09/19/07 Bringing Local Control Back

Bringing Local Control Back. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. A Washington State Supreme Court ruling has helped bring local control for agriculture back. The ruling was made for Skagit County but since it's a state ruling it will have statewide applications. Dan Wood with the Washington State Farm Bureau explains. WOOD: First thing is it says the Growth Management Act does not require riparian buffers which is just a huge thing. Second thing is that it requires protection but not enhancement of environmental conditions. Many smaller ag operations have been severely hurt by the buffer ruling. Wood says the ruling used an analogy to clarify. WOOD: And they made a distinction between protection and enhancements and by analogy said, if you were charged with protecting your friend's dilapidated vehicle that would mean you would return the vehicle in no worse condition than when you received it but you would not be required to refurbish it. Wood's says this ruling really brings the control back to the local government. WOOD: This brings the growth management act back closer to what it was originally intended to be and that is a local governments planning process. The GMA has turned into a dictatorial state process because of the lawsuits from the Environmental Council and Futurewise and other groups. And now local government officials can have confidence that they can make decisions for their own communities that make sense and they won't get dragged through millions of dollars and years of court battles. For more information and details on the ruling, visit the Farm Bureau's website at wsfb.com That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.