Protecting Private Property Rights

Protecting Private Property Rights

I’m KayDee Gilkey with the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report.

In Washington’s Columbia county, rancher Joe Lemire has been in a legal battle with the Department of Ecology over private property rights.

Washington Ag Legal Foundation Executive Director Toni Meacham says that the July 2011 ruling from the Columbia County Superior Court was in favor of Lemire. The judge rescinded the Department of Ecology’s Administrative Order, which had fined Lamire and directed him to fence off a stream from livestock access.

Meacham: “He further stated that if the order were in place it would have been a per se takings that Joe Lamire had not been given due process. That the order had been issued without significant site visits or water testing. So it was a great ruling for us; for property owners; cattlemen; ranchers; for anyone with acreage - from one to 1,000 acres.”

The next step for the case is an appeal hearing with the Appeals Court in Spokane. That hearing will be held Wednesday, September 12th at 11 a.m. Meacham encourages anyone interested in protecting private property rights to become involved in a variety of ways.

Meacham: “We need support from property owners. Whether they are somebody with a yard and a house; or somebody with 1,000 head of cattle or one head; horses, goats, sheep I don’t care. Everybody who is a property owner has a dog in this fight. So we would love support monetary. If you could just write a letter to Joe letting him know you are supporting him. Come to the hearing, just sit there and listen and know what is going on with the law and property rights.”

I’m KayDee Gilkey with the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.