosate is carcinogenic. When used in combination with other chemicals its carcinogenicity is even worse - for amphibians, wildlife, humans, and the environment. Kitsap Environmental Coalition, a group of over 325 concerned neighbors and community members, has engaged experienced and successful lawyers to appeal Pope's permit. Pope plans to spray 333 acres in north Kitsap as soon as one or two weeks from now and the **deadline for filing the appeal is August 25th, 2018**. We need to raise $5,000 to retain our legal counsel. Every penny of these funds will be used for legal research and the filing processes. Give whatever you can to save our water, land, creatures, and critical habitats! Give $3.33, $33.30, $333.00 - or any other amount! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Organizer
Kitsap Environmental Coalition
Organizer
Hansville, WA
