City of Issaquah Environmental Board Meets for the First Time
The City of Issaquah’s newly formed Environmental Board met for the first time this month with board members coming from several familiar organizations including the IATC itself and the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust. The purpose of the Environmental Board is to advise the City of Issaquah on “plans, policies, regulations, and programs related to environmental stewardship.” They’re goal is to “protect, preserve, and enhance the natural environment” of Issaquah and “take action on climate change.”
The formation of this board comes out of the City of Issaquah’s Strategic Plan to “foster a safe, vibrant, livable, and inclusive community through effective stewardship and quality public services.” This plan focuses on six priority areas which represent an equitable, sustainable vision of Issaquah around which initiatives will be organized; mobility, growth and development, environmental stewardship, social and economic vitality, city leadership and services, and infrastructure.
Image from the City of Issaquah’s Strategic plan outlining their priority areas and guiding principles.
On the topic of environmental stewardship, the city’s goal is to ensure that “environmental resources are proactively enhanced, protected, and stewarded” through a combination of “active stewardship from the community” and “thoughtful strategies, projects, and policies.” The city may accomplish this goal through a variety of actions that may include updating environmental codes to improve protections, enhancing partnerships and volunteer opportunities to promote stewardship among community members, and creating a public land purchase fund for priority land acquisitions.
The city plans to measure success in environmental stewardship in the following ways:
Image from the city’s strategic plan outlining their definition of success.
The city developed these goal areas through surveys, focus groups, and meetings with community partners, and the IATC supports the city’s dedication to an equitable and sustainable future. Environmental Board Meetings take place monthly with updates posted to their website.
Read the full Strategic Plan: https://www.issaquahwa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5196/Strategic-Plan--Our-Issaquah?bidId=
Learn more about the Environmental Board: https://www.issaquahwa.gov/507/Environmental