Skagit Dam Relicensing Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. As part of a relicensing settlement for Skagit River dams, Seattle City Light could take more than 1,300 acres of productive farmland through eminent domain under the guise of salmon recovery.
This comes, according to Save Family Farming’s Dillon Honcoop without any input from the farmers …
HONCOOP … “There are folks who have wanted to weigh in on this that at different points have been shut out of this process. It hasn’t gone well and that’s why this continues to be a problem.”
And Honcoop asks, who does Seattle City Light answer to? …
HONCOOP … “The Seattle City Council has to weigh in on it as well, as the overseeing governmental authority of Seattle, to say yes, they’re good with the plan. And that’s where we as a farming community and others, including some of the tribal partners, folks we’ve been working with there in Skagit County are saying, NO!”
The answer, Honcoop says is pen to paper …
HONCOOP … “This could be a really simple fix. Let’s listen to local voices. Let’s say that the City of Seattle, 80 miles away, isn’t going to engage in this kind of behavior. Then promise, make it legally binding and, like I’m saying, step aside, allow local voices to be involved, and we have a great future with a lot of great possibilities ahead of us.”
Save Family Farming is urging Mayor Bruce Harrell and the Seattle City Council to reject this reckless overreach.
