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DISTRICT 1 NEWS
Update on Local Agriculture
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I want to offer a quick follow-up to my message of last week.
The Public Hearing on Agricultural Stewardship was held today after being extended from last week. After public testimony and deliberation, the Board decided to stay with its adopted Agricultural Ordinance rather than opt in to the new State program. The path was not entirely clear and there were conflicting interpretations of the law. Basically, the State is asking local communities to come together on a very difficult issue which they were unsuccessful in resolving.
Luckily, Island County has "already been there and done that." My view is that this County spent over a million dollars, as well as a big investment of time and energy from our agricultural producers and the environmental community to hash out these issues in 2006. Locally, we did come together and create an ordinance which supports our agricultural industry and provides flexibility for individual circumstances. To preserve this and not duplicate efforts during times of severe budget cuts, I did not want to abandon our established local program for an uncertain and likely unfunded one.
Local agriculture is vital to our economy and our rural character. Preserving this industry is as important for our future as it has been to our heritage.
I appreciated hearing from so many people on this issue and hope you will stay in touch as this moves ahead.
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