Thank you for allowing me to talk with you about the need to connect the environment with education in a “changing world”. Reinventing the true “green” in the Ever “green” state is very timely for our state’s future.

Any natural resource professional recognizes that nature provides us an ever-changing world. Ecosystems transform themselves little by little everyday – meadows become forests, straight streams begin to meander, and lakes slowly fill to become meadows.

Yet today it's as if “nature's” pause button is broken and those processes are on “fast forward”! We hear it all the time – more people, more growth, then global warming “heats up”, habitats disappear and species change from “common” to be “at risk”.

Yet here in Washington:

• Ask any Washingtonian where in the world they most like to live, and invariably (except maybe in the winter months) the answer will be “Washington State”.
• Why? We have it all – ocean beaches, breathtakingly beautiful mountains, desert landscapes, lakes, rivers, forests and from those habitats a rich diversity of wildlife.
• Many know that we depend on the natural resources for recreation, wildlife habitat, clean air and water, jobs and even products. Sadly, as you are well aware of – most people in Washington have little understanding of the complex relationships between people and the sustainability of our environment.
• This is not likely to change if we persist on our present course.
• Projections indicate that by the year 2020 our state’s population will grow from about 6.5 million today to around 7.6 million in the next 12 years.
• An increasing population living in Washington has meant a greater loss of habitat. For example: How much have we lost?
  • 70% of estuarine wetlands
  • 50 to 90% of riparian habitat
  • 90% of old growth forest
  • 70% of arid grasslands
  • 50% of shrub-steppe habitat
  Some of these habitats are among the most diverse and productive for native fish and wildlife. From our perspective as an agency dedicated to the perpetuation of wildlife species along with the tribes, this is alarming.
• What you see behind you is 179 species of greatest conservation concern in Washington State.
• Within 5, 10, 15, 20 years they and others will most likely be at a greater risk than they are today unless we act and act quickly.
• In recent years the issues have become more complex --- moving from single species management to ecosystem wide approaches.
• In fact, ecological perspectives are emerging resulting in the need for whole new sciences. For instance, original assumptions based on science to manage coastal fisheries may no longer be valid. We now know that there are changing ecological patterns that make the management of salmon resources very challenging!!!
• I am heartened to see all of you here working together to do the difficult but rewarding work of educating our children and local communities about change!
• Because of all of you, we will have action oriented advocates for wildlife and ecosystems at the state and local levels, in and around our homes – and powerful backyard decision-making.

But what about the scope and depth of our work: for instance, what about students?

• Many kids are hungry to go “green”. The outdoor expo WDFW held this year involved thousands of kids. Today’s kids need experience and guidance on how to participate in the “green” world. This is your responsibility. This is the responsibility of us “all”.
• Students need first-hand and hands on experiences that lead them to learn to ask critical questions, to explore a variety of values and options, to dig deep into issues, to get their hands dirty in real world applications.
• Environment and sustainability education can provide excellent vehicles that challenge young people to understand the complexity of issues, to make decisions and to take action to solve problems.
• As a Board Member and Past President of The Pacific Education Institute -- , I and PEI have learned much.
• For instance PEI’s research shows that students exposed to environmental education actually perform at standard or higher on standardized tests than students who have not received environmental education.
• When students enter PEI Programs, they are guaranteed an outdoor green experience opening their eyes and minds to a new way of learning, often for the first time.
• We have powerful on-going projects in school districts. Projects like the Blue Bird Project now in Tumwater, Fort Lewis and the Whidbey Island School districts, all successfully work to recover blue bird populations.
• We are in our seventh year of Project CAT, Cougars and Teaching. Each grade level in the entire school district is studying a component of their Cle Elum environment. Kids measuring changes in the environment, studying human population growth in and around their community.
• In the Warden School District, children study burrowing owls on their playing fields. Kids work with our biologists to protect and relocate this species at-risk.
• Through these hands-on localized programs students come to understand the ways in which our lives are affected by a range of different natural resources.
• PEI programs, as in many of your programs, leave students with a clearer and cleaner idea of an individual’s and society’s obligation to make intelligent decisions that result in appropriate actions to protect the “green” in the Evergreen State.
• These projects change lives. Teachers and their students make communities stand up and take notice to what is happening in their changing landscape.
• These important experiences help young people develop a sense of green or “reinvent” green.

So here’s my call to action:

• All of us in this room must recognize that we are at the beginning of this work. This work needs to go deeper. It needs to expand across the state and be comprehensive in every community. We need everybody here dedicated to the efforts of E3 and this summit!
• The issues are big. We cannot be territorial. We need everyone on board, and we need a unified approach. This is the very real promise of E3.
• We can come to grips with how to deal with our population growth. People can become our biggest asset rather than the problem statement.
• In the last couple of years several statewide initiatives have been organized – like Governor Gregoire’s Puget Sound Partnership, her Biodiversity Council and Ocean Caucus and our own “Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy”. We need an education plan that links these and other initiatives together into one powerful plan.
• Why? Because we currently, approach education through our individual special interests. That has to change: E3 approaches education from a statewide multiple sector viewpoint akin to moving from single species management to the broader ecosystem management I mentioned earlier.
• Create and get behind E3’s comprehensive plan. Make it a model for the nation.
• Listen and learn, fundamentally change how we work together. Let’s see ourselves as one whole community.
• Through our collective education efforts, what Richard Louv refers to as “nature-deficit disorder” won’t become the next “super bug” but instead will become a thing of the past.

To do this, we need a comprehensive plan resulting in state and local people acting on behalf of our wildlife and plant species, acting on behalf of our children’s future and acting on behalf of the future of Washington’s environment.

Thank you.