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8 CapitalPress.com May 22, 2015 Washington Governor candidate has agriculture background By DAN WHEAT Capital Press Seattle Port Commission- er Bill Bryant is the first can- didate in Washington’s 2016 race for governor and hopes to gain strong support from agri- culture because of his links to the industry. Bryant, 54, of Seattle, was vice president of the North- west Horticultural Council in Yakima from 1985 to 1992 and helped gain market ac- cess for apples in Mexico and India, cut apple tariffs in Tai- wan and eliminate barriers in Scandinavia. In 1992, he started the trade consulting firm Bryant Christie in Seattle that has worked on trade issues for tree fruit, fresh and processed potatoes, hops, wine and berries. The com- pany grew from his basement to offices in Seattle and Sac- ramento with 32 employees, ‘Agriculture will never have a governor who understands it and cares about it as much as I will.’ — Bill Bryant Candidate for Washington Governor specializing in market access, international marketing and re- searching and maintaining an online data base of internation- al commodity standards. “Agriculture will never have a governor who understands it and cares about it as much as I will,” Bryant told Capital Press. “Figuring out a long-term sustainable water plan for Cen- tral Washington is critical to keeping jobs in Washington state,” he said, mentioning the Yakima Basin, Tri-Cities and Moses Lake areas. More reser- voir water retention is needed, he said. Bryant said he’s inspired to run by a Catholic priest, the late Roy Davis, who told him at the end of life “the only things that matter are lives you’ve touched and communi- ty you’ve built.” “The other person inspir- ing me to run is the incumbent (Gov. Jay Inslee) who is not building community but has a divisive and hyper-partisan style,” Bryant said. “I can pull people together and get things done,” he said. A Republican, Bryant downplayed party politics in a May 14 video announcing his candidacy. He said his agenda is not partisan or ideological Photo provided Bill Bryant, 2016 candidate for Washington governor. but focused on helping build “solid, family-wage jobs,” im- proving education and avoid- ing more taxes on middle-class families. Bryant was encouraged to run by more than two dozen state House Republicans. He spoke May 16 at the annual meeting of Mainstream Republicans of Washington in Leavenworth. Other po- tential Republican contenders for governor also spoke: Con- gressman Dave Reichert and state Sens. Andy Hill, Red- mond, and Steve Litzow, Mer- cer Island. The same day Bryant an- nounced for governor, a Shell Oil Co. ship arrived at the Port of Seattle to store equipment needed to drill for oil in Alas- ka. Bryant was criticized by environmental protesters op- posed to drilling for his role as a port commissioner in leasing space to Shell. “If I thought the Shell rig would in any way damage Puget Sound, I would be out there in a kayak (with the pro- testers), but it is not,” he said. “Rejecting the lease won’t af- fect Arctic drilling. President Obama is moving full steam ahead on Arctic drilling. Prohibiting Shell at our port would cost us 200 to 400 mid- dle-class jobs. It’s a choice between middle-class jobs and a symbolic statement. I chose jobs.” Shell would go to other ports in Washington, British Columbia or Alaska if Seattle rescinds its two-year lease, he said. Bryant was born in Mor- ton, grew up in Hoodsport and near Olympia and received a bachelor’s degree in trade and diplomacy from Georgetown University in 1983. He worked for Gov. John Spellman on trade issues. He has been a Seattle port commissioner since 2008 but is not seeking a third term. His term expires in December. He has worked on statewide trans- portation and tourism issues and consolidation of the sea- ports of Tacoma and Seattle. His wife, Barbara, has been executive director of the Yaki- ma River Greenway, vice pres- ident of the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center and vice president of Woodland Park Zoo, both in Seattle. Wolf legislation stalls in GOP-led Senate Washington’s late Northeast Washington lawmakers disagree about bill’s worth reaction to drought revives legislation By DON JENKINS By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA — A bill in- tended to bring relief to wolf- plagued ranchers in northeast Washington is running into criticism for being toothless and a tactical mistake. The skepticism may prove fatal to House Bill 2107, which passed