Your Advocacy
Matters
Since our founding, Friends of Discovery Park has advocated for this natural, open space by resisting calls for development, commercialization, and plans that would detract from its primary purpose laid out in the Discovery Park Master Plan.
Over the years, more than 150 proposals for all or pieces of the Park for other uses have been voiced. FoDP has led the opposition to them all.
As Seattle changes, we continue to see growing threats to Discovery Park’s indispensible role as Seattle’s largest open space.
Learn more about our most important current and previous advocacy efforts, and find out how you can get involved.
Current Advocacy Efforts
A Crucial Link: Re-establishing the Ohman Wildlife Corridor
As we welcome spring, we’re focused on improving our favorite natural space—Discovery Park! Part of this work is ensuring animals have safe passage through wildlife corridors.
In September 2020, a cougar was spotted in Discovery Park, briefly closing the park until the animal could be trapped, tagged, and returned to the wild. This has happened at least twice before, both in 2009 and 1981.
How did these wild animals make their way to Seattle’s backyard?
One theory is the “railroad rights-of-way,” the strips of undeveloped land that run alongside train tracks. These solitary animals, who must roam to survive, walked and ate their way along the Burlington Northern right-of-way from the Cascades to Seattle and the Ballard Locks. Then instinctively, they headed for the closest, large, forested area—Discovery Park.
Another theory, based on accounts from railroad workers, is that when trains stop near mountain tunnels while waiting for exhaust from a previous train to clear, wild animals will sometimes jump into a flatcar for warmth. Once the train starts, it may not stop until it reaches the Ballard Locks’ railroad bridge. From there, a cougar could go from Commodore Park and Kiwanis Ravine all the way to Discovery Park’s 600 acres of forest.
Although cougars are very rare in Discovery Park, for every one who found its way, there are thousands of other creatures like deer, raccoons, rabbits, beaver, possums, skunks, and foxes. These each need habitat to make a living, meet each other, mate, and raise their young.
The challenges these animals face in today’s modern world are myriad, primarily due to fragmented habitats crisscrossed by roads, cars, highways, and buildings. Animals who migrate pay particularly high costs in predation and mortality.
Wildlife corridors help animals maintain their range. In fact, highway departments have been designing underpasses and overpasses around the world to help animals move about safely.
In our own city of Seattle, a would-be wildlife corridor exists, connecting—almost—the Kiwanis Ravine to Discovery Park. This connector is called the Ohman Parcel.
Its express purpose is to give wildlife a way to travel from the Kiwanis greenspace to the much larger Discovery Park one. Ideally, animals who traverse this corridor could make their way into the last remaining Fort Lawton parcel, directly across 36th Avenue, and safely reach a forested area. But alas, not one, but two fences stand in the way to prevent any meaningful migration.
We urge the City to re-establish this vital wildlife corridor by removing both fences which run along each side of Texas Way.
Nature’s ability to recover from human-made development is amazing. Just look around at Discovery Park. Think about how much it has improved over the past 50 years. There’s no doubt that re-establishing the Ohman Wildlife Connector from Kiwanis Ravine to Discovery Park would tremendously benefit the biodiversity and overall beauty and majesty of this vital, natural space.
Complete the Repair and Re-Route of South Beach Trail
Exciting trail news, we are optimistic about the South Beach Trail project. Friends of Discovery Park will be joining the trail designer for a walk-through in June 2025 to discuss next steps, hopefully ensuring our brushing efforts will finally bear fruit and lead to safer and more enjoyable trails throughout Discovery Park!
Greenwashing the Last Remaining Fort Lawton Parcel
Greenwashing is when a company, organization, or government misleads the public into believing that its products, policies, or initiatives are more environmentally friendly than they actually are. This deceptive practice can involve using vague or misleading language, making unsubstantiated claims, or emphasizing minor green efforts to distract from more significant environmental harms.
An example of greenwashing is the City of Seattle’s portrayal of its Fort Lawton housing project as an environmentally responsible initiative. The City presents the development as sustainable, but in reality, it involves constructing a series of high-density towers on a highly sensitive ecological site. The project sits at a critical intersection of protected natural areas, including Salmon Bay, Commodore Park—home to a colony of nesting great blue herons—Kiwanis Ravine, and Discovery Park. These areas provide vital habitat for wildlife, support biodiversity, and serve as a refuge from urban expansion.
Seattle has also justified the project by claiming it will add many new acres to Discovery Park, suggesting an expansion of public greenspace. While this may be technically true in terms of property ownership, it is highly misleading. The areas that will be transferred to the park are already continuous with and functionally part of Discovery Park. No new habitat will be created, nor will any previously inaccessible greenspace be preserved. Instead, the claim serves as a distraction from the real environmental harm caused by the development—destruction of natural land, increased pollution, traffic, and disruption to fragile ecosystems.
Adding to the contradiction, at least $285 million will be spent on the Fort Lawton project, yet not a penny of that will go toward actually improving Discovery Park. Despite the City’s attempt to link the project to the park, none of the funding will enhance the Park’s infrastructure, habitat restoration, or ecological protection efforts. This further underscores the fact that the City’s claim of environmental responsibility is misleading—the project is not about sustainability or conservation, but rather about development at the expense of one of Seattle’s most critical natural areas.
By marketing this development as sustainable, framing a mere legal transfer of land as an environmental benefit, and failing to invest in actual park improvements, Seattle is engaging in a classic example of greenwashing—masking the degradation of a critical natural area under the guise of progressive urban planning.
Seattle should redirect Fort Lawton money, enhance Discovery Park
OP-ED Dec. 21, 2023 – As Mayor Bruce Harrell evaluates alternatives to the city’s stalled 2019 Fort Lawton redevelopment plan, there is an opportunity to both grow new green space and create affordable housing. The city should seize this moment to help more people sooner and enhance Discovery Park for generations to come. Read full story at Seattle Times