Journey of a thousand steps: Desire to Protect wildlife, forests drives activist's work for change
Bellingham Herald ECO article recognizing Mitch Friedman, founder of Conservation Northwest.
Danny Gawlowski, The Bellingham Herald, Mitch Friedman
A conservation biologist with a zoology degree, Mitch Friedman founded Conservation Northwest in 1988.
He enjoys city living, residing in downtown Bellingham yet raising chickens and maintaining a small orchard and garden. The nonprofit Conservation Northwest works to preserve ancient, or old-growth, forests of the Pacific Northwest, including those around Lake Whatcom and on Blanchard Mountain.
"But most meaningful to me is my work to protect wild places' creatures," says Friedman, who organized the first spotted owl protection protests in Cle Elum. He has two daughters, Jessie and Carrie.
Pet peeve: SUVs.
Personal eco-victory: "I've been fortunate to be part of some big ones, including vast changes in logging policy on U.S. federal lands, protecting 40 square miles of wildland in Loomis State Forest, and reintroducing the Pacific fisher to Washington state waters after (the fish's) absence of almost a century." [sic: The Pacific fisher is not a fish. It is a small native mammal recently reintroduced into the Olympic National Park forest]
Best tip: "Public policy has far more impact than lifestyle, so be an activist."
Turning point: Probably the work of Jacques Cousteau.
First step: Protests against the logging of ancient forests.
"You can get more satisfaction out of being part of the solution than from having more stuff. ... But the answers aren't simple, and righteousness doesn't work."