the Democratic-con- trolled House unanimously, but stalled in the GOP-led Senate. The bill’s prime sponsor, Republican Rep. Joel Kretz, whose 7th District has three- fourths of the state’s wolf packs, said Friday he hopes the bill will regain momentum, especially among ranchers. “It comes down to the grassroots. Do they want it or not?” he said. HB 2107 would direct the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to re-eval- uate by mid-2017 the state’s recovery goals and policies on lethal control. The 7th District’s senator, Republican Brian Dansel, said ranchers can’t wait two years for WDFW to rethink wolf re- covery. “That bill wouldn’t be pro- ductive for ranchers,” he said. “I don’t think it can just be a study bill.” The bill falls short of pro- posals by Kretz to de-list wolves in the eastern one-third of the state or transfer some to Western Washington to hasten recovery. But Kretz said he hopes the review will speed up the day Capital Press Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife A Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife file photo shows a member of the Teanaway pack. A bill to revise the state’s wolf plan has stalled in the Senate. wolves are no longer a protect- ed species in Eastern Wash- ington, leading to wolf man- agement similar to Idaho. “I guess we can accept the status quo, or we can move forward. I think this moves us forward.” Washington’s wolf popu- lation grew by 30 percent in 2014, but the state measures success by distribution and the increase in breeding pairs. By those measurements, the state’s progress toward recov- ery has been slow. The animals remain con- centrated in Kretz’s and Dan- sel’s district, and WDFW hasn’t documented an increase in breeding pairs since 2012. Meanwhile, ranchers report more livestock-wolf conflicts. The bill had support from the Washington Cattlemen’s Association and the Washing- ton Farm Bureau. Environ- mental groups were cool to- ward reopening the wolf plan, but Democrats green-lighted the legislation after provisions were added to subject WD- FW’s revisions to more out- side review. Kretz said he thought the bill would cruise through the Sen- ate, which had passed a similar bill. “Everybody thought it was on auto pilot,” he said. “No- body worked it, including me.” As the end of the regular session drew near in late April, the Farm Bureau sent out an “action alert,” asking its mem- bers to urge senators to pass the bill. For now, the bill sits in the Senate Natural Resources and Parks Committee. Dansel cited the House vote as evidence the bill falls short of addressing wolf predation. Rather than wait until 2017 and the possibility of change, Dan- sel suggested holding out and trying again next year to de-list wolves in Eastern Washington. “I think we have to go for something now to leverage our majority in the Senate,” Dansel said. Said Kretz: “I’d love to see regional delisting. If you think you can get it through the House, have at it.” Stevens County rancher Scott Nielsen, former presi- dent of the Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association, said he worries that reopening the wolf plan will defuse the push to de-list wolves in his corner of the state. “If we get that (HB 2107), I have an idea our lawmakers won’t do anything else,” he said. OLYMPIA — A dormant bill introduced last winter to encourage policymakers to plan earlier for a drought may resur- face as late-starting agencies and lawmakers hurry to catch up with a worsening water pic- ture, particularly in the agricul- ture-rich Yakima Basin. House Bill 1836 wouldn’t help this year, but it might prepare officials for future droughts, the bill’s prime spon- sor, Bothell Rep. Derek Stan- ford, said Wednesday. “I think this is a good oppor- tunity to learn from the problems we’re currently dealing with,” he said. “I think it’s a pretty clear lesson we can take from it. We need to be more proactive.” HB 1836 would authorize the Washington Department of Ecology to shop for irrigation water and calls for lawmakers to convene an oversight com- mittee before the governor de- clares an emergency. Gov. Jay Inslee declared a drought in about one-fifth of the state March 13. The decla- ration was expanded April 17 to include almost half the state. The drought declaration now includes the entire state. With the severity of the drought becoming clear, DOE is struggling to find Yakima Basin farmers with senior rights willing to lease water to junior-right holders. More wa- ter would have been available if DOE had started