Volunteer Orientation
2024
info@defendersofhighlineforest.org
Defenders of
Highline Forest
North SeaTac Park
Leased to City of SeaTac by Port of Seattle
The Highline Forest
The Highline Forest is a portion of the Puget Sound region’s interconnected forest ecosystem that exists on both public and private lands within and bordering the communities along “The Highline,” now known as Des Moines Memorial Drive. The Highline area includes Burien, Normandy Park, SeaTac, parts of Des Moines, Kent, and Tukwila, and a portion of unincorporated King County.
North SeaTac Park
SeaTac Airport
When thousands of residents were removed from this land, they were
told it would remain in open public use
“The north and south areas earmarked for acquisition by the Sea-Tac Communities Plan will primarily be devoted to open-type uses upon removal of the incompatible single-family residences now in existence. These planned open uses include agriculture, parks, landscaped buffer areas, nature trails, golf courses, and other recreational activities ...”
SeaTac Communities Plan, Port of Seattle and King County, brochure,
est. publication date 1975 https://seatacnoise.info/wp-content/uploads/Sea-Tac-Communities-Plan-
A history of
unmet promises
Map is from brochure cited to the left. Labels, arrow, & circle are added.
Our campaign began in 2021
As a petition against a parking lot
Port press release in August 2021
Port Withdraws Parking Lot Proposal!
ALSO PUBLISHED BY THE PORT IN AUG 2021
(Buried on its website)
Port recommends expanding the airport
on 31.5 acres inside North SeaTac Park
Images adapted from Port of Seattle documents
Published in
Aug 2021
I-5
A LONG HISTORY
OF REMOVING FOREST IN HIGHLINE CITIES
From King County Parcel Viewer Base Map 2007
24th Ave S
Pacific Highway
Madrona Elementary
School 2007
27.7 acres of airport expansion planned here
Score Jail built 2011
78 acres of warehouses and FAA HQ built 2017
Madrona Elementary
School
2024
2024: Port recommends replacing ~ 110 additional acres of forest
with more polluting structures in densely populated neighborhoods
(31.5 inside the park and ~80 outside the park)
2024: Port recommends replacing ~ 110 additional acres of forest
with more polluting structures in densely populated neighborhoods
(31.5 inside the park and ~80 outside the park)
Why is this a problem?
Most neighborhoods near North SeaTac Park rank at the top of Washington’s Department of Health Environmental Health Disparities scale
WASHINGTON STATE
DEPT OF HEALTH
North SeaTac Park
WASHINGTON STATE
DEPT OF ECOLOGY
This illustration adapted from Washington’s Dept. Ecology Dec. 2023 storymap: “Identifying Overburdened Communities,” show that communities surrounding SeaTac Airport rank 9 or 10 - on a scale of ten - for severity of health disparities
North SeaTac Park
Public Health Zones
From Community Health and Airport Operations Related Noise and Air Pollution: Report to the Legislature in Response to Washington State HOUSE BILL 1109 December 1, 2020
North SeaTac Park
SeaTac Airport
SEATTLE-KING COUNTY
PUBLIC HEALTH
“The urban forest is a green infrastructure system that delivers multiple environmental, economic, social and health services, and functions in cities.”. Urban Trees and Human Health: A Scoping Review, Kathleen L. Wolf et al, Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(12), 4371; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124371
City Trees Save Lives
2,951
Trees are a Pathway to Creating Social Equity
“A map of tree cover is too often a map of income and race - especially in cities. That’s because trees are often sparse in socioeconomically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods and some neighborhoods of color. The inequitable distribution of trees exacerbates social inequities”
“Trees are more than something pretty to look at or sit under. They are essential, much like schools and sewer lines. They improve our lives by absorbing harmful greenhouse gas emissions, providing shade that lowers the chance of illness or death related to heat, blocking wind so utility bills are lower during the winter and creating job opportunities.”
Recent scholarly research
American Forests
CONSENSUS:
Protect all 220 acres of North SeaTac Park
Halt deforestation on publicly-owned land within 2 miles of the airport
Til there’s a plan in place to ensure a healthful level of tree canopy for the community
From petition
to Consensus
2,951
From park
to forest
HEED HEALTH DEPT RECOMMENDATION
“Promot(e) healthy habitats (near the airport) by
creating green spaces, specifically coniferous tree
coverage, to capture particulate matter, thereby
reducing people’s exposure.”Community Health and Airport Operations
Related Noise and Air Pollution: Report to the Legislature in Response to Washington State HOUSE
BILL 1109 December 1, 2020
IMPROVE CURRENT CONDITIONS
In 2017, SeaTac’s tree canopy percentage (22%) was
one of the worst in the county, ranking 40th out of 45
cities *King County 30-Year Forest Plan
SECURE A JUST FUTURE
For a Just & Healthy Future
KEY CONCEPTS
Illustration adapted from Wróblewska, K., & Jeong, B. R. (2021). Effectiveness of plants and green infrastructure utilization in ambient particulate matter removal. Environmental Sciences Europe, 33(1). https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12302-021-00547-2/figures/1
CITY TREES ARE ESSENTIAL
It’s common to hear that it’s ok to cut down big trees because three or four will be planted to replace each one destroyed
But large-diameter trees can capture much more toxic particle pollution, store “disproportionally massive amounts of carbon,” and “fulfill a variety of unique ecological roles such as increasing drought-tolerance, reducing flooding from intense precipitation events, altering fire behavior, redistributing soil water, and acting as focal centers of mycorrhizal communication and resource sharing networks.” Mildrexler DJ, Berner LT, Law BE, Birdsey RA and Moomaw WR (2020) Large Trees Dominate Carbon Storage in Forests East of the Cascade Crest in the United States Pacific Northwest. Front. For. Glob. Change 3:594274. doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2020.594274
BIG TREES NEED SPECIAL PROTECTION
Sequoia in North SeaTac Park
from https://NashvilleTreeFoundation.org/benefits-of-trees
TREES ARE AN EQUITY ISSUE
All people have a right to the life-saving benefits of trees
C02 equivalent = All the greenhouse gasses, together, that the tree will keep out of the air (compared to C02 over 100 years)
Sequestered = Trapped or captured by the tree
CITY TREES ARE
ESSENTIAL FOR
CLIMATE
STABILITY AND
RESILIENCE
Photo by Noemie Maxwell Vassilakis near North SeaTac Park
THERE IS MUCH
WE DON’T YET KNOW
It is long-known that exposure to nature positively impacts mental health. Researchers are increasingly finding that this may be due to more than psychological mechanisms – but also through exposure to more diverse natural environments which improve the diversity of the human microbiome.
.Biodiversity Effects on Human Mental Health via Microbiota Alterations, Yee Sang Wong and Nicholas John Osborne, Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Oct; 19(19): 11882 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9565733/
"Ecosystem restoration is integral to humanity's recovery from COVID-19”
Jake M Robinson, PhD, et. al, The Lancet, V. 6 (9), E769-E773, 9/22 https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00171-1
Less urgent & still important
Photography & Other Visual Needs
Our cause is complex - visuals simplify
We need a better T-Shirt!!
Beaver & dog in N.
SeaTac Park by Sonya Vasilieff
Photo by Laura McAdams Glore
OWL IN NORTH SEATAC PARK