Fall 2005

Table of Contents

Sustainability starts here
By Jeff Koenings, WDFW Director

As someone who supports the environment through the Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary program, you probably have already heard of “sustainability.”

Sustainability—which refers to meeting present needs without diminishing resources for future generations—is a guiding principle for all of us concerned with natural resources.

Encompassing a broad range of human activities, some sustainability efforts are complex. Others can be very simple—such as this all-electronic edition of the “Crossing Paths” newsletter.

For the past seven years we have offered Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary participants the option of receiving the “Crossing Paths” newsletter electronically and, to date, about 15 percent of you have taken up that offer.

With stepped-up sustainability efforts under way across the state, this is an ideal time to complete the move to full electronic distribution of the newsletter.
This electronic newsletter provides you timely information without consuming paper and ink for printing or incurring costs for postage.

This effort is just one small part of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s overall effort to minimize consumption of energy, water and other resources as we conduct business. Other aspects of this sustainability effort address agency motor-vehicle use, facility construction, maintenance and operation, purchasing of environmentally preferable goods and services and workplace practices such as recycling.

Department employees also are doing what they can to reduce paper use by practices such as double-sided printing. The Department is exploring the use of paper derived from straw, rather than from trees. These steps, while seemingly too small to be significant, can add up to a substantial saving of resources when undertaken by a large number of people over time.

For those of you who have been long-term recipients of this newsletter since its inception in 1992, I know there’s nothing like sitting down away from the computer screen to savor it—maybe in your favorite chair where you can also watch birds at your backyard feeder. So, if you like to do so, please feel free to make your own print-out, preferably on recycled paper with double-sided printing.

Meanwhile, by avoiding delays for printing and mailing, we expect to be able to provide you with more timely information. Now we can update “Crossing Paths” more frequently with seasonal information.

You can look for “Crossing Paths” updates on our website in October, January, April and July each year. If you would like to receive an e-mail notice of each new edition’s availability, please register here.

Thank you for working with us in our on-going sustainability efforts. And thanks for all you do for fish and wildlife.