As a farmer myself, I know what it takes to keep the land productive and to pass it down to the next generation. That’s why I can’t stay silent when outside interests try to take our farmland out of production.

Diking and Drainage districts in the Skagit Valley had an agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) since 2010 to ensure that infrastructure projects like tidegates had a blanket authorization for maintenance and repair and that there is district support for estuary restoration projects. This was followed by a broad stakeholder process that developed a strategic Estuary Restoration plan. This all came crashing to a halt when NMFS withdrew its programmatic biological opinion and authorization for permits after being threatened with a lawsuit from environmental advocates. This meant that the districts then would have to pursue each permit individually. Four years of litigation, delayed maintenance and a lack of meaningful engagement has ensued. I have stood up — and will continue to stand up — against these efforts. I have sponsored a budget proviso for the last 3 years to fund a transparent mediation process to bring local, state, federal, and tribal governments to the table to find a solution. Instead of coming to the table with solutions, NMFS has been unable to participate in any productive or meaningful way

The loss of the programmatic BiOp and the loss of a strategic, well support plan for estuary restoration occurred at the same time that Seattle City Light began pursuing a plan that would condemn productive Skagit Valley farmland and convert it to salmon habitat — even though Skagit County already has a collaborative recovery plan in place that protects both fisheries and farms. This isn’t about fixing problems in their own watershed. It’s about avoiding their responsibility to provide fish passage where it’s actually required, while using eminent domain to take some of the richest farmland in the nation. Instead of committing to fish passage at the SCL dams, they have been putting out a narrative that the districts and farmers are the problem. We already have a locally driven salmon recovery plan built with farmers, tribes, and county officials working together. Skagit County has a moratorium on converting farmland for offsite environmental mitigation. What Seattle City Light is doing ignores that process, violates property rights, and undermines years of work.

Skagit County’s delta — 60,000 acres that produce over $300 million in crops every year — is one of the last highly productive floodplain soils west of the Cascades. We grow more tulip bulbs than anywhere else in the U.S., along with cabbage, beet and spinach seed, dairy, and countless other crops. Every acre lost is an irreplaceable blow to our economy, our heritage, and our future.

I will keep fighting in Olympia and in the public arena to protect Skagit farmland from being carved up by agencies that have no business meddling here.  Under Executive Order 14219, federal agencies are to rescind any orders that undermine the national interest including regulations that prevent infrastructure development.  NMFS needs to return to the agreed permitting process so that maintenance on tidegates that protect State Route 20 and power and water infrastructure as well as farmland and salmon habitat can recommence.  Additionally, Seattle City Light needs to work on fish habitat within its own lands, not in the Skagit Valley.

We can restore salmon runs without destroying the land that feeds us if everyone involved is willing to collaborate on meaningful solutions.

Yours in service,

Senator Ron Muzzall
10th Legislative District