Citizens for the Future

Merry Christmas!

Here's a treat I want to share with you, it's from a while back. I hope you enjoy! Peace, Berd


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On the trail through an urban rainforest "wilderness". This is about as wilderness as it gets in an urban setting. To the best of my knowledge, Watershed Park is a first growth forest. The reason it was never cut during the logging boom was because it provided the city's drinking water . It provided the bulk of Olympia's water until the 1950s when the city switched to other water sources. After the switch, it then took a lot of hard work by a dedicated group of citizens in order to save the forest from being logged to death. Those Citizens for the Future were successful some 50 odd years ago, and Olympia has a true gem of a park to thank them for today.

People for a Public Isthmus

There are several groups organizing opposition to a proposed rezone of building heights on the "isthmus" area in downtown Olympia. The "isthmus" (in quotes because it is not an isthmus - it's actually a peninsula) separates the water of Capitol Lake, a man made reservoir, and Budd Bay, Budd Inlet, one of the southernmost inlets of the Puget Sound.

Some of the groups organizing opposition are:

• Friends of the Waterfront
• 20/20 Vision Olympia
• Olympia Capitol Park Foundation
• One other group, People for a Participatory City, is working without a website (as far as I know - I'll update when I find it.)

On Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 opponents of the rezone proposal, and a proposed development of 141 million dollar high rise condominiums, gathered to raise awareness and to get signatures for an initiative petition that would, if successful, require the city to put the park idea on a ballot - or [thanks for the correction, Thad!] conduct a feasibility analysis into acquiring the land for the purpose of developing a park.


[photo caption:] People in support of a public isthmus, including an expanded park area to the West of Water Street in between 4th and 5th Avenues, gathered near the City of Olympia's Heritage Fountain to do a walk around for signature gathering and outreach to gain support and organize a petition that will require the city to conduct a feasibility study into the possibility of acquiring land on the Isthmus for the purpose of establishing and developing a park.

more information: Walk the Isthmus!

background on the isthmus development issue: olyblog.net/isthmus-2008

information on the park petition: groups.google.com/group/olycapitolparkfoundation/web/welcome

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