Buffer Bill Pt 2
I’m Bob Larson. HB 1838 would expand the “Riparian Mitigation Areas”, or Buffer Zones, around all rivers, streams and lakes in Washington, making it illegal to use private property within 100 to 250 feet or so of the water for ag purposes.Washington State Dairy Federation executive director, Dan Wood says think about what that means …
WOOD … “I mean, you’d name just about every county in Western Washington and you’re going to have a lot of farmland along rivers, streams and floodplains.”
An extreme but valid example, Wood says is in his own community …
WOOD … “You know, I’m in Grays Harbor County, so we mapped out a local farm here that’s almost 600 acres. And, you know, we found out what’s the site’s potential tree height. It’s 230-some feet. Where does it flood? What’s the floodplain? And we mapped out from that, of almost 600 acres to start with, there are only three acres left.”
That farmer, Wood says is basically left with nothing …
WOOD … “So that 600-acre farm is wiped out entirely. And, you know, the rental rate that they’re going to get on that farm is a little more than it takes to pay taxes but not enough to pay the remaining mortgage on. We will see that over and over and over on each side of the mountains.”
Landowners would be required to restore the buffer zones to their original state with native trees and plants, at their expense.
Wood says contact your lawmakers ASAP and let them know what a terrible idea this is.