Rural liaison hopes to "get beyond the anger"

While living on her 5-acre farm in Ravensdale, joan burlingame has used her gun to chase off a cougar and defend her trash from prowling bears. She's grown thousands of pounds of produce, cared for livestock and built a two-story home and a slick wooden barn with her own hands.

So if anyone is tough enough to handle the rural rage that has spread through unincorporated King County, it just might be her.

burlingame (who does not capitalize her name) has been hired as the county's new rural liaison.

For the next 10 months, she'll respond to landowners' concerns about the county's new Critical Areas Ordinances (CAO) and help them wade through the paperwork to get their projects done.

That is, if they'll let her.

Ever since King County leaders last year passed the strict new land-use rules governing issues like clearing and development in rural areas, many landowners have grumbled, marched, organized and even disobeyed the law in protest.

While most county leaders say the rules are necessary to preserve natural resources, rural residents see them as an infringement on their property rights.

STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Preparing to add on to the home she built, joan burlingame knows firsthand the impact of King County's new critical-areas ordinances, but she supports the controversial measures.

She accepts the environmentalist label, but counters that she is also a property-rights advocate. She says the two can co-exist.

She is not afraid to jump into the fire.

"I think I can get beyond the anger and hear what they're saying. I've dealt with angry people before," she said.

During the 25 years she's lived on her property, burlingame says she's dealt with many of the permitting, land-use and livestock issues that so many of her neighbors worry about.

"Been there, done that," she says.

In dirt-streaked jeans and cowboy-hat earrings, she's at home in the country.

She grew up helping her grandfather on his farm in Michigan, prefers homegrown produce and has a shotgun to defend herself and her 17-year-old daughter against cougars if necessary. She loves to can and knows how to butcher a chicken.

College educated, burlingame writes medical textbooks and used to work as a recreational therapist.

She has been active for more than a decade in conservation efforts for the Rock Creek Valley near Maple Valley, and early in the CAO process, she served on a citizen advisory board for the proposed rules.

Her home sits atop what's called Georgetown Ridge, just east of Maple Valley. Forest, a pond and wetlands mark the property.

She grows vegetables, cares for her roosters, horses, dogs and sheep, and is getting ready to build a 1,000-square-foot addition to her home — a project that is forcing her to adhere to the same new rules that have riled others.

Still, her rural credentials haven't convinced some rural property owners that she's right for the job.

"Why couldn't they choose someone who's more middle-of-the-road?" asked Ron Ewart, a Fall City resident who has organized protests and spoken out aggressively over the new rules. In an e-mail to rural-rights supporters last week, he called burlingame "an avid conservationist and environmentalist."

She will earn the equivalent of $53,000 a year for her 10 months of work. During that time, she'll respond to requests for help from landowners, answer questions about the land-use rules and speak about the regulations to local groups and at community meetings.

"She's not going to be a spin doctor," said King County Executive Ron Sims, who has been the target of much of the rural anger. "She's melted my computer down sometimes with her criticism. She's independent, and she calls it like she sees it."

County representatives say that much about the new ordinances has been misunderstood, and they're hoping she can help landowners get the facts.

"Sometimes it's not what you say, it's how you say it. And joan speaks the language," said Harry Reinert, a manager with the county's Department of Development and Environmental Services.

As an example, burlingame says that county representatives often say, "You have a water-supply problem," when talking to rural landowners about water issues on their property. But in the country the term "water supply" means public water, she says, and most rural residents do not want to hook up to the public water system. The terminology creates unnecessary friction, she said.

"Instead, I'd say, 'You have a well problem,' and they will all know what I mean."

burlingame doesn't hide her support for the CAO. "As landowners, we have lots of rights. We also have lots of responsibilities. What you do on your property affects neighbors, and it affects the environment," she said.

But she says she also believes the county has not worked hard enough to connect with rural landowners or to help them accomplish their goals within the framework of the rules.

"I just wanted to be able to help people sort through what's true and what's not," she said. She says she wants to show landowners how certain techniques, like developing a farm plan, can help them avoid the burden of bureaucracy and better manage their land.

She knows some folks won't be receptive to her, no matter what. "There are some people who believe the government should not control anything you do on your land, and I can't do anything to change that," she said.

For the most part, though, she hopes to help rural residents accomplish their goals and perhaps help bridge the divide that has formed between rural landowners and the politicians who lead them.

"I'm not expecting a good reception, necessarily," she said. "I'm just expecting to help clarify some things."

Natalie Singer: 206-464-2704 or nsinger@seattletimes.com