SENSE OF COMMUNITY GROWS ON ARBOR DAY

By Joseph Gamm

Arbor Day isn't just for trees anymore. At least, that seems to be the case here, where last Saturday's Arbor Day celebration was more of a neighborhood conference on environmentally conscious lifestyle choices than a simple celebration of trees. Arbor Day 2006 was about hiking trails, water conservation and nonhazardous tree and yard maintenance.

"We really are appreciative of having all the different organizations and agencies here to teach people how to take care of the environment," said Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger. "It's a good pre-Earth Day collaboration."

Local, statewide and national organizations contributed to the indoor phase of the Arbor Day celebration, held at Issaquah Highlands Blakely Hall. Booths offered crafts and activities for children, including a "balloon wizard." Other booths had information about health, local trails, environmental issues and water conservation and irrigation systems. The day included hikes, speakers and a tree dedication.

Tina Dunne, an Issaquah resident who lives south of Interstate 90, said she came to Blakely Hall because she wanted to hike with the Issaquah Alpiners. "Now I'm learning about what's going on in my backyard," she said. After reading some of the materials available, she said she thought the Highlands might be a prototypical community. "I'm glad to be made aware of what they're doing in terms of conservation," she said.

One of the speakers, landscape architect Doug Rice, of the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, said county officials intend to have several experts from throughout the Northwest come to the Highlands and discuss natural methods of yard care during the next six weeks. He said. The goal is to inform people about natural, safer, better, more - sustainable and organic-oriented methods and products available for homeowners.

He said a lot of people garden in ways they were taught by their parents, basically throwing chemicals at their problems. "We're looking at what the impact of that has been and it's not very good," he said. "It's very unhealthy for families and pets and wildlife, including salmon, the environment and our water quality in general." “County officials discussed with Northwest experts what a sustainable way to manage yard maintenance might be,” Rice said.

“In general, since the soil in the Northwest is so poor, there are techniques that work better than chemicals,” he said. "We teach those methods," he said. "It's actually a training we provide for free to homeowners here in Issaquah Highlands, or whoever else wants to come. The information is taught in a series of seminars, the first of which deals with natural lawn care," Rice said.

Other speakers were Davey Tree's Rick Castro, who spoke about plant care and pruning, and In Harmony's Ladd Smith, who discussed organic gardening and pest control.

Mike Winnick, a Highlands resident and chair of the Issaquah Highlands Park and Trails Committee, and Issaquah City Councilman David Kappler led the more adventurous of the celebration attendees on nature hikes. "It was raining and blowing and really windy," Kappler said. But the hikers "got a taste of the concept of the urban village. They saw high-density housing and open spaces."

Developers of the Highlands had an agreement with King County that for every 1 acre of development they had to provide 4 acres of open, undeveloped space, Kappler said. The space is left natural, except for hiking trails. The community is working really hard "to get the green back in" and deal with water usage, he said.

Several booths had displays dedicated to water collection and conservation. The community association is paying a large percentage of its money from dues for water because of poor soils, Kappler said.

The event concluded with a tree dedication by Frisinger. Approximately 25 people braved the elements and ventured out on the half-mile walk to the dedication ceremony, in which a Japanese pagoda tree was planted in honor of Eastside Fire & Rescue. Issaquah has a long tradition of planting trees on Arbor Day, Frisinger said. She discussed the importance of trees to people's lives and the history of Arbor Day.

Later, while looking around at the Highlands, Frisinger said, "This whole community has been planned with an eye to environmental protection."