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Text transcript of the video "Kenmore Park-and-Ride project"

Watch this video clip (Real Media) Length: 3:15

Watch this video clip (Windows Media) Length: 3:15

Narrator says:
They have been flocking to the treetops high above Kenmore for years, and this season is no exception. The great blue herons are back for their nesting season, which typically starts in February and ends in mid summer. The heron’s don’t seem to mind some changes near their homes this year. King County Metro Transit sold the nearby Northshore Park-and-Ride lot to the city of Kenmore so that the space could become part of the cities downtown redevelopment and then expanded the Kenmore Park-and-Ride lot, adding 200 new parking spaces. Metro made the move only after extensive testing showed noise and traffic from the lot would not disrupt the birds.

Ron Sims/King County Executive says:  
Preservation of habitat is incredibly important, how we build our roads, how we operate our buses, where we site things. But what the heron rookery gives us as a reminder is that we can be successful stewards if we just pay attention. The process of study and examination and looking at the rookery and then moving forward with the expansion of a park and ride lot that would not disrupt the rookery is what we’re supposed to be doing. So again I want to applaud Metro Transit, a remarkable organization that has stepped up to the challenge every single time they’ve been asked. They don’t roll their eyes, they roll up their sleeves and that’s what is great about them.

Carolyn Edmonds/King County Council Member says:  
We had a park and ride over here that was under utilized. We had a park and ride over here that was at maximum. And we had an inefficient bus route. So we all sat together and said what can we do for transit to make this better, for the city of Kenmore who is trying to create their new downtown and better for King County in providing service and to our residents in helping our suburban cities achieve their goals. And this is what we’ve got. 

Narrator says:
It should be noted that the park and ride lot was there before the heron’s chose this spot for nesting, and they have been neighbors for more than 20 years already.

Patricia Thompson /Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife says:  
A colony such as this has been able to habituate to the urbanization around it. It has moved in, after the park and ride got there, but with management we can do expansions such as this one.

Narrator says:
Part of the expansion of the Kenmore Park-and-Ride lot is new interpretive signs that will help people learn more about the great blue heron.

Patricia Thompson /Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife says:   These are great blue heron wing feathers, basically, and if you can imagine a bird that would be dressed in feathers such as this. They stand about this high, the little robins in your back yard are this big, and that’s with all their feathers on, and that’s just one feather.

Narrator says:
Want a closer look without leaving your computer? The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has installed cameras near the nests that provide live views of the herons, on line, that you can check out by going to the web site you see here at the bottom of your screen. http://www.wdfw.wa.gov/wildwatch/

 
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Updated:  March 10, 2005

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