Soulless, Bloodsucking Pigs From Miller Nash Are Pimps for Sprawl In Clark County

Just a little followup to the post I made yesterday about the pro-development ruling on the Futurewise appeal of the expansion of the county urban growth boundary. Someone from Miller Nash LLP, a local law firm, was trolling this blog today and reading the aforementioned post. Miller Nash represented the pro-development camp in this legal battle.

I wish I had said this earlier, but just in case anyone from Miller Nash stops back by here anytime soon, let me just go on the record as saying you subhumans of the law firm of Miller Nash LLP are a bunch of soulless, bloodsucking pigs, are pimps for sprawl, and couldn't give a damn about the health and welfare of our community. Please consider moving yourselves and your families to someplace like Dallas, Phoenix, or Los Angeles, where your ignorant ideas and values about unchecked development and a total lack of concern about preserving natural resources and priceless farmland are appreciated and will inevitably lead you to the misery and suffering you deserve once you run out of natural resources and the riots begin. I am quite certain that you all have an especially, horrible place waiting for you in Hell when you die.

Judge Rules Farming is Dead in Clark County

I guess all of our efforts have been in vain. Close the farmers' markets and refund the CSA shares. Turn 78th Street into playing fields and parking lots. Shutter the Urban Farm School and forget local agriculture pioneers like David Knaus and Jim & Diane Hunter. And let's not even think about the wonderful Locavore Delivery service provided by Dee Creek Farm. Judge Harris has decreed that farming is dead in Clark County. Long live the developers...we don't need no fresh, healthy food 'round here.

I say over my dead body. What about you? I say we rally at the County Courthouse, farmers and cityfolk standing side by side, and let Judge Harris know what we think of his rather ignorant opinion and poor judgment.

Judge rules in favor of growth plan
Friday, May 22 | 9:15 a.m.

BY MICHAEL ANDERSEN
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

A Clark County judge knocked back an environmental challenge to the county's 2007 urban growth plan Thursday, increasing the chance that hundreds of acres of current and former farmland will be developed.

Even on the county's remaining patches of high-quality soil, commercial farming is close to dead, Superior Court Judge Robert Harris wrote in an eight-page decision.

Harris' ruling, which is subject to appeal, would permit annexation on the outskirts of Camas, La Center and Washougal, including La Center's interchange on Interstate 5.

It would also allow eventual urban development in an area north of Washington State University Vancouver.

However, Harris seemed to prohibit urbanizing 780 acres of agricultural land south of Brush Prairie, which county commissioners had hoped to convert to a huge industrial park, and 343 acres at the northernmost tip of Camas, northwest of Lacamas Lake.

When county commissioners unanimously approved the plan in 2007, they fended off protests from environmentalists and the state commerce department, who said so many new roads and sewers would burden taxpayers.

The 19-square-mile urban expansion was the biggest on state record. Futurewise, a Seattle-based anti-sprawl group, appealed it.

On Thursday, environmentalists called Harris' ruling a "split decision" but said it might prove favorable enough for them not to risk appealing to the state Court of Appeals.

"The baby's been cut in half," said John Karpinski, a Vancouver environmental lawyer working with Futurewise.

La Center to expand

A county commissioner applauded the ruling Thursday. So did advocates for affected landowners and the city of La Center.

James Howsley, a development attorney who represents several affected landowners, said he thinks Harris might issue a clarification that would allow development south of Brush Prairie and northwest of Lacamas Lake.

"We are extremely happy for our clients," Howsley, of Vancouver law firm Miller Nash, wrote in an e-mail. "This is a wonderful thing especially for the small cities. This decision affirms the right of a community to decide for itself, based on historic and predicted conditions, where it is most appropriate to grow."

Thursday's decision is a big win for the city of La Center, which has spent years trying to expand west to Interstate 5.

Harris' ruling gives the city a chance to annex 665 acres along the highway.

La Center depends heavily on its four nontribal cardrooms, the city's biggest employers and taxpayers. Mayor Jim Irish and others want to broaden the city's economy.

"We just got a lot more industrial land," Dale Miller, La Center's planner, said Thursday. "It bodes well for future economic diversity in the town."

Thursday's decision will have no bearing on the federal review of a proposed tribal casino outside La Center.

Commissioner Steve Stuart said that if Harris' ruling stands, it means "greater economic development in the county, more opportunity for business to site here."

"I have no expectation that this will have an immediate impact, but it will have a long-term impact on the future economy of our county," Stuart said.

Harris: farming dying

In his ruling, Harris echoed the judgment of a 2005 economic study by the county, which concluded that professional farming in Clark County is in permanent decline.

The rising demand for locally grown food is "not sufficient to reverse the long-standing trends of declining farm activity" in the county, the study found.

In 2002, the study noted, only 170 local farms brought in more than $25,000 a year.

"It is fairly obvious that an annual income of $25,000 is not sufficient to support a family," Harris wrote.

Farming on 5-acre rural parcels, Harris wrote, "would be more likened to a hobby farm rather than representing long-term productive growth of agricultural product."

But Karpinski, the environmental lawyer, said the public has an interest in protecting small farms, too.

"What's wrong with a hobby farm?" he asked. "It's a second job for them. There's a lot of people working two jobs nowadays. … If people want to be growing locally grown food, we should be doing everything we can to encourage that activity."

Harris' ruling drew on the 2002 U.S. Census of Agriculture.

The 2007 Census of Agriculture, released this winter, showed continued decline in the number of Clark County farms grossing more than $100,000 a year. The value of big farms' output fell 10 percent over five years.

