A proposal to protect eroding farmland in southwest Washington by taking gravel from the Lower Satsop River in Grays Harbor County was vetoed May 8 by Gov. Jay Inslee. In a veto message, Inslee said the sediment-removal project did not belong in a bill intended to supply orcas with more salmon. Inslee deleted the pilot project, along with ones in Snohomish and Whatcom counties, before signing the rest of the bill.Terry Willis, who has been losing land as gravel builds up and diverts the Satsop River, was on a tractor planting corn when she learned about the veto.“I’m livid about this,” she said. “Dumping our soil on top of fish is not the answer to saving salmon.”The pilot projects were intended to test whether removing gravel to save farms could also help fish by creating cooler pools of water and keeping shade trees from being ripped downriver. Numerous resource agencies would have been involved in planning and approving the work.
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