Kirk Prindle on the KCD Board: "Keep It Natural"

Kirk Prindle:

Growing up, I was curious about my grandmother’s novelty pencils. She always wrote with pencils inscribed with the words “Keep it Simple.” I never understood how she had so many (did she constantly have them made?) or why she insisted on always using the pencils when she was writing. But, when asked, Nana would always defend the veracity of the phrase and loudly proclaim that it is always important – and often times difficult – to keep it simple.

Over the last fifteen years, I could have used having Nana around to help in my work reviewing and overseeing environmental restoration projects. But, I hold her opinion as dear, and in my work always strive to keep it simple – and in environmental restoration that means, KEEP IT NATURAL.

It is not always easy.

Sometimes, those in the environmental design field are so concerned with quickly rehabilitating a degraded habitat that they lose site of the larger goal – to facilitate the restoration of natural processes. Sometimes, the “greenwashing” and commercial promotion of engineered products is just too tempting and we buy into the idea that modern technology can improve upon nature. It is hard to assert the urgency of “Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There.”

As a result, over the years I have seen engineered products – from catch basins and piping to footing drains and filter media (artificial engineered soil) – repeatedly proposed for inclusion in restoration projects. I have seen streams converted to piped outfalls; I have seen filter fabric placed uphill of draining surface water; I have seen existing large trees and forest swaths proposed for clearcut to allow for expedited replanting (?); I have seen proposals to install rip rap jetties and groins proposed to allegedly “nourish” Puget Sound beaches. Unfortunately, I can go on. On a large scale, I have seen whole forested mountaintops removed and regraded to make way for “cutting edge” “green” and “sustainable” communities. On a small scale, I see a restoration focus on fencing and signage; and, I repeatedly see remnant artificial trash from “restoration” projects – flagging, irrigation piping, filter fabric, quarry spalls – left to degrade open space areas and native habitat.

The KCD Board needs to be acutely aware of these recurrent issues. Not only because the emphasis on technology over nature and on artificial engineered products is wholly counterproductive to effective habitat restoration, but also because these engineered products are often, by far, the largest percentage of a project’s overall cost. In this time of economic concern and with a budget of over six million dollars, it is so important for KCD to use our tax dollars wisely. The Board could save so much – and so more effectively affect conservation in King County – if they would just strive to KEEP IT NATURAL.

A lifetime of study and years of technical training are typically cited as qualifying me to review, oversee, and coordinate environmental restoration projects. But it often doesn’t take much technical expertise. Just experience. Experience that is sorely needed on the Board of Supervisors for the King Conservation District.

KEEP IT NATURAL