But the 2007 Census also showed an explosion in the number of local farms making less than $25,000 and also those making between $25,000 and $100,000.

The value of crops produced on small farms in the county jumped 33 percent from 2002 to 2007. For midsize farms, the growth was 11 percent.

Michael Andersen: 360-735-4508 or michael.andersen@columbian.com.

Staff writer Jeffrey Mize contributed reporting.

Meet the Farmers CSA Event Tonight!

Hosted by the Loo Wit, SW Washington Sierra Club Chapter
SW WA CSA Farms "Meet the Farmers"

When: February 11th, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Where: Clark PUD, Downtown Vancouver, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way
MAP

This event will feature local community supported agriculture (CSA) farms from southwest Washington.

We will learn about community supported agriculture, how to determine if a CSA is right for you, and be able to talk directly with the farmers.

Organic edibles, crafts and even pet food is provied by our local farmers!!

Everyone welcome! Hope you can join us.

For more Information: Geri Rowe at rowe9629@comcast.net

Hoop House Raising @ Dee Creek Farm

The folks out at Dee Creek Farm are having an old-fashioned barn raising....er hoop house raising this Sunday. If you're able-bodied and have a few hours to spare, they could really use your help. This is an excellent opportunity to show Dee Creek some love for any of you folks who were/are unable to make a financial contribution to their farm relief effort! See the note below from Anne Lawrence of Storytree Farm for the details:

Hoop House-Raising at Dee Creek Farm
Sunday, February 15

9:30 am Start
1:00 pm Lunch (Kitchen is open to anyone helping!)
5:00 pm Call 'er quits

Need strong folks, and 'light helper' folks to hand them stuff, etc...
Sign up for a shift (first half / second half), or all day.

Totally up to whatever folks can do; please let us know so we can plan food and schedule our crew.

This should be good!

Things folks could bring:

Cordless drills/screwdrivers; the more, the merrier!
Ladders, especially some taller ones?
Gloves, sunscreen, hats, jackets
Round shovels
circular saw
wire cutters
pliers
hammers
measuring tapes, 25' and 100'
levels
SOCKETS AND SOCKET WRENCHES
maybe some open end wrenches

Questions, or to sign up for a shift:

Summer: (360) 225-9711 (farm)
Anne: (360) 903-3149 cell or (360) 576-7139 (farm)

Check out the hoop house and row cover benders offered by Lost Creek Greenhouse Systems.


http://www.lostcreek.net

Looking for a Few Good CSAs

Bill and Laura Cole of Nature's Choice are looking for CSA farmers who are interested in some added value for their subscribers. The Coles have offered the freshest wild gathered mushrooms, berries, fiddleheads, nettles, etc. to folks frequenting local farmer's markets and the Locavore/Farm Connect crowd for years. I can personally vouch for the quality of their product. Sounds a great deal to me! If you are a CSA farmer who is interested in the Nature's Choice product line, read on for more details. If you are a CSA subscriber, let your farmer know about this added value offer and get 'em onboard.

WE’RE LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD FARMS !!!

After several suggestions from customers and brainstorm discussions with a few of our farming friends, Bill and I put our heads together to come up with ways we could work with others in meeting the needs of our growing locavore & health minded community. We have put together a special CSA supplemental package of strictly wild-crafted edibles that can serve as a wonderful compliment to seasonal CSA produce, meat and dairy packages already offered by local farmers. The cost is expected to be just under $20.00 per week and we will offer membership flexibility and a payment plan so folks can try us out.

We are hoping that after you have a chance to review the details, you might find us a nice fit as a ‘value added’ package to offer alongside your CSA subscription offering. We are open to tailoring a brochure to compliment your own materials, and would love to offer a 5% discount for anyone who signs up through your CSA, just for being your customer. We can make arrangements to deliver the weekly basket to you in time for one of your regularly scheduled deliveries or farm pick-ups, and are open to other ways that we might accommodate a joint effort, such as offering some of your products through our own weekly delivery efforts.

If this sounds like something that might interest you, I would love to get together at your convenience either by phone or over a cup of coffee to answer any questions and to discuss how we might work together. My direct number is 360-852-7851 or you can drop me an email.

Hope to talk with you soon.


Cheers

Bill & Laura Cole





Laura Cole
Nature's Choice
(360) 852-7851 Phone
(360) 852-8835 Fax
www.natureswildharvest.com
laura at natureswildharvest dot com

Modern Organic Farming Class or So You Want to Be a Farmer Take II

This just in....

David Knaus, proprietor of Fresh Earth Gardens and one of Clark County's young agricultural pioneers, just informed me that he will be teaching a ten week course on modern organic farming methods at the old Poor Farm location on NE 78th. The course will run from January-March. This class will be an excellent primer for everyone from veteran farmers looking to learn some new/old tricks to novices who are thinking about starting their own farm. More details will be coming soon...

Cool stuff happening here folks! Stay tuned for further updates!

FYI

Farm land for lease (Salmon Creek)

Reply to: sale-661745643@craigslist.org

Date: 2008-04-29, 9:46PM PDT

Five Acres of farm land for lease on Seward Rd. $100.00 per acre

Location: Salmon Creek

it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUSTAINABLE GREEN HOUSES AND FARMLAND FOR LEASE (vancouver)

Reply to: sale-663021244@craigslist.org

Date: 2008-04-30, 8:04PM PDT

SUSTAINABLE GREEN HOUSES AND FARMLAND FOR LEASE

We have 1 possibly 3 green houses and farmland for lease.

Please e-mail for more info.