Farms, Fisheries and Forests
We are the stewards of the land and water that sustain us. We are proud that agriculture—including aquaculture, fishing, logging and other food and fiber production—is a leading industry in Washington State. We support programs and policies that strengthen rural communities, preserve family farms, ensure the availability of high-quality food and maintain the viability of our land and water resources.
We support:
- Sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and forestry
- Organic farms, farmers' markets and local/organic food in school lunch programs
- Clear food labeling, including organic certification, genetic modification and food origin
- More inspectors to improve food and livestock inspection
- Equitable distribution of water rights that respects senior water rights and treaties
- Quantifying our surface and ground water resources and characterizing their hydraulic continuity
- Increased efforts to rehabilitate and preserve soil and to conserve habitat
- Protecting wild salmon from factory fish farms and watershed pollution
- Removal of the four Snake River Dams, which is necessary to restore Native salmon fisheries
- Incentivizing farming methods that produce less methane and capture more carbon
We oppose:
- Predatory agricultural lending and leasing that traps farmers in a cycle of debt
- Factory farms and agribusiness oligopolies, which force independent farmers into debt peonage and harm consumer health and the environment
- Overuse of herbicides, pesticides and livestock antibiotics
- Price gouging by railroads, equipment lessors and other over-concentrated industries
- Privatized food and livestock inspection
- Intentional infringement of existing certified water rights