Like many farmers these days, fifth-generation dairyman Ross McMahan of Randle wonders what the future holds for his family's dairy operation. McMahan grew up on a farm homesteaded in 1886. It's a way of life for the McMahan family whose business, Cowlitz Meadows Dairy, supports Ross, his two brothers and his parents.
But a dark cloud lingers over the verdant pastures and cool streams that give life to his family's 50-cow herd.
"All these regulations and red tape give you the feeling that someone's constantly looking over your shoulder," McMahan says. "It doesn't matter where the regulations come from, the effect is the same on me. Instead of allowing us to be good stewards of our land, I'm forced to worry about what they are trying to do to me next.
"If they force me to put a 200- to 300-foot fenced buffer around the river bank or make a more elaborate lagoon for manure, they've just stolen a huge chunk of my land."
AND WHO are they? The government, says McMahan.
"There used to be a lot of satisfaction in knowing you had a piece of ground with some cows and you could make a living," McMahan says. "Now I have to get a permit for just about everything, go to class to get a license to kill weeds and read volumes of regulations. It doesn't make farming any fun any more.
"We've watched how the spotted owl affected our economy and our jobs, and now we're facing other listings along with the Clean Water Act," says McMahan. "Now they want the water cleaner than God can make it himself."
McMahan isn't sitting around waiting for another wave of federal regulations to come crashing down. He's one of several dozen Lewis County residents engaged in a county-sponsored volunteer task force given the charge of identifying some of the goals and visions of the people of Lewis County - on everything from flood control and fisheries, recreation and economic development to the environment and culture.
For nearly a year, these dedicated volunteers have met over coffee and pie at restaurants and in front of oversized butcher-paper notepads feverishly jotting notes, discussing, debating and venting about concerns and offering solutions to problems - and opportunities - we face as a county.
If McMahan and his companions are successful, they'll help shape a plan that will put Lewis County in a position of strength as future federal and state environmental acts are crafted and enacted.
On the horizon are several federal threatened or endangered species designations and a host of new federal Clean Water Act requirements to be imposed on land owners and local, county and state governments. Woven into that web of impending rules and regulations is the expiration of Tacoma City Light's license to operate the Mayfield and Mossyrock dams on the Cowlitz River and Tacoma's bid to renew its license.
WITH ALL THAT in the mix, Lewis County residents really have only two choices. We can sit back and let East Coast bureaucrats sitting in cubicles 2,500 miles away dictate to us how we're going to manage our natural and economic resources.
Or we can become relevant players by authoring a reasonable plan with local control that will help restore and preserve fish and other habitat without devastating farmers, ranchers and everyone else whose jobs rely on the rich natural resources that abound in Southwest Washington.
As county leaders, we've chosen to do the latter with all the heart and soul we can muster in our community. It's been a rewarding process. As county commissioners, we've learned much about what's on the minds of residents and we've heard some great solutions.
Some of the debate has been heated. Some participants have angrily left the table - and then returned. It's been a case study in democracy at its best. And the process has just begun.
As the Endangered Species Act introduces more species to its list federal and state officials will be looking to local leaders like us to either set up a legitimate recovery plan ourselves, or, where a plan is absent, foist their plan on us. If our local resolve to create and stick together on a plan is weak, we will lose our voice in the process.
WE ARE MARCHING ahead full-steam to put that local plan together with the energetic help of 18th District Rep. John Pennington in the state House and 20th District State Sen. Dan Swecker.
Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2836, sponsored by Pennington, would create a regional governing body with clout; it would be made up of local citizens and elected officials. They would craft a locally driven watershed and habitat plan for Southwest Washington to meet the demands of the Endangered Species and Clean Water acts with strong local input and control.
The regional group would also set the stage for effective negotiations from a position of strength with Tacoma City Light in its relicensing process. It's critical that residents of Lewis County call their legislators at (800) 562-6000 and voice their support for this legislation.
It's no surprise and has been made abundantly clear in our goal/vision task force meetings that even at the local level we will not always agree on which problems demand the most urgent attention or which solutions merit the strongest support.
What we as a county commission hope to accomplish is to bring people together on the things we can agree on and speak with one voice to protect our quality of life and the values we share as a community.
For someone like Ross McMahan, that tall order is critical to his dairy's future. According to the Washington Dairy Federation, the number of dairies in Washington state has dropped from 1,300 a decade ago to a little more than 800 today.