Washington legislature may move to preserve farmlands
OLYMPIA -- The Legislature is mulling a plan to create a new state Office of Farmland Preservation in hopes of shielding more farmland from development.
The main push for Senate Bill 5108 comes from Skagit County, but backers told the Senate Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Committee on Monday that the measure would address a statewide problem.
Farm groups, environmentalists and conservation districts are supporting it. The building industry is opposing it.
Andrew Cook, a lobbyist for the Building Industry Association of Washington, said the bill could have the effect of "artificially restricting the supply of potential buildable lands in and around growing communities that otherwise would be used for future affordable housing."
Lawmakers in 2002 set up the Agriculture Conservation Easements Program under the state Conservation Commission to collect federal funds and other money to help local governments protect farmland and buy up easements to buffer farmland from development.
The bill being considered this year would help the Conservation Commission administer the program, recommend appropriate funding, analyze ways to keep farmland in production, set up grant programs for local governments and provide technical assistance to farmers.
A 15-member task force would oversee activities. Gov. Chris Gregoire included $500,000 in her budget to pay for similar activities.
Don Stewart, Northwest states director for the American Farmland Trust, said 75 percent of the state's farmland, if put to another use, would have a higher market value than it has as farmland.
"What that means is when those lands next sell, they're almost certainly going to sell to someone other than a farmer," Stewart told the committee. "Sooner or later, they're going to be used for something other than agriculture."
The Washington Farm Bureau and the Washington Cattleman's Association urged the committee to consider allowing the state the option to lease development rights from farmers to buffer their farmland in addition to purchasing farmland outright.
Chris Cheney, a lobbyist for the state Dairy Federation and Fryer Commission, said the new office could help focus resources on protecting quality farmland.
"We've watched some of the best dirt God ever made end up under warehouses," he told the committee. "All farmland is not created equal. I think the state will be well served if the emphasis is on saving the people that want to be saved."
Even so, some say this goose isn't fully cooked. More needs to be done to protect farmers from conflicts with neighbors over changes farmers make to their own operations, said Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville.
"The goals are nice, but it doesn't address some of the underlying problems," Schoesler said in an interview, pointing to another bill heard Monday that would boost such protections. "I think with some work it could be a decent piece of legislation."
But others pleaded with the committee to avoid letting minor issues sink the whole bill.
"Leave the details of this issue to the task force," said Don Whiting, legislative director for the Washington State Grange. "It's vitally important to get this program started now."
This article is republished courtesy of the Tri-City Herald:
Legislature may move to preserve farmlands