the search in January or February, when low snowpacks were worrisome but a drought was uncertain, an agency water resources manag- er, Dave Christensen, said. DOE could have lined up tentative agreements and watched the weather before finalizing them, he said. “This year, we were too late before we started. (Farmers) had al- ready made decisions,” Chris- tensen said. Meanwhile, lawmakers have yet to act on DOE’s re- quest for $9.6 million in drought relief funds. The request came in late March, weeks after leg- islators began putting together spending plans. To increase water sup- plies for farms and fish, state agencies are rearranging staff assignments and borrowing money from other programs in anticipation legislators even- tually will allocate the money. A program to help cities with drought-stressed water systems is on hold. “I think (the drought re- sponse) has been hampered by the fact so many things couldn’t happen until the drought decla- ration was made,” Stanford said. HB 1836 passed the House in early March, but stalled in the Senate. Lawmakers have a chance to revive the bill during the current special session. “If we want to be prepared for next year, we have to do it now,” Stanford said. The Legislature’s drought committee chairman, Yakima Valley Sen. Jim Honeyford, re- mains cool to the bill. “I don’t think it’s a high priority because I don’t think it accomplishes a whole lot,” he said. Ecology department seeks public comment on updated pollution plan Capital Press SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The Washington De- partment of Ecology is seek- ing comment about its plan to update the process it uses to address nonpoint source pol- lution, including pollutants & HWY 730 • IRRIGON, OR f f u t S from agriculture and forestry. The public comment period runs through June 5. Ecology representatives Kel- ly Susewind and Ben Rau said during a public meeting May 12 the plan does not call for increas- ing enforcement. The state is working with the U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency to find gaps in addressing pollution. “We’ve been told by EPA we need better defined management practices of what works and what doesn’t,” Susewind said. “This plan identifies the process to de- velop those. If I were a rancher, I’d be paying attention to that process.” The department will submit its plan to EPA by the end of June. Rau said the department will emphasize education and out- reach through local conservation districts and producer groups. Medical Lake, Wash., ranch- er Craig Grub asked whether the department would use DNA test- ing to determine whether a site is polluted by livestock or wildlife. Susewind said DNA testing is expensive and requires a large number of samples over time. The department occasionally uses it, but there is not a lab-ap- proved, certified technology to use it in a regulatory manner, he said. “It’s not the absolute finger- print everybody hopes it is,” he said. Susewind said he disagrees with producers’ assumption that there isn’t science without sam- pling. “Science is broader than chemistry, but we do use chem- istry as well,” he said. “We agree, we need a broad scale of sam- “The Buttercreek Boys” 15-5/16 x 10 x 2 18-3/4 x 14-3/8 x 3 will be playing the third Sunday of each month at the museum. CALL FOR PRICING AND AVAILABILITY. 541-561-2211 | 541-561-2327 | 541-303-3923 21-2/#6 Delivery Available 503-588-8313 2561 Pringle Rd. SE Salem, OR ROP-21-2-2/#7 By MATTHEW WEAVER Matthew Weaver/Capital Press Washington Department of Ecology water quality representative Ben Rau talks about the department’s nonpoint source pollution plan update, currently up for public comment through June 5, during a meeting May 12 in Spokane Valley, Wash. pling to understand where the pollution’s coming from, when it’s there, when it’s not.” Ecology’s agriculture and water quality advisory commit- tee is reviewing a draft guidance document, Susewind said. “That’s based on a huge body of science that shows you can with visual indicators deter- mine whether there is a source of pollution or not,” he said. “That is science. The visuals will say this is a source of pollution — it doesn’t tell you how much of a source it is, what other sources are in the watershed. It’s not the end of the work.” Grub said his concerns weren’t eased by the meeting. “If it takes five years to get valid scientific data, they should take the five years,” he said. “It’s not observation.” Colfax, Wash., rancher Tom Kammerzell was pleased Ecol- ogy was communicating with ranchers.