Riparian report: 'volunteer or else'

In the 1970s, “not in my back yard” was shortened to NIMBY in the context of power companies in New Jersey and Michigan to build nuclear-powered generators. It has persisted since as a shorthand for people to support ideas as long as they do not have to bear the burden of their implementation.

Such was the case in 2022 when Washington state’s agricultural and rural communities were blindsided by a trio of NIMBY bills that would have established riparian buffer zones aimed at salmon recovery. All three bills specifically targeted land in agricultural and rural communities. All three bills specifically exempted land in urban and suburban areas including waterways around parks, roadways, and housing developments. All three bills mandated riparian buffer zones so large they would have consumed many of our state’s farms in their entirety.