NEWSHOMEOPINIONLOCAL INTERESTRECENT ISSUESLETTERSCLASSIFIEDSLINKSHOW TO |
Methow Valley News October 14 1999 Endangered Species Coverage Local group wants action against NMFS "Arrest" of federal agents by sheriff is discussed by Lee Hicks Frustration and anger over endangered species and water issues has prompted a loosely knit group of Valley residents to press for county action against federal officials. But the director of a state legal foundation for agricultural interests cautioned the group not to forfeit apparent public and political support or legal remedies. About 30 residents attended a meeting Oct. 6 at the Okanogan County Electric Co-op building in Winthrop with many venting their bitterness over economic losses and what they consider infringement on water rights. With the group’s apparent consensus, Pete Larock, a local businessman, met with sheriff Jim Weed and county prosecutor Rick Weber Monday (Oct.11) to discuss county response to actions of the National Marine Fisheries Service in the Methow Valley. The group wants federal officials to inform Weed of visits to the county, and also raised the possibility of arresting NMFS officials for violating water rights. The local group also appeared ready to defy federal officials by opening headgates of ditches next year if permits for irrigation are not authorized. A number of residents at the meeting are on the Skyline Ditch, which did not operate this season because of endangered species issues. NMFS is the agency that listed spring-run Chinook salmon and steelhead trout as endangered in the Methow basin. NMFS special agents recently began visiting private ditches. "They can’t take the water without due process...Let’s go arrest these guys (NMFS officials)," observed Larry DeLisi, who attended the meeting and helped direct the conversation. Dick Ewing, a member of the county’s watershed planning unit, asked and answered his own question, "Why are they hammering us? They basically want control of our water." Ewing questioned NMFS arguments for increased stream "target flows" to aid endangered steelhead and salmon. He said he had taken measurements with a Forest Service stream gauge on the Chewuch River before any irrigation diversions and below. The readings show that net instream losses were lower than the diversion rates. This probably indicates recharge of the aquifer, Ewing said. "One reading is not complete science," Ewing acknowledged. "But this is an example of a trend that needs to be investigated." Michael Poulson, executive director of the Washington Agricultural Legal Foundation, said his group continues to support efforts by irrigators to protect water rights. But, Poulson said, "There might be certain things that would force the legal foundation (and) my board to back away. My board cannot be supportive of certain kinds of action. I would be remiss if I didn’t say that." Poulson noted that "even the Seattle media has been sympathetic to what is happening to you. NMFS has been a bad guy and you don’t want to take that (advantage) away." He also asked the residents, "not to underestimate" the potential personal risk in defying the law. Taking certain action might also result in not being able to recover damages legally, Poulson said. He suggested that residents keep pressure on political and government officials and specifically the state attorney general, Christine Gregoire. Residents circulated a notebook in which they listed economic losses resulting from irrigation shutdowns this season. A single rancher estimates he has lost about 600 tons of alfalfa production, one of those attending said. Alfalfa sells in a range of $80 to $90 a ton. Larock said Tuesday that he left the meeting with the sheriff and prosecutor, "with a sense of hopelessness." He said he was informed the county declined to pass an ordinance several years ago addressing federal activity because it could have resulted in costly litigation. He said he plans to suggest that his group "pool money" and consider filing legal action to obtain an injunction that would prevent ditches from being shut off, "until they’ve (NMFS) studied environmental and economic impacts and they explain why their actions are beneficial to fish." Weed said Tuesday that he and Weber told Larock, .."We both agreed that where there is an appropriate civil remedy that’s got to be taken before criminal (action)." Weed said his office would investigate complaints and refer them to the prosecutor. Weber said Tuesday,"I believe that there must be some authority for them (NMFS) to do this but I’m trying to find out what the law is." State law applying to agencies such as the state departments of Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources clearly gives the authority to cross private property but not to enter dwellings, Weber said. On the question of informing the sheriff of their activities in the county, Weber said a resolution of the county commissioners, "says they should check in." He explained the resolution is a "policy statement...that has no authority in law. However, Weber said that although, "it sounds kind of weak it has resulted in some cooperation... (but) not in this situation (with NMFS)." Weed said Friday before the meeting with LaRock and Weber that,"I am very sympathetic... because I also am under threat of losing my water rights...(but) we need to be seeking a unified political solution to this." And Weed said attempting to arrest or otherwise detain a NMFS official could prove fruitless. "To arrest a worker bee when the queen bee is the problem and out of reach will accomplish nothing," the sheriff concluded. Opinion | Sports |
Local Interest |
