Roots of a Movement: Camas library exhibit celebrating local Earth Day ties opens April 4

If it weren’t for their shared passion for creating a healthier, more sustainable environment, Glen DeWillie, Randal Friedman and Molly McKay Williams — leaders of the recently formed Camas Earth Day Society — may have never even crossed paths.

When they formed the Earth Day group in 2024, DeWillie, an engineer with a background in environmental science and water resource management, was mostly concerned about the toxic, man-made chemicals known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) that have been found in the city of Camas’ public drinking water supply.

Friedman, who worked on environmental issues impacting the U.S. Navy in California before moving to Camas in 2018, had been advocating for the state to step up requirements for environmental cleanup at the Georgia-Pacific paper mill.

And Williams, now president of the Camas Earth Day Society, was focused on creating an “outdoor living lab” behind Prune Hill Elementary School, where fifth-graders could learn about native plants, insects and nature’s seasonal life cycles.

“Bringing disparate parts of society together is what we are about,” Friedman said of the Earth Day Society.

No matter what their environmental cause, Friedman said, the Camas Earth Day Society has a place for everyone who wants to help protect the planet.

“We’re hyperaware that all of these things can be overwhelming and people can feel hopeless,” said DeWillie, who worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for 20 years.

But DeWillie said he is a “cup half full” kind of guy who likes to stay optimistic.

That’s one of the things DeWillie likes about the Camas Earth Day Society — the group’s emphasis on highlighting the positive changes people can make in their own community.

On the group’s website, visitors can get information about the environmental issues impacting Camas’ water, air and landscapes and find examples of ways they might be able to help on a local level — planting a native tree, for instance, or removing invasive plants that harm native plants, insects and animals.

“We are supporters of hands-on projects that both create solutions and show examples of what we can do working together,” the Camas Earth Day Society’s website states.

Homegrown inspiration

The group’s key members, who have spearheaded the outdoor living lab at Prune Hill Elementary, as well as a pollinator garden outside the Camas Public Library, said they are inspired by Camas native Denis Hayes. He helped organize the first Earth Day celebration, which occurred on April 22, 1970, and launched the modern environmental movement.

“You had all of these groups throughout the country that didn’t know they were connected,” Friedman said. “Earth Day helped bring them together.”

Now the Camas Earth Day Society is hoping to bring local people together in the same way, but on a much smaller scale.

At the Prune Hill outdoor living lab, for example, Williams said the Earth Day Society joined with Erin Figy from Frog & Twig, a Camas-area natural habitat gardening and willow-weaving business, and volunteers from the Lower Columbia Nature Network to create “a thriving backyard habitat that expands (fifth-graders’) natural learning environment beyond the classroom, enabling hands-on learning and growing an ethic of environmental stewardship to take forward into their community.”

Williams, the mother of a Camas middle school student, also helps the Prune Hill students understand ways they can use technology to assist in their exploration of the natural world, using the Seek by iNaturalist app on their phones, for example, to help identify plants and animals.

Williams also is known for her commitment to planting native plants — at the outdoor living lab, as well as in her own yard and throughout her neighborhood.

Williams regularly approaches her neighbors, many of whom have a hard time letting go of having a perfect lawn stripped of everything except green grass, and shows them the beauty of being surrounded by native plants, flowers and trees.

“You have to come with a different eye,” Williams said. “It might be a bit messy, but you can see the beauty … and contributing to the ecosystem is magic. It’s engrossing and exciting.”

Roots of a movement

In April, the Camas Public Library’s Second Story Gallery will host a special exhibit created in collaboration with the Camas Earth Day Society that explores the origins of the first Earth Day and its connection, through Hayes, to Camas.

“The exhibit will tell the story of how Earth Day began, highlight Hayes’ contributions and showcase the lasting impact of this global movement,” library staff said in a news release.

The “Roots of a Movement” exhibit will be open to the public April 4-28 on the second floor of the Camas Public Library during regular library hours. The gallery will host an opening-night reception 5-8 p.m. April 4.

Hayes, 80, who has had a school — Hayes Freedom High School — named for him in Camas, now lives in Seattle and is the president of the Bullitt Foundation, a grant-giving group focused on creating more sustainable communities.

The Camas Earth Day Society and Camas library also will explore Hayes’ contributions to the environmental movement at 6 p.m. April 9 at the library, 625 N.E. Fourth Ave. Hayes will be available via Zoom for this event to answer questions and talk about his lifelong commitment to the environment.

“Denis Hayes’ legacy is a testament to the power of local voices creating global change,” Camas library director Connie Urquhart said. “We hope this exhibit inspires visitors to engage with environmental issues in meaningful ways.”

Kelly Moyer: 360-735-4674; [email protected]