TO
THE HONORABLE WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO
THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS
ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY:
We,
your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of
Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and
petition as follows:
WHEREAS,
The area south of the Saddle Mountains in Grant, Franklin, and Adams counties,
Washington, known as the Wahluke Slope, is one of the most productive agricultural
areas in the Pacific Northwest; and
WHEREAS,
The need for a large security and control zone around the Department of
Energy's Hanford control zone on Wahluke Slope caused the forced relocation of
citizens of Hanford, White Bluff, Wahluke, and the surrounding agricultural
lands that had been settled prior to 1900; and
WHEREAS,
Due to the decommissioning of all the production reactors along the Hanford
Reach opposite the Wahluke Slope, and with the overall change of the Department
of Energy's Hanford mission from plutonium production to environmental
restoration, the need for a large security and control zone no longer exists;
and
WHEREAS,
The Wahluke Slope's topography and its proximity to the Columbia River make the
area unique in terms of the economic feasibility of irrigation development; and
WHEREAS,
Prior to its inclusion in the Hanford control zone, the Bureau of Reclamation
purchased over twenty-seven thousand acres of the Wahluke Slope with the intent
of future development in the Columbia Basin Project; and
WHEREAS,
The balanced development of this land would achieve the long-awaited completion
of irrigation on the Wahluke Slope and improved wildlife and recreational
opportunities; and
WHEREAS,
Based on current land prices, the sale of land to private owners could
potentially cover a great deal of the cost of constructing water delivery
systems, due to the suitability of topography and nearby water supply; and
WHEREAS,
Resulting property tax and income tax revenues from this new farm land would be
an immediate and significant benefit; and
WHEREAS,
Farmland development would result in millions of dollars in capital investment
for farm equipment of all kinds, the great majority of it manufactured in the
United States by American workers; and
WHEREAS,
The vast majority of crops presently raised on the Wahluke Slope have potential
for export to the Pacific Rim and other nations; and
WHEREAS,
Other than small grains, the crops grown on the Wahluke Slope are completely
driven by the free-market economy and are not subsidized or supported by the
federal government; and
WHEREAS,
Broad support exists for the preservation of the natural beauty and topography
of the Hanford Reach, including protecting the White Bluffs from sloughing into
the Columbia River, prohibiting dredging and damming, and providing for a
one-quarter mile buffer zone on both sides of the river including even wider
zones depending on the terrain; and
WHEREAS,
The Wahluke Slope contains significant areas of land not suitable for farming,
but that are ideally suited for wildlife habitat and recreational uses; and
WHEREAS,
The United States can no longer afford to hold idle public lands of this
potential;
NOW,
THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that, except for needed buffer
zones, the present boundaries of the Department of Energy's Hanford control
zone on the Wahluke Slope be reduced to the area south of the Columbia River
and that the Wahluke Slope presently under the custody and control of the
Department of Energy be transferred in total to the counties of Grant,
Franklin, and Adams for the purpose of returning the land to its former
agricultural use, as well as for wildlife and recreational areas along the
Hanford Reach.
BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately
transmitted to the Honorable William J. Clinton, President of the United
States, the Director of the Department of Energy, the President of the United
States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of
Congress from the State of Washington.
