EXECUTIVE ORDER  80-01

FARMLAND PRESERVATION

WHEREAS, it is the policy of this administration to develop and promote agricultural activities; and

WHEREAS, in order to develop and promote agricultural activities, agricultural lands must be preserved; and

WHEREAS, agricultural land is being lost to other uses; and

WHEREAS, state and local governments operate under various laws, regulations, policies and programs that affect decisions on agricultural land and growth management; and

WHEREAS, local government is in the best position to make the primary decisions affecting the preservation of farmlands; and

WHEREAS, the continuing loss of agricultural land requires closer attention by state agencies; and

WHEREAS, it is the opinion of this administration that much can be accomplished under the framework of existing laws and regulations to protect farmlands without the necessity of creating a new bureaucracy,

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Dixy Lee Ray, Governor of the state of Washington, do hereby direct as follows:

Every state department, commission, board or other agency of state government making decisions affecting the siting of energy facilities, disposal facilities, transportation systems or utility corridors and agencies making decisions on environmental and/or land use permits, shall consider farmland preservation when making decisions and, in addition, give due regard to local government planning, zoning, or other local government agricultural land protection programs.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set
my hand and caused the seal of the State of
Washington to be affixed at Olympia this
4th day of January A.D., Nineteen hundred and eighty.

Dixy Lee Ray
Governor of Washington

BY THE GOVERNOR:



Assistant Secretary of State