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Methow Valley News August 10, 2000 Endangered Species Coverage Murray, Gov. Locke hear of county's economy By John Hanron The economic woes of the Okanogan took center stage in the past week as the county hosted U.S. Senator Patty Murray and Gov. Gary Locke, who, on separate fact-finding trips, each got an earful of concerns and hope from community leaders and residents. Murray sat for two hours with a group of 20 community leaders—including Carl Miller, Steve Devin and Winthrop Mayor Don Johnson—and heard tales that she said drove home the realities of the economic difficulties residents of the county face. Besides the speakers, 50 people joined the forum at the Omak Senior Center last Thursday (Aug. 3). "This has been extremely helpful to learn all of the issues you’ve been dealing with," she told the group toward the end of the discussion. Later, she told a small gathering of local journalists that the stories she heard that day helped bring life to the numbers and facts she had been aware of already. Miller, Devin and Johnson helped bring the reality of the Methow Valley’s water/salmon woes to the senator. "We kind of feel like we’re at war with the federal government," Miller said, "so it’s nice to have some one come down and listen to us crying and whining." He went on to say that increasing demands from National Marine Fisheries Service were derailing honest rehabilitative efforts for negligible benefits. "They’re dealing with spoonfuls (of water) when they could be dealing with riverfuls." Devin, president of the Early Winters Ditch Co., concurred, and complained of the uncivil treatment he and others have been getting from NMFS, even while trying to make their irrigation systems more efficient. "We’ve tried to be proactive," he said. "In the process, we’ve been threatened, we’ve been extorted. It’s not been a very pleasant process. I’ve never been treated this way." Mayor Johnson pointed out that without sufficient water Winthrop’s tourism business would dry up. Murray said she would be working with NMFS to "make sure they work with the people" to solve water and Endangered Species Act issues. She stopped short of calling for changes in the ESA, saying that the problems seemed to lie more in how enforcement of the act was being carried out. "NMFS is working with the fear that they will be sued," she pointed out. "We need to work together with local communities who are trying to do the best they can to meet the needs (of fish and the ESA). We have to make it work in the Methow Valley or everything else will be lost." Many of the folk who were given time to speak to the senator told of troubles in the orchard business, where the global market has contributed to bringing prices down so low, orchardists can’t sell apples for what it costs to grow, pick and pack them. Mike Skylstad, an orchardist, consultant and past president of the Washington State Horticultural Association, said 10 years ago apples were a $300 million industry in the county. Now, the value is about a third of that. "We stand to lose 50 percent of our orchardists," he told Murray and those assembled. "We don’t have a whole lot left." That concern was mirrored by orchardist John Butler. "Conditions are bleak," he said. "Right now our expectations are to break even." Butler said it’s not "free and fair trade" when a grower from overseas can sell his apples in Washington for less than local orchardists can grow theirs. Murray said she was "recommitted" to finding funds—largely through U.S. Department of Agriculture grants— to help orchardists who are facing dire times and need help getting "over the hump." "This is not the end (of the discussion)," Murray said upon leaving. "We want to continue to work together." Just a few days after the senator's visit, Gov. Locke made a stop at Wenatchee Valley College-North in Omak to hear about some of the positive economic developments underway in this economically troubled climate. In his first official visit to the Okanogan, Locke met with leaders in the economic sector of the county and heard about recent cooperative efforts that have launched the Okanogan County Economic Alliance. He heard presentations about the Forest Stewardship Program, the Small Diameter Wood Initiative, the Methow's Community Kitchen, the county products catalogue and agricultural diversification. The importance of water to the county's economy and vitality was stressed. Representatives making presentations to the governor were from the Okanogan County Council for Economic Development (OCCED), Partnership 2005, the Colville Tribes Economic Council, the Okanogan County Tourism Council, North Central Washington Business Loan Fund, NCW Rural Tourism Network, and Partnership for a Sustainable Methow. Locke also visited the northeastern Washington town of Newport.
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