Why SFEG Opposes I-933

Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group generally does not take a position on political issues.  Rather, we work collaboratively with willing property owners and volunteers to protect wild salmon habitat in the Skagit and Samish River watersheds. 

In November 2006, however, you will be asked to vote on I-933, also known as the Property Fairness Initiative.  If passed, I-933 will require state and local governments to exempt property owners from any land use, zoning, or environmental law adopted or changed since January 1996, unless they pay the property owner for any impacts on property uses or values.  It will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by creating a “pay or waive” system that makes local communities decide whether to waive laws for special interests or force taxpayers to pay them to follow the rules.  In short, this measure has the potential to effectively invalidate many land use regulations that were enacted to protect some of the resources we have worked so hard to protect and restore.  And it makes future land use planning extremely costly, if not politically impossible.  I-933 benefits special interests, not the broader community. 

Perhaps Dr. David Montgomery, UW Professor and guest speaker at SFEG’s 2005 Annual Meeting, says it best in King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon, p.245:  “Those who assert that it will cost too much to protect salmon often invoke economic arguments and rationalizations.  But what does it actually cost not to develop a floodplain, not to cut the trees along a stream?  Forgoing the opportunity to make money is not the same as losing money.  What constitutes an unacceptable economic impact naturally depends both on one’s perspective and stake in an issue.  Companies and individuals seeking to maximize their profits will, of course, protect and expand their ability to make money.  Landowners and commercial interests argue that the missed revenue cuts unreasonably into their potential profits.  But the public has an equal right to insist upon practices that safeguard salmon and other public resources.  Ultimately, society has a responsibility to curtail urges to maximize profits obtained at the expense of the future.”

The Enhancement Group’s voluntary approach to habitat restoration is founded in a profound respect for property rights.  But it also believes that those who live downstream, in the broader community or in the future also have rights to basic things such as clean water and healthy fisheries.  Salmon, streams, and riparian habitat are public resources, and we all have a responsibility to help ensure that public resources remain healthy for the benefit of all.  This initiative is not in the best interest of our community or of future generations.  The SFEG Board of Directors urges its members to vote no on I-933.

For more information, call the NO on 933 headquarters at 206-323-0520 or email dan@protectcommunities.org.  Follow this link to the secretary of state's website where you can access a pdf version of the full text of the initiative: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/initiatives/people.aspx.  If you would like to volunteer to help defeat the initiative contact Kerri Cechovic of the Washington Environmental Council at (206) 622-8103, ext. 212 or kerri@wecprotects.org.