WAWG
The Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) has signed onto a letter to the Governor’s Office providing feedback on the state’s Riparian Taskforce’s work and weighing in on the group’s future focus.
Besides WAWG, the letter was signed by the Washington Farm Bureau, the Washington State Diary Federation, the Washington Potato Commission, and the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. The wheat industry lobbyests, Diana Carlen and Mark Streuli, also signed the letter.
According to a memo sent from the Governor’s Office, the taskforce plans to focus on “using collaborative problem solving to develop mandatory strategies and tools that would be used if voluntary riparian restoration and protection programs do not meet their restoration goals.”
In the letter, the signees ask for clarification of the next phase, pointing out that the budget proviso does not limit future discussions to only mandatory measures.
“Your memo indicates that the goal of the next phase is to develop majority support for a legislative proposal, but that is unlikely to happen if the focus of the next phase of the workgroup is limited to only discussing mandatory measures, i.e. regulatory backstop,” the letter states. “We have been very clear that we think it is premature to be discussing a regulatory backstop if voluntary measures do not work. We continue to maintain that incentives for voluntary efforts are the best path forward, and we need to give them time to work. Indeed, it is our understanding that the voluntary programs that have recently been set up by the Washington State Conservation Commission have more applicants than available funding, which shows that voluntary programs are working.”
The agriculture groups express reservations with the firm leading the taskforce, Plauché & Carr, saying many of the issues raised during the taskforce meetings have not been included in the firm’s final recommendations.
“The task force members should be given a chance to discuss their current level of confidence in the process. The Governor’s office and the Legislature deserve to know where stakeholders have differing opinions and recommendations so that they are better informed about the political and policy landscape surrounding these issues,” the letter states.