This is a letter I wrote to our governor this morning regarding my experiences with this “Initiative” now being called a crisis (see 10 point targeted action agenda). This letter was written using the advice of Omar Ahmad from ted.com at the suggestion of a friend. I hope she (the governor) reads it.
I also spoke with Jon Repp of KOMO news yesterday morning about my concerns. I was tired but well caffeinated and am concerned that I came off sounding like a shrill, manic, ranting lunatic. I have been talking to local farmers all week trying to get them to talk to this reporter, but I am doubting that they will. I think they feel the media is unfairly slanted against them and will not present their side of the story in an accurate fashion.
Well, at least I am trying. It has been getting really ugly here with all the government “visits”. Local farmers are starting to get together, form an organization and hire a lawyer. We hired a lawyer ourselves last year but definitely will combine resources for this.
Here are the previous blogs posts regarding this Initiative and the effects it has had on us and our animals:
Here’s a recent facebook post:
Helicopters are flying low over our property YET AGAIN taking photos. I worked last night and need to sleep but these government officials feel it is necessary to waste another million in taxpayer dollars with even more photos of our land. I am sick of this!
May 19 at 11:44am · Like · · ShareADDENDUM:Here is the response I received from the letter I sent to the governor. It did not come from the governor but the DOE:I am not writing a response because obviously the governor and the DOE do not want to LISTEN to me. But here are my corrections to the DOE letter:In the third paragraph she states that there were no threats in the letter Mr. Kaufman sent us. That is because the monetary threats by Mr. Kaufman are given verbally, not in the subsequent letter. Everyone I have talked to locally has mentioned these threats he makes.The fourth paragraph revealed finally who the other person was who trespassed on my property with Mr. Kaufman. These two men went through two closed gates, a no trespassing sign, a beware of dogs sign, across our front yard and then across one pasture without consent. I consider this trespassing
There was never any signature page on the farm plan to sign nor were we told to do so. I have since contacted Mr. Schuh, received a copy of the signature page, we have signed it and submitted it. Our farm plan states we are not “contributing manure related contaminates…into state waters”.
The next paragraph talks about the helicopters with the camera that hover low and slow over our property. If the DOE has not used helicopters then they pay someone who does. How else can they have very detailed aerial photos of our ditch-lines in the back of our property? These are not coming from google earth.
For the next paragraph, my point is that the PCR analysis should have been done before the million dollars was wasted, not after. These tests should identify the species polluting the water and direct the efforts accordingly.
And last, we had previously spoken with Mr. Grout the day after the trespassing episode. At that time he stated that Mr. Kaufman needed a warrant or permission before coming onto our property. We had heard from the Conservation District that Mr. Grout told them they had received no complaints about Mr. Kaufman. This is not true, we complained and we know many others have as well.
Sorry the government is being so intrusive. What a fiasco. We get the unmarked government helicopters flying over our area at times. I think they are looking for secret marijuana farms. It creeps me out when they hover over our place. I can imagine how you must feel.
Jackie
Thanks Jackie. We used to get the marijuana helicopters but they did not fly as low nor hover as long as these ones. This is intrusive and a fiasco. Hopefully things will improve soon.
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