Bang. Whoosh. Bang. Whoosh.
The big wood door at Evergreen State’s Lord Mansion near the state capitol in Olympia opens and closes constantly as activists from around Washington come and go. Since it’s the first week of February, the bustle keeps the lobby cold.
Some got here early for the annual Environmental Lobby Day, the first in-person gathering since 2020. Many are already clutching one-pagers and clipboards as they go off to meet with legislators to talk about sewage, climate investments, recycling and clean trucks. Others are just arriving. Some are looking for folks they only know from Zoom. Some are a little bit lost.
“I’m brand spanking new,” says a young woman from Seattle as she approaches the check-in desk. “I just joined the Sierra Club two weeks ago…”
“Hey, do you know the office number of our legislator?” calls someone with a clipboard as she ducks out the door into the February chill.
Each year, the Environmental Priorities Coalition (EPC), a group of more than 27 statewide organizations which Washington Conservation Action helped found and continues to lead, sponsors this event to bring people to the capitol to tell legislators why they support the coalition’s priorities. You can read more about the 2025 EPC priorities here.
In all, more than 300 advocates signed up to spend the day in the state capitol February 6, networking, strategizing, building relationships, meeting with their elected representatives, and rallying. In between planning huddles and appointments, between hearings and speeches, they use this sprawling building, once the manse of a banker, as a home base. It’s a place to rest, to grab a box lunch or a hot cup of coffee, to make a phone call.
Across from the check-in table, a team from Climate Action Families and 350 Seattle slides gorgeous hand-painted banners onto bamboo poles to get ready for the midday rally.
Upstairs, a group of more than 30 students and advocates from Yakima County prep for their meetings.
“Many of the people who’ve come with us today have never spoken to an elected official before,” says Maria Fernandez, executive director of the nonprofit Ella, one of the groups that organized a 5 a.m. bus from south central Washington that morning. “This will be their first time being part of the process. This is how leaders develop.”
In a side room, which looks as if it might once have been a solarium, people from many organizations—Washington Conservation Action, Ella, Sierra Club, Surfrider, the Nature Conservancy and many more—cluster around tables.
One group from Clark County in southwest Washington has just found out that they have, unexpectedly, landed an appointment with Sen. Adrian Cortes from the 18th legislative district.
“Do we have anybody from the 18th?” calls an organizer.
It turns out that a poised 15-year-old Latina from that district is willing to do the meeting. Professional organizers start prepping her, telling her what to expect, answering her questions, reminding her that her power is her story.
Just after noon, everyone makes their way to the Tivoli Fountain on the capitol campus for a rally with signs and banners. Jaimie Cruz, the vice chair of the Squaxin Island Tribe, reminds the crowd to ask themselves how to be good relatives to the salmon and the bear, to Mother Earth. A young man from Ella says he’s there to make sure officials know about needs in his district. State Rep. Beth Doglio (D-22nd) and state Sen. Sharon Shewmake (D-44th) made appearances to welcome and encourage the crowd.
“It’s more important than ever that you are here,” says Alyssa Macy, CEO of Washington Conservation Action. “We’re doing incredible work here in Washington state. We have to hold the line. We have to grow our leadership. We need your good energy, your good ideas, to do this work…We must stand together in our power.”
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