For the first time in Washington state, Republicans, Democrats and environmental groups have been meeting as a bipartisan group to discuss environmental legislation in east King County and as well as in the state as a whole.

The Environmental Roundtable was founded by state Rep. Jay Rodne (R-Snoqualmie) of the 5th Legislative District, along with Gail Twelves of Sammamish and the Sierra Club, and Scott Hamilton of Sammamish, who is also a member of Eastside Transportation Choices and the Sammamish Planning Commission.

“The whole focus is for those of us in east King County,” Rodne said. “We have different priorities and different issues and so I thought that we ought to get together as a group and talk about environmental issues.”

The idea for the bipartisan meetings came about last summer, Rodne said.

“We wanted to get together on a frequent basis with members of the environmental community … to work through issues,” he said. “I think that’s vital. Not enough of it takes place.”

The focus is to restore balance to the environmental debate, he added.

“All too often environmental issues have been caught up in the ‘us-versus-them’ politics,” said Rep. Larry Springer (D-Kirkland) of the 45th District in an Environmental Roundtable press release. “The confrontational way of doing business hasn’t worked well in the past and it’s time to try something different to achieve goals common to all residents of the state.”

The group includes 10 members of the Washington House of Representative including six Republicans and four Democrats. There are also eight environmental representatives from groups such as the Sierra Club, Washington Conservation Voters and the Washington Environmental Council.

“I think the emphasis is to try to be realistic,” said Craig Engelking, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club, who notes that even if collaborative solutions aren’t found, the exchange of ideas is still important. “What we actually want to do is blend the different viewpoints together to take on a problem.”

Rodne, along with representative Glenn Anderson (R-Fall City), noted that the Growth Management Act (GMA) was a main focus for the discussion group, which first met this fall and again in January.

The next meeting will be in April. The meetings are open to the public.

“It’s time that we take a look at evaluating the effectiveness of the GMA,” Anderson said.

The GMA was adopted by the state Legislature in 1990 as a way to help local governments manage growth and to serve state citizens. State and local governments are required to manage growth by identifying and protecting critical areas and natural resource lands, designating urban growth areas and preparing and implementing comprehensive plans.

“I think we need a more balanced approach to environmental issues and this group is an attempt to move away from the rhetoric and provide some balanced solutions,” Rodne said.

The roundtable is a relatively informal opportunity for all sides to talk to each other and to figure out what the priority issues are, Anderson noted. The goal is to find common ground with which to approach issues.

“The point is, let’s identify the areas we can agree on; identify the values we can agree on and that everyone can commit to. Let’s try to influence policy development,” Rodne said. “There is the need to have more opportunities to discuss issues in the less formal, less heated environment of Olympia.”

Visit www.waenvrt.org for details.