EPA Region 10 Administrator Pt 1
I'm Bob Larson. Now that the Environmental Protection Agency has named Alaskan official Chris Hladick as the new Region 10 Administrator to govern the part of the country Washington exists in, will it be a positive or negative for pro-agriculture groups like Save Family Farming?
Director Gerald Baron says it's a much-needed change ...
GERALD BARON ... "Well, you know, as you mentioned, I think it's a positive development. It's certainly not hard to imagine how it could be worse for farmers given the Dennis McLerran Era and what that meant for farmers."
But, Baron says, it's still very early to be drawing any conclusions ...
GERALD BARON ... "So, we're very positive and optimistic. We're very glad that there's finally a Region 10 Administrator in place and what we understand in Mr. Hladick is that he's a competent administrator whose had some good government experience, both at the city and at the state level, and I think will be a fair, honest, open administrator for this region. And, we think that's a good thing given what we've had to deal with in the past."
Baron says they aren't too worried about Hladick being overly radical ...
GERALD BARON ... "What we see of him is we don't see him really as an activist as someone who's necessarily going to take a strong position, one way or the other, on some of these issues."
Baron says Hladick's experience could be a real plus for Washington agriculture.
We'll learn more about Hladick's background and what to expect tomorrow.
