WA Senate passes bill encouraging more counties to plant trees
(The Center Square) – The Washington state Senate has decided that all 39 counties ought to be able to join the Voluntary Stewardship Program, which facilitates and helps fund the voluntary planting of trees along waterways.
The bill’s sponsor celebrated its passage by praising and quoting John Candy.
“I am reminded of the movie Splash, where one of my favorite comedians, John Candy, says, ‘when something works for me, I stick with it’,” said Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, in a statement. “Well, the Voluntary Stewardship Program works, and we need to stick with it. It’s been working for 27 counties, but unfortunately, there was a sign-up-by date, and counties that did not join were locked out. This bill opens the program up to those counties that initially missed out.”
He added, “We’ve seen great successes with this approach, with cooperation between conservation districts, property-owners, environmental groups and tribes,” and invited any skeptics to “see what we have done in my [Skagit Valley] district through the VSP.”
Wagoner painted a mental picture of what the program has made possible.
“You will see our riparian areas, planted voluntarily and with the help of conservation districts,” he said. “Our tributaries are lush, green and protected. The rest of the state deserves a chance to use this method.”
The Voluntary Stewardship Program has been in place for more than a decade. However, those counties that hadn’t opted in “within six months after July 22, 2011” were locked out.
Senate Bill 5353, if enacted, would strike that time limitation, cleared the Senate Thursday by a vote of 49-0.
The bill’s fiscal note initially projected a “Non-zero but indeterminate cost and/or savings,” but predicted that if all 12 additional counties opt in, the costs to the state Department of Ecology are estimated at $41,503 or “0.23 [full-time equivalent] of an Environmental Planner.”
Dillon Honcoop, communications director of Save Family Farming, praised the move.
“The Voluntary Stewardship Program shows that protecting the future of Washington’s local family farms doesn’t have to be at odds with environmental stewardship,” he told The Center Square. “This important measure will help stewardship efforts to work hand-in-hand with farming and protect our state’s remaining fertile farmlands while supporting salmon recovery and other key stewardship goals.”
He added, “Without this program, critical stewardship efforts can stall, farmland can be lost, and important partners in vital restoration work left without a productive path to build trust and achieve shared goals for a more sustainable future.”
The legislation now moves to the state House for its approval.
