Washington’s upcoming conservation district elections sorely need progressive candidates

Where­as, there is a press­ing need for the con­ser­va­tion of renew­able resources in all areas of the state, whether urban, sub­ur­ban, or rur­al, and that the ben­e­fits of resource prac­tices, pro­grams, and projects, as car­ried out by the state con­ser­va­tion com­mis­sion and by the con­ser­va­tion dis­tricts, should be avail­able to all such areas;

there­fore, it is here­by declared to be the pol­i­cy of the leg­is­la­ture to pro­vide for the con­ser­va­tion of the renew­able resources of this state, and for the con­trol and pre­ven­tion of soil ero­sion, and for the pre­ven­tion of flood water and sed­i­ment dam­ages, and for fur­ther­ing agri­cul­tur­al and nona­gri­cul­tur­al phas­es of con­ser­va­tion, devel­op­ment, uti­liza­tion, and dis­pos­al of water, and there­by to pre­serve nat­ur­al resources, con­trol floods, pre­vent impair­ment of dams and reser­voirs, assist in main­tain­ing the nav­i­ga­bil­i­ty of rivers and har­bors, pre­serve wildlife, pro­tect the tax base, pro­tect pub­lic lands, and pro­tect and pro­mote the health, safe­ty, and gen­er­al wel­fare of the peo­ple of this state. 

To this end all incor­po­rat­ed cities and towns hereto­fore exclud­ed from the bound­aries of a con­ser­va­tion dis­trict estab­lished pur­suant to the pro­vi­sions of the state con­ser­va­tion dis­trict law, as amend­ed, may be approved by the con­ser­va­tion com­mis­sion as being includ­ed in and deemed a part of the dis­trict upon receiv­ing a peti­tion for annex­a­tion signed by the gov­ern­ing author­i­ty of the city or town and the con­ser­va­tion dis­trict with­in the exte­ri­or bound­aries of which it lies in whole or in part or to which it lies closest.

– RCW 89.08.010(4): Con­ser­va­tion Districts

Con­ser­va­tion dis­tricts around the State of Wash­ing­ton do a great job of being stew­ards of our com­mon home, the heart of Cas­ca­dia, which is in our care.

Each year, forty-five con­ser­va­tion dis­tricts across the state hold elec­tions between Jan­u­ary and March to elect new Super­vi­sors to their boards.

Pro­gres­sives have always cared about envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion. Yet very few hold the posi­tion of an elect­ed or appoint­ed con­ser­va­tion dis­trict supervisor.

These elec­tions have been in the shad­ows and hid­den from vot­ers for many decades. Last year, only 7,600 vot­ers cast a bal­lot to elect super­vi­sors across the state. 6,200 of those bal­lots were cast in King Coun­ty and more than 5,000 of those votes went to one can­di­date, which means just 1,400 bal­lots were cast to elect super­vi­sors else­where across the state. There are over 4 mil­lion vot­ers in the state of Wash­ing­ton, and many have no idea about these elect­ed offices.

More to the point, con­ser­va­tion dis­tricts need pro­gres­sive representation.

At the recent state con­ven­tion for con­ser­va­tion, super­vi­sors and lead­ers strug­gled with issues around vot­ing reform and diver­si­ty equi­ty, and inclu­sion (DEI), while many oth­er orga­ni­za­tions have embraced the chal­lenges of end­ing sys­temic racism. These oth­er orga­ni­za­tions have made state­ments and set plans to address racism and ensure inclu­sion and equity.

And while con­ser­va­tion dis­tricts have made great strides in gen­der equi­ty, it remains the only lev­el of diver­si­ty that can be seen.

Wash­ing­ton’s con­ser­va­tion dis­tricts have no real plans to address sys­temic racism and vot­ing reform is stalled at the com­mis­sion level.

Many of the super­vi­sors fierce­ly defend that no elec­tion reform is need­ed, and no one is turned away that asks for help.

Super­vi­sors are wor­ried about the cost of elec­tions if forced onto a gen­er­al bal­lot, and the com­mis­sion made reform sug­ges­tions, only to vote them down.

Pro­gres­sive can­di­dates with a pas­sion for con­ser­va­tion and the envi­ron­ment are need­ed to change the tide and con­ver­sa­tion. Elec­tions will hap­pen as ear­ly as Jan­u­ary. Inter­est­ed can­di­dates should look up their near­est con­ser­va­tion dis­trict and announce their can­di­da­cy as soon as pos­si­ble.

Con­ser­va­tion has sur­vived because of ded­i­cat­ed peo­ple who believe in the preser­va­tion of our lands. The time has come to take con­ser­va­tion to the next lev­el. Pro­gres­sive can­di­dates with a pas­sion for the envi­ron­ment and the care of this great green region we call Cas­ca­dia are need­ed now more than ever.

Edi­tor’s Note: Chris Porter is a bee­keep­er and King Con­ser­va­tion Dis­trict Super­vi­sor who rec­og­nizes that a clean­er, health­i­er envi­ron­ment for the sur­vival of bees is nec­es­sary. Bees are a crit­i­cal com­po­nent in sus­tain­ing our food chain. They are also like the “canary in the coal mine” – and their sur­vival is at great risk, along with the fruit we grow on our trees, the veg­eta­bles we plant in our gar­den, and the crops our farm­ers plant and har­vest to feed us all. More than one out of three bites of food we eat is there because of pol­li­na­tors such as bees.