Larry Stap: Jay Inslee’s legacy is a dim future for Washington’s family farms

By Larry Stap

Will the last family farmer leaving Washington please turn out the barn lights?

Washington’s family farmers have felt for some time that Gov. Jay Inslee and his administration, as well as some legislative leaders aligned with his goals, do not value them.

This legislative session wrapped up with yet another clear message: We don’t care about the future of farming in this state.

A number of legislative leaders in both parties stand out for their efforts to help create a more secure future for farmers. Sadly, their good work has for the most part come to nothing, thanks to opposition from our very anti-farm governor, the agency heads he leads, and some key legislators who dance to his tune.

Buffers are a prime example. Last year, Inslee introduced a riparian buffer bill that would have almost certainly destroyed most farming in Western Washington and harmed farmers across the state. This year, Democratic and Republican leaders engaged farm and tribal leaders to work out a riparian buffer bill that would have significantly enhanced salmon habitat without destroying farming and farmland. When Inslee couldn’t get the farm-destroying changes he demanded, he threatened to veto it and legislative leaders caved and pulled the bill.

The fuel tax is another example. Fuel is a major expense for farms, and the legislators who approved the tax – called the Cap and Trade legislation – did so based on the requirement that Inslee’s Department of Ecology would find a way to exempt farms from paying the new tax.

Ecology did nothing except try to shift the responsibility onto refiners. Angry Democratic leaders called it a “bait and switch” and tried to find ways to exempt farms. But, again opposition from the Inslee administration has left farmers with more paperwork and greater expenses because of the refusal to do what legislators required.

Flexible overtime for farm employees is another example. Farmworkers appealed to Senate labor leaders to let them have more flexibility in the hours they work. Not only did the Inslee-aligned lawmakers refuse to listen to the pleas of farmworkers, Sen. Saldaña misrepresented their position, and Sen. Keiser, chair of the labor committee, went so far as to imply farmers’ motives involve racism. An interesting perspective, given that most opposition to the overtime requirement came from workers in the Latino community.

Water rights are yet another issue. While not getting as much attention, the legislature approved funding for the Department of Ecology to pursue water rights litigation in the Nooksack River Basin and in the Lake Roosevelt Basin. Ecology is well aware that water rights involving tribal claims are now typically settled via negotiations – not adjudication –and going to court will take hundreds of millions of dollars and decades. Laura Watson, the Inslee-appointed head of Ecology, also is well aware that this action has already caused the loss of farms in Whatcom County, and will almost certainly end most farming here in one of the last places in Western Washington where farming is still viable.

It’s not just what the Legislature and Inslee administration have done that is so harmful, it is what they refuse to do.

They won’t stop the damage from improperly imported elk in Skagit County. They won’t help protect vital flood safeguards and infrastructure in Skagit County. They won’t seriously address the flooding and low flow issues in the Nooksack River. They won’t take reasonable measures to protect farm livestock against the ever expanding wolf populations.

Sadly, it has become increasingly clear to farmers that their voice doesn’t count, and neither does their presence in this state. We know that voters don’t agree. Voters want local food and local farmers. Voters value the beauty of the land, the protection against urban sprawl, and the habitat for wildlife such as migrating birds that farmland provides. Voters value farmers as stewards of the land.

Until voters speak out with their voices and votes, some of the major leaders of this state will continue to drive away family farms. This legislative session made that very clear. Will Washington’s next governor chart a new course so farmers can leave the barn lights on?

Larry Stap is a Whatcom County dairy farmer and president of Save Family Farming.