Whatcom County, Washington has some upset livestock producers who feel they must sell off their animals rather than deal with the “costly” regulations established to protect environmentally sensitive areas.Whatcom County has what is known as a Critical Areas Ordinance. This ordinance is designed to protect environmentally sensitive areas on farms from degradation from livestock waste. Protected areas include streams and wetlands. So, a farmer must create a plan to protect these environments if they run across their livestock lands, and livestock is not allowed to enter buffers around these environments.
According to the News Tribune story on the issue, this requires farmers to establish buffers or construct expensive fencing around the areas in order for their plan to offer the required protection. Rather than face the expense of this process, some farmers have just turned to getting rid of their animals.
For his part, Oliver Grah, manager of the county Planning Department’s natural resource division, said following a complaint the standard practice is to ask the farmer to create a plan. “The county subsidizes the cost of creating the plans by paying the Whatcom Conservation District $100,000 a year to write them for farmers, he said. The farmer has to pay $100 to have the plan reviewed by the county.
It will be interesting to see if any changes are made to this policy following tonight’s (Wednesday, August 26, 2009) meeting at Haynie Grange to discuss the policy.
To read the News Tribune story or find out more about the meeting click here.
Posted: 08/26/09
