August Edition 2025
Write us at info@defendersofhighlineforest.org

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1. SAVE TREES: Tell King County to set a Tree Canopy Goal & Work Plan

2. Des Moines Masonic Home development update

Is Your Life Impacted… by nearby SeaTac and/or local King County airports including living, working, or going to school under a flight path?

If You Answered “Yes”… sign our PETITION by 8/31/25.

• Sign On as an organization or business impacted by an airport click here.

• Sign On as an individual impacted by an airport click here.

King County will complete their 5-year update of its Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP) in a few weeks. The Defenders of Highline Forest have reviewed the proposed changes and recommend King County include additional protections for residents who are impacted by our airports.  

Defenders have joined with five other advocacy groups (Beacon Hill Council, Tree Action Seattle, Climate Solutions, Duwamish River Community Coalition) as part of Fix Aviation Harms to ask the county to improve heat, pollution, and carbon emissions protections by amending the SCAP to convene stakeholders over the next year to develop recommendations for:

• An Aviation Greenhouse Reduction Plan

• An Aviation Health Mitigation Plan

• A King County Tree Canopy Goal & Work Plan

Passing this amendment would show us that the county is serious about addressing the urgent needs of highly impacted residents living around SeaTac International Airport as well as the Auburn, Renton and King County Airports (and under their flightpaths). Read our 2 page letter we jointly signed on behalf of our advocacy organizations and jointly sent to King County council on 7-21-25.

Tomorrow morning, August 19th at 9:30 AM the Defenders will be in front of King County Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee providing public comment for amending SCAP to include a Tree Canopy Goal with a Measurable Work Plan.

Join the meeting and participate in tree ways by reviewing the information in the meeting agenda here and participating in one of the ways below.

HOW TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT:
The Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee values community input and looks forward to hearing from you on agenda items.
There are three ways to provide public comment: 

1. In person: You may attend the meeting and provide comment in the Council Chambers.  King County Courthouse 516 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA 98104, USA Room 1001

2. By email: You may comment in writing on current agenda items by submitting your email comments to kcccomitt@kingcounty.gov. If your email is received by 8:00 a.m. on the day of the meeting, your email comments will be distributed to the committee members and appropriate staff prior to the meeting. 

3. Remote attendance at the meeting by phone or computer (see "Connecting to the Webinar" below). You may provide oral comment on current agenda items during the meeting’s public comment period.

CONNECTING TO THE WEBINAR: 

Webinar ID: 828 3304 6944 By computer using the Zoom application at https://zoom.us/join and the webinar ID above. 

Via phone by calling 1 253 215 8782 and using the webinar ID above. 

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN TO THE MEETING REMOTELY: 

There are several ways to watch or listen in to the meeting:

 1) Stream online via this link: http://www.kingcounty.gov/kctv, or input the link web address into your web browser. 

2) Watch King County TV on Comcast Channel 22 and 322(HD) and Astound Broadband Channels 22 and 711(HD) 

3) Listen to the meeting by telephone – See “Connecting to the Webinar” above. To help us manage the meeting, if you do not wish to be called upon for public comment please use the Livestream or King County TV options listed above, if possible, to watch or listen to the meeting. 

SAVE THE DATES

September Public Comment Opportunities

We will be updating our supporters with future broader Public Comment opportunities -tentatively either 9-4 or 9-16 so please stay tuned for opportunities to make public comments on behalf of trees as a Defender!

Need Tree Canopy Goal with

Measurable Work Plan

What’s happening:

The 2025 SCAP calls for maintaining or adding 5 million trees — but no tree canopy goal with a measurable work plan is included.

What’s missing:
✅ A tree canopy goal in which we can measure progress, as part of a defined work plan with established metrics to track in preserving, restoring, and growing canopy for carbon sequestration, climate adaptation, and community resiliency.

Why it matters:

• Without a canopy goal based on a work plan with established metrics there’s no way to measure progress or prevent loss.

• Tree canopy is a critical tool for heat relief, air quality improvement, and climate resilience.
  

Our ask:
📄 Amend the 2025 SCAP to include a King County tree canopy goal with a measurable work plan to meet that goal.

Individuals:
🧍Sign the letter in support of these these amendments: Sign Here

🏢 Organizations:
Sign on behalf of your organization in support of these amendments: Sign Here

🏛️ Elected Officials:
Sign on as an individual in support of these amendments: Sign Here

Destruction of Historic Des Moines Masonic Home greenlit by the city

The fight to preserve the Historic Des Moines Masonic Home has been dealt a critical blow.

• Conditional approval was granted 8/8/25 by the City of Des Moines on demolition application filed by developer Zenith Properties LLC

• The Fight to Preserve Our History will continue.

• Donate to the GoFundMe to support our legal efforts

Friday, August 8th, exactly 100 years to the day of the groundbreaking for the building of the Des Moines Masonic Home, the City of Des Moines issued a conditional approval of the demolition application filed by developer Zenith Properties LLC to clear the property. This applies not only to the iconic historic building but also several acres of forest. The developer has given no indication of what is planned for the property afterwards.

A group called Citizens for the Protection of Des Moines' Historic Resources has filed an appeal and a GoFundMe page has been set up to cover the legal expenses by engaging Bricklin. Click below to learn more and support our efforts.

Support the Defenders 

The Defenders of Highline Forest is at an exciting and pivotal moment of growth and opportunity and we are needing to significantly expand to our entirely volunteer run team to meet the community’s needs. If you wish to serve your community in a meaningful way through Tree Advocacy efforts, this is a great time to donate your time and effort to join The Defenders Planning Team.

To join our volunteer committees in areas such as marketing communications, fundraising, advocacy campaigns and/or other various other ways to lend your support, please contact info@defendersofhighlineforest.org.

Content Contributors

Content for this edition of your Defenders of Highline Forest newsletter was provided by Sandy Hunt, Barbara McMichael and Eileen Lambert.