WACD Testifies on Conservation Technical Assistance Funding

WACD Executive Director Tom Salzer testified this evening on SB 5950, the Washington Senate’s Proposed 2024 Supplemental Operating Budget. With 137 people signed in to testify, testimony was limited to 60 seconds per person.

WACD’s testimony is quoted below:

Good evening, Madame Chair and members of the Committee.

I am Tom Salzer, Executive Director of the Washington Association of Conservation Districts, representing the 45 districts that deliver incentive-based, voluntary, natural resource conservation in Washington State. WACD is OTHER on SB 5950.

We ask you to supplement last year’s appropriation to the Conservation Commission by three point five million dollars for Conservation Technical Assistance to match the House version.

Last year, the legislature provided substantial funding for new programs at the Commission, addressing fire prevention, riparian buffers, and dairy digesters. We thank you for those investments.

More than 3,000 landowners have requested site visits. More than 1,000 farm plans need to be written, including more than 100 for dairy nutrient management. Conservation Technical Assistance is how districts help protect local agriculture and conserve our precious natural resources.

Please include three point five million dollars for Conservation Technical Assistance in SB 5950.

Thank you.