Most people who cause damage to the park wish to remain anonymous.  I would like for them to say, publicly, "My name is _______, and I am proud that my dog crapped on the public beach every single day of the year.  I think it is my right as an American to exploit the environment for my personal convenience."  If people would come forward with the reasons they cause damage, maybe we could discuss how that would work out.  If the environment is gone, because proud Americans used it all up, is it just too bad for Americans who come later?  That's what they get for being born after us?  I know I would like to see a land where there were giant trees everywhere you looked.  I would like to see the wilderness of 1849, when the environment was healthy.  People who came before me took away that chance.  Our economy, and my ability to live my current lifestyle, is based on the destruction of the environment.  I am not proud to say I am one of those people who is using up the planet's resources faster than they can be replaced.

The people who damage Eagle Landing Park will not come forward publicly and declare they have a right to do so.  They conduct drive-by environmental crimes, knowing that no one is watching besides me.  And what am I going to do about it?  I can't punch everyone in the face who needs punching.  By law, I am required to sit by and allow degradation of our public spaces.  I can observe and report, but no police or local agency will respond.  The taxpayers of Burien will not pay for protection of the environment. No significant group of people will approach the City Council and demand enforcement of laws that protect our common good.  If I am the only one asking for enforcement, then I can be easily ignored.

"He who is silent is assumed to consent."  "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing."  I would agree with both those statements.  I don't want to be silent.  I don't want to stand by and do nothing.  What can I do?  I am trying to help the park, my local environment, by making the park better every day.  I do this by taking pictures, hopefully raising awareness, and by removing a little ivy every day.  I would like to stop the damage that occurs daily.  I have not found support in the community for enforcement of environmental laws.  My goal has been to see the park healthier by the end of the year.  At the rate people are working against this goal, I will not succeed. It may be a Sisyphean task to carry my 365 stones up the stairs.  Perhaps it is my punishment for being a member of the generation that destroyed the Earth.

Stone 34