BURLINGTON, Wash. - Skagit County dairy farmer Sidney DeBoer has been working at salmon recovery for a long time now - even if it wasn't called that 20 years ago when he first turned to the local conservation district for help in developing a manure lagoon.
As he made further technological improvements and increased his herd size in the ensuing years, change continued to play an important role in the way he managed his dairy. When he started in 1963, for example, he was milking 120 cows. Now he's milking 1,150.
But with all that change, there were several constants.
"I have worked very closely with the conservation district to make sure my farm plan is updated," he said. "And as I've expanded, I've made sure I have enough land base. It's easy to bring a bunch of cows onto a place, but that's only the beginning."
This year when Environmental Protection Agency inspectors showed up for an unannounced visit, DeBoer showed them around and explained how he put in curbs so manure runoff from slabs is diverted to sump pumps that lead to the lagoon and how he pumps the lagoon dry in the spring and then pumps again after every cutting so that by fall the lagoon is empty.
"They left here with a handshake," said DeBoer. "I'm not bragging about this, but I do feel confident that I'm running this farm in a way that protects salmon. I have always followed the practices recommended to me by the conservation district."
Now with the new statewide dairy-waste management regulations passed into law, DeBoer believes the industry has a policy it can live with.
"I do recommend that those who intend to stay in business follow the state's policy," he said.
But he's not just talking about avoiding fines and citizen lawsuits. He's also talking about the benefits that dairy farmers will see if they follow the regulations.
"It makes economic sense to do this," he said. "Having a clean dairy is better for productivity. And It will show up in the health of the herd." DeBoer is one of the many farmers across the state working to make sure his operation doesn't pollute the state's waterways or harm salmon habitat. In doing so, they're on the way to meeting the requirements being developed to protect the state's wild salmon runs.
In Eastern Washington, wheat growers are working on developing a habitat conservation plan with the goal of assuring federal fisheries agencies that their agricultural practices are in compliance with the Clean Water Act and salmon recovery.
Crop growers in Western Washington are exploring the idea of following the wheat growers' lead.
In Skagit, Whatcom and Snohomish counties, there is talk about developing some sort of regional habitat conservation plan.
In a letter to the members of the Western Washington Farm Association, Manager Paul LaCroix explained why:
"It would be easy if we could just say, 'Let the salmon become extinct.
We'll eat farmed salmon.' That however is not a choice. The federal courts will enforce the endangered species listing, and we will have to comply." A far better approach, he wrote, would be for the crop growers to be active in the process and to try to shape the outcome so they can continue to farm and work toward the recovery of salmon habitat.
"If we don't," he warned, "then eventually you will see NMFS and other government agencies on your land, telling you what kind of plan you will implement.
The state's Conservation Commission and the Natural Resource Conservation Service, meanwhile, are working on developing farm-plan guidelines. Steve Nissley, a Conservation Service scientist in Western Washington, said progress is being made.
"Hopefully in about six months, we'll be able to have an idea about how we can get regulatory certainty through farm plans," he said.
Timber growers on both sides of the mountains are also hard at work on salmon recovery efforts. They have joined tribal, state, federal, local and environmental groups in negotiations using the Timber/Fish/Wildlife framework.
In other cases, farmers and timber growers are joining watershed groups.
Probably the farthest along is the Yakima Watershed Coordinating Council.
And there are also proposals that would combine a number of watersheds into a regional watershed plan.
The carrot at the end of the stick in all of this is to ward off overly heavy federal control and to achieve some degree of regulatory certainty - a safe harbor. By agreeing to follow specified, approved plans designed to protect a listed species, farmers and timber growers stand a good chance of being exempted from the Endangered Species Act's "incidental take" clause.
An incidental take can occur when a listed species is killed accidentally.
Degradation of wildlife habitat can be considered an "incidental take" if it leads to the death of a listed species.
If on the other hand, farmers and timber owners aren't following an approved plan, they could face stiff fines and a possible jail sentence for accidentally causing the death of a threatened or endangered species.
That's especially important now that so many wild fish species are either proposed for listing or have been listed under the Endangered Species Act.
"We're starting down the road so farmers can at least know that 'If I do this, I'm safe,'" said Steve Meyer, director of the the state's Conservation Commission.