Digging for the truth: King Ranch owners fight claims of illegal wetlands excavation

(The Center Square) – A complex tangle of claims involving the King Ranch in Grant and Douglas counties may have an impact on more than cattle ranchers, according to attorney Toni Meacham.

The issue at the base of it all is possible unauthorized excavation on wetlands.

“If you own property in Washington, you are impacted by these cases,” said Meacham at the Cattle Producers of Washington Annual Meeting in Ritzville on Oct. 24.

Meacham told the roomful of ranchers that the Department of Ecology has never presented her clients with any evidence that any excavation had occurred other than a “blurry picture taken off Google Earth” to support the claim that sensitive alkali wetlands had been disturbed.

Wade and Teresa King, who have operated the King Ranch on a combination of private and public land for decades, received an email from Ecology on Dec. 23, 2021, advising them of the state’s claim. According to Meacham, they were asked to sign a document agreeing to the charge, stop any excavation activity, and repair the damage.

“Mind you, no evidence any excavation had occurred was ever provided,” said Meacham.

When the Kings assumed it was a misunderstanding and requested a meeting to discuss the matter, Meacham said they were told there was no further information and they would have to file a request under the Public Records Act.

Email threads released after filing PRA requests indicate that the Departments of Archeology & Historic Preservation and Fish & Wildlife had been discussing the properties since February 2021, including a field visit by WDFW staff.

The Department of Ecology and the Department of Natural Resources, which manages the leases for the public lands portions of the King Ranch, were not brought into the loop until late fall/early winter, according to several email threads.

Ecology assessed a fine of $268,000 and referred charges to the Attorney General’s Office for prosecution. Bypassing the Grant County prosecutor’s office, the complaint went to the Environmental Protection Division of the AGO.

The fine has been appealed by the Pollution Control Hearings Board.

After the DOE fine, DNR pulled the King Ranch leases in both Grant and Douglas counties and required forfeiture of improvements. After experts in soils, wetlands, and hydrology showed there were no sensitive alkali wetlands, the state added the destruction of cultural resources as the reason for terminating the leases.

That action is also being appealed by the King Ranch.

Contacted for a statement, AGO Communications Director Brionna Aho responded by email: “Our office has a longstanding policy that we do not comment on investigations, including confirming whether they exist. There is not currently litigation brought by our office against King Ranch, although we represent the Department of Ecology and the Department of Natural Resources in civil litigation related to King Ranch.”

Meacham said the AGO’s Environmental Protection Division has also pursued a Special Inquiry Judge Proceeding.

“An SIJ is a sealed filing normally used to investigate organized crime,” Meacham explained. “A subpoena was served intended for the Kings’ one and only employee, but they served his wife instead and she called, or else the Kings wouldn’t even know about it.”

Charges, if any, have not been unsealed.

An SIJ is Washington’s version of what is called a grand jury procedure in other states. Under an SIJ investigation, a judge determines whether there is reason to suspect a crime has occurred and should be investigated.

From the Model Policy for Using Special Inquiry Judge Proceedings: “Washington prosecutors have found Special Inquiry Judge Proceedings especially useful when sophisticated criminal activity is suspected, such as offenses involving public corruption (bribery, bid fixing, misappropriation), organized crime (gambling, theft, fencing, arson, vice, prostitution), and fraud (theft from the elderly, securities, real estate, insurance, inventory theft, false billing, embezzlement, identity theft).”

Meacham scoffed at the use of an SIJ for this situation.

“RCW 90.44.050 allows for the digging of stock ponds without a permit requirement and there are approximately 19 stock ponds on 20,000 acres that have been in use for at least 68 years,” she said.

She pointed to an email thread within Ecology in January 2022, after the Kings were told they were subject to fines, in which Ecology’s Jeremy Sikes writes, “What are our next steps if/when we cannot apply responsibility to a particular party? What specific anecdotal evidence do we need to move the case forward?”

“My clients have been zealously pursued by the AG’s office,” Meacham said. “DOE is looking for evidence to fit their narrative.”