Skagit Dam Relicensing Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. Allowing Seattle officials the authority to wipe out 1,300 acres of productive farmland adjacent to the Skagit River dams would be a gut-punch to farmers under the guise of a salmon recovery plan.
Save Family Farming’s Dillon Honcoop says that’s what’s could happen under the dam relicensing settlement proposed by Seattle City Light …
HONCOOP … “From what we understand, they are acquiescing, saying we will do fish passage, but they haven’t completely closed the door to continuing to take farmland.”
But Honcoop says the way it’s currently written is the real problem …
HONCOOP … “The City of Seattle, via its utility, Seattle City Light, could use the power of eminent domain, the authority of the government, mind you a government 80 miles away, come into the Skagit Valley and say, we’re going to quote-unquote condemn, the technical term, condemn that farmland and we’re going to take it for our habitat mitigation project, and the farming community is saying, no way.”
That comes, Honcoop says without any input from the farmers or landowners who would be directly impacted …
HONCOOP … “That needs to be done and decided at the local level and done in line with the local salmon recovery plans already in place.”
Listen tomorrow for more on this settlement and the simple answer farmers are looking for to fix this threat.
