ALERT - Washington Farm Bureau RMAP Update: Call your representative to voice your opinion

ALERT - Washington Farm Bureau RMAP Update: Call your representative to voice your opinion

Calls to House Members Needed to Support RMAP Legislation (2SHB 1095)

The House has until April 27, to concur with the RMAP bill that passed the Senate unanimously. Please use the legislative hotline to call your own representatives and let them know that you support passing 2SHB 1095 on a concurrence vote.

In addition to contacting your own representatives, other most important representatives to call are: Rep. Phil Rockefeller (D-Bainbridge), co-sponsor of the bill; Rep. Bob Sump (R-Republic), co-sponsor of the bill; Rep. Kelli Linville (D-Bellingham), who chairs the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee; Rep. Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville), ranking Republican on the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee; and Rep. Bill Grant (D-Walla Walla), who chairs the Democratic Caucus.

Your message if your support the bill: Thank them for their support and work on this issue for small forest landowners. Ask them to vote “yes” to concur with 2SHB 1095, the RMAP bill.

Please call immediately! The legislative hotline number is 1-800-562-6000. The operator will ask you for your name, address, and message. He or she will then forward that message to your legislators.

If you would like to find out who your legislators are, please visit the Legislature’s website at the following link: http://dfind.leg.wa.gov/dfinder.cfm.

The legislation passed by the Senate will:

Eliminate the unfair and discriminatory financial and regulatory burdens that RMAP placed on small forest landowners.
Redefine “forest road” and “forest land” in a manner that limits the application of RMAPs.
Allow those who harvest less than two million board feet on the average over three years to only submit a checklist when they harvest for where they harvest.
Provide cost-sharing for many culverts that may need to be replaced.
Provide a cap on the cost that a landowner may be required to pay for the replacement of culverts.
Provide 100 percent of the cost of culvert replacement if the culvert was installed with a Forest Practice permit and hydraulics approval and that culvert becomes a high priority for fish passage in a watershed.
Not provide any additional right of entry for any government agency or others.

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