Page 16 - WCA Ketch Pen August 2020

16
Meet Your New Director
By Laura Watson, WA Department of Ecology Director:
I’m grateful to the Washington Cattlemen’s Association for the opportunity to introduce myself. While this pandem- ic has prevented many of us from meeting in person, know that I look forward to doing so as soon as safety allows.
I grew up in Pittsburgh, but Washington has been home for my adult life. My husband, Dan, and I have lived both east and west of the Cascades, starting in Seattle, then Richland, and now Olympia where we’re settled with our daughter, Violet.
When I first moved to the Olympia area, I was fortunate to rent a house on an 80-acre farm where beef cattle were raised. This intimate glimpse gave me a deeper appreciation for the many small farmers and ranchers who work hard to preserve their land while running a business.
East to west, rural or urban, we all want a sustainable quality of life. Farmers, residents, and visitors throughout Washington deserve clean air, land, and water, as well as access to our state’s wonderful range of natural areas.
Washington’s diversity also means that a one-size-fits- all approach doesn’t work. Agricultural producers need flexibility to maintain a beautiful, clean environment while bolstering a strong economy.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created new economic challenges for your industry. Unstable demand, price fluctu- ations, and slowdowns or closures of meat processing plants across the country have left many reeling.
At the same time, there is nothing like a global pandemic to reinforce the importance of food security. I feel fortunate that my family lives in a state with a strong and vibrant agri- cultural industry. We can enjoy fresh Washington-produced foods year-round. This emphasizes how critically important your industry is to our state, from both an economic and food security perspective.
Here at the Department of Ecology, we value the strong relationships we’ve formed with livestock producers, and
Laura Watson
I’m fully committed to maintaining and strengthening those relationships. Over the past decade, we’ve worked with producers across the state to protect hundreds of streamside miles. Since 2001, the state has invested roughly $36 million in Eastern Washington toward programs to reduce pollu- tion from non-point sources.
Each year, we work with our partners across the state
to support programs that reimburse landowners for lost production or grazing land, and make millions of dollars available through local conservation districts to proactively address problems. Along with riparian planting and fencing, these funds have paid for pumps and wells for off-stream water, which provide improved water distribution.
In one recent example, a Whatcom County farmer was keeping cattle in a muddy area next to a drainage ditch, causing bacteria-laced runoff. Ecology staff connected the farmer with cost-sharing opportunities he hadn’t known about through the conservation district and county, allow- ing him to move the fence line, relocate a winter confine- ment area, and install gutters on nearby buildings.
This landowner had wanted to make all of these im- provements for some time, but cost had prevented him from doing so. The upgrades brought about better water quality and herd health – not to mention less mud to slog through every day.
We can help unravel a host of complex problems by find- ing options within legal parameters and by resolving any dis- putes early on. With this in mind, I’m eager to get a firsthand account of the issues you’re facing so that we can facilitate funding and offer technical expertise to build solutions.
Ecology staff approach our agency’s regulatory duty thoughtfully and carefully, because our mission isn’t sim- ply to enforce regulations – it’s to protect, preserve, and enhance Washington’s environment for current and future generations. We stand the best chance of accomplishing this when we work together.
Ketch Pen www.washingtoncattlemen.org
August 2020