Meetings for stewardship program scheduled

MOSES LAKE — The Grant County Conservation District is sponsoring a series of meetings introducing a program that will work with farmers to manage critical land use areas on their property. Meetings to explain the Voluntary Stewardship Program are scheduled in Quincy, Royal City, Warden and Mattawa.

All meetings are from 1 to 3 p.m. Meetings already have been held in Hartline and Ephrata, and the Moses Lake meeting is from 1 to 3 p.m. today at the Washington Potato Commission office, 108 South Interlake Rd.

The program is part of the state’s growth management process, said Harold Cross of the Grant County Conservation District in an earlier interview. The conservation district is the lead agency in developing the county’s program.

The growth management process includes identification and management of what are called critical areas. One way or another, the county is required to have a management plan for critical areas. If the county’s proposed plan (which would include the voluntary stewardship program) doesn’t meet state requirements, the process will go back to Grant County officials. They will be required to come up with the rules. “A voluntary approach or an involuntary approach,” Cross said.

Farmers, ranchers and growers are being encouraged to get involved and help write the plan, he said. Land management rules require protection of critical areas when it comes to development; five are identified in state land use rules. They include fish and wildlife habitat, wetlands, “geologically hazardous areas,” frequently flooded areas and critical aquifer recharge areas. Geologically hazardous areas are identified as areas susceptible to erosion, landslides or “other geological events.”

The county will be divided into eight regions and a plan will be written for each region. The regions include Hartline, Ephrata, Warden, Black Sands, Moses Lake, Quincy, Royal City and Mattawa.

Meetings are scheduled Nov. 7 at the Port of Quincy, 115 SW F St.; Nov. 10 at the Royal City Golf Course, 13702 Dodson Rd. and Nov. 15 at the Warden Senior Center, 114 North Oak Ave. The Mattawa meeting is scheduled for Nov. 17 at the Mattawa Community Center, 101 Portage Ave.

Farmers, orchardists and ranchers are already doing a lot to conserve their land as part of their normal operations, Cross said. Part of writing the stewardship plan is figuring out how much work already has been done by farmers and figuring out how to build on it, he said.

If the process is done properly, typically the farmer, rancher or grower will experience little if any difference in their operation, Cross said. The process could end up offering some suggestions for farm operation, he said, but the goal would be to benefit the operation as well as the critical areas.