Corruption in PNW Conservation: Holly Farmer on Weed Control Board Prevents Board From Protecting Forests from Invasive Holly
Original article by Becky Chaney, WNPS Conservation Committee Chair (Full original article can be read here)
In November, the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board (hereafter referred to as the Board) considered the Whatcom County Noxious Weed Board proposal to list English holly (Ilex aquifolium) as a Class C noxious weed, as requested by Thomas and Tricia Morrel, owners of a designated Stewardship Forest in Whatcom County. The effects of holly on western Washington public and private lands, documented by numerous studies and mapping from multiple agencies and scientists, was presented to the Board during the November 1 public hearing. The information included statements regarding the negative impacts of holly, including its detrimental crowding out of under-story vegetation and the increased forest fire risk resulting from this relatively recent addition of a non-native ladder fuel. The information presented was quantitative and backed by scientific research from numerous studies. Eleven speakers, included botanists and land managers from a wide variety of agencies and environmental groups, spoke in favor of the state listing.
Two speakers, owner of Holly Hill Orchards and his son, spoke in opposition. Expressing concern that the listing would destroy their family business, a holly farm purchased in 2011. They are convinced the habitat risks are over-stated and find the dollars spent on control ($90,000 from 2007-2009 at just a SINGLE Seattle site) inconceivable.
The Board considered the potential impacts to the holly farms and the floral industry. To ensure no harm to these small family businesses, a concurrent addition, developed with input from Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, was proposed and approved before taking a vote on listing holly. A new definition—feral—was added to Washington’s noxious weed laws. The definition
reads: “Feral means where a plant species has escaped a managed landscape or is growing without human management or design. ‘Feral’ does not include any plants grown for agricultural or commercial purposes” (WAC 16-750-003). The proposed Class C listing of feral holly only applies to escaped holly—holly existing outside of gardens and cultivated lands such as holly farms. It would allow wildland managers to fund control of invasive holly where it is negatively impacting forestland and for educational programs addressing why and where feral holly is a problem. Nothing in the listing would restrict farming holly, or selling it, either live or cut, within or outside of the state. A class C listing as feral holly would not require its removal from ornamental gardens or farms, or restrict
its commercial uses.
This consideration wasn’t enough to ease the concerns of the Washington holly growers. The holly farmers argued that the image of holly would be tarnished, and that holly farming would no longer be economically feasible. No economic data was provided to back up their claim. Board Education Specialist Anne Schuster did provide information noting that Pacific Northwest holly growers supply 90% of English holly sold in the United States, export it to countries such as Japan, and that it has grown here for over 90 years.
Sadly (from my perspective), the listing of English holly as a Washington State class C noxious weed received only a 3-3 vote from the Board members present; passage of the listing needed a majority. There are nine voting positions on the Board, but the Northeast Tier is currently vacant. Two members, Randy
Johnson and Brad White, did not attend the meeting, so only six members voted. The listing was supported by board members William (Bill) Agosta,
Janet Spingath, and Allen Evanston. In opposition were members Jerry Hendrickson, Carey Caruso, and Ken Bajema.
Bajema, in addition to being on the Board, is owner of Columbia Gorge Holly
Farms, a multi-generational family farm growing holly since 1959. He is a long-
term, vocal opponent of listing holly as a state noxious weed. Again, from my perspective, I can’t help wondering how conflict of interest (a thorny issue) may have affected the vote. At least one respondent to a 2022 survey provided to the Board ahead of the hearing expressed concern that the Board had a conflict-of-interest problem. As far as I know, this was not publicly addressed by the Board or staff ahead of the vote. After the vote, the question over conflict of interest was raised during public comment. The Chair responded “Obviously, there
is a conflict of interest if you are talking about...a member of the Board being a holly grower, but there’s no law against that...he is a member of the Board and he is a holly grower and that’s perfectly legitimate. Yes, that creates at least one person with a conflict of interest but I’m afraid... there’s no law against that. We have no rules about recusal and so there’s no basis for requiring a person with a conflict of interest to recuse himself in this circumstance.”
Staff indicated that it was important to have Board members who feel the impacts of these decisions and expressed the opinion that it is “rightfully so that Ken has a vote.” I agree that the boards are supposed to include representation from various affected interest groups and are mandated to consider and mitigate impacts on business. However, I believe elevating special interests above the Board’s legal mission is wrong.
A Capital Press article written in 2010, then updated in 2018, states that “Dee and Ken Bajema scoff at claims that English holly is invasive.” It states that the Bajemas (say) it’s difficult to remain positive about the fate of the requested “noxious” listing. Ken Bajema says nothing to correct this public record. He does not acknowledge that holly is invasive, is environmentally detrimental, or that it is a multi-county problem. Survey comments verify that holly is a concern in at least ten Washington counties. More than half of the survey respondents who note that holly impacts their county also stated that holly’s unlisted status (negatively) impacts their ability to control it.
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SALVATION (series)
(part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6)
pairing: colin zabel x reader
words: 1649
a/n: soo i decided to make this part shorter, the next one will be longer. Im sorry for not posting in a long time, idk if people still read salvation, but i do plan on posting more regularly:)
summary: you and colin make a plan to solve the case and head to the opening of the Hotel Cortez
warnings: swearing, a bit of info dump
part 4: salvation
The next day, you and Colin met up at a diner, and discussed the plan for Saturday when you would go to the Cortez. You had to know what the two of you were searching for. If you were there and you didn't know what to do, it would be pointless. All you knew was that the Cortez had something to do with the murders.
While you had ordered food, Colin explained to you why he suspected the Hotel Cortez was linked to the recent killings.
“I went through the files, and something caught my eye. The first two couples that were murdered two weeks ago had an invitation to the opening of the Hotel Cortez. It was found by forensics examiners in the living room. The examiners didn't find anything in Marie and Bernard’s living room. However, this afternoon I went back to the crime scene and looked more thoroughly in the upstairs bedroom, and know what I found?”
Your eyes widened. “An invitation to the opening of the Hotel Cortez.”
“Exactly,” Colin continued. “I found it in the drawer in the nightstand. Which means that all three of the couples that have been murdered, had an invitation. I don't think it’s a coincidence.” You took a bite of your food. So James March gave invitations to people who were now brutally murdered. It was indeed suspicious.
“What we know is that the killer isn't done killing, so we need to prevent him from doing so. I believe that the next victim also has an invite to the opening,"
"but how do we know who is the next target?”
Colin rubbed his temples and drank from his coke. “I don’t know yet.”
“This sick fuck is twisted beyond insanity,” you began and you grimaced. “What is the motive? Why suddenly after 5 years, is someone finishing what Kai started? I just don’t understand, something is just off about all of this, why would someone copy Kai? Why would James send invitations to future victims? How is everything connected?" you questioned while saying your thoughts aloud.
“A message.”
“What?”
“Maybe he is trying to send a message. 7 years ago, Kai killed 11 people, and he all did it with one goal: spread fear. One thing why it’s called the ‘fear is truth’ killings, is because each letter of the victims first name made the sentence ‘