Don't tread on me. (Scan).(bureaucracy of clearing a creek near Seattle, Washington)(Brief Article)

Chuck Pillon knows that if you want something done right--or done at all--sometimes you just have to do it yourself. After years of trying to get King County to clear an obstructed section of May Creek on public land, Pillon and his neighbors in this rural region east of Seattle were growing weary of being flooded out of their homes at annual intervals.

That's why on August 12 Pillon borrowed a backhoe and went to work. A few hours later, tons of silt, weeds, and debris were gone. The stream ran swift and clear. As newspapers puzzled over the mystery cleanout, Pillon admitted his act. He was promptly socked with criminal trespass charges and a $100,000 fine.

The way locals see it, that unfairly turned a knight into a villain. Nestled among the deep forests of the Cascade Mountains, the people of eastern King County are much more self-sufficient than their urbanized counterparts in nearby Seattle. A local plan calls for turning the neglected part of May Creek ...