Eco - Eco Profiles

POSTED: Sunday, Sep. 21, 2008

Profile: Local lawyer takes political action toward wildlife and agricultural conservation

Name: Rand Jack.
Age: 67.
Residence: South Fork Valley.

Occupation: Part-time attorney and retired teacher.

Mode of transport: Subaru Outback.

Average fuel bill: "No idea."

Eco-cheat: "It would be next to impossible to live in this culture in an ecologically sustainable manner, and I do my fair share of rein-forcing this truth — drive too much, use too much energy, waste too much, consume too much. While I respect those who live more ecologically thoughtful lives, for me, environmentalism is more a matter of political than personal actions."

Turning point: "As I grew older and a little less self-centered, I began to think about the world that the next children would grow up in, and I understood that things would have to change if those children were going to have similar opportunities to those I enjoyed."

First step: "While in the (U.S.) Army in Germany, I decided I wanted to live in the place on the map that had the most green for for-ests, gray for mountains and blue for water—a place other people went for vacations. That was a self-indulgent choice that … provoked my environmental awareness."

Favorite green Web site: Jack is "more inclined to reading things in print," such as "The Man Who Planted Trees" by Jean Giono, "The Weather Makers" by Tim Flannery and "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint Exupéry ("a good primer on stewardship").

Personal eco victory: "My first political environmental act was to file a lawsuit under the National Environmental Policy Act to stop the Defense Department from shipping a trainload of nerve gas across the United States. The lawsuit gave Senator (Henry) Jackson time to intervene politically to have the nerve gas destroyed where it was stored on an island in the Pacific rather than have it trans-ported across the U.S. for destruction."

Best tip: "If someone wants to affect environmental change, I would urge them to educate themselves, go abroad … to less indus-trialized countries with high biodiversity that is at great risk; work for environmentally oriented candidates; lobby decision makers; volunteer with environmental organizations; develop a global perspective that is informed and active; and convince their rich uncle to donate to the Whatcom Land Trust."

"Twenty-five years ago a group of Lynden farmers started Whatcom Land Trust in the basement of Dutch Mothers restaurant to conserve agricultural land in Whatcom County," says Rand Jack, who lives east of Van Zandt in the South Fork Valley. "I was invited to participate as the non-Lydenite, nonfarmer, nonlifelong resident of Whatcom County." Since that time, the organization has completed more than 100 transactions to protect wildlife habitat, farmland, open space, shorelines and recreational land in Whatcom County. For more information, see www.whatcomlandtrust.org.

"We have protected over 9,000 acres of land and are working with Whatcom County and the City of Bellingham to create parks, con-serve farmland and protect land in the Lake Whatcom Watershed," Jack says.

In addition to this volunteer work, Jack works as an attorney at Brett & Coats on Tuesdays and is a bird carver, woodworker, sea kayaker and avid traveler with his wife, Dana.

"We recycle and compost because it seems the most sensible way getting rid of the excessive waste we create," says Jack. "We buy local when it is reasonably convenient and eat organic when Dana has her way."