01/28/08 Wheat Growers work on transportation in Olympia

Washington Ag January 28, 2008 Members of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers are in Olympia early this week on their annual lobbying trip. President Randy Uhrich says rail transportation is a central focus with state lawmakers this year, particularly the Palouse River Coulee City Railroad track and right of way the state purchased. Uhrich: "The state has in the past appropriated money to rehabilitate those lines. Now it is just a matter of getting that worked out with the state to actually get that money to fix up the railroads. Without the railroads the roads will take a tremendous beating. There are safety issues with that much traffic and a lot of money basically fixing up roads if we don't get it." The state has seven-million dollars in rehabilitation funds. Besides repair of the Coulee City to Cheney track Wheat Growers want to see funding allocated to reconnect the P&L and PV Hooper lines which were disconnected in 2005 due to a trestle fire. Growers and the Washington State Department of Transportation agree that it would be more practical to rebuild a section of abandoned line between Thornton and Oakesdale to reconnect the lines that it would be to replace the burned trestle. The Wheat Growers are also supporting Washington State University's supplemental budget request for agriculture. I'm Bob Hoff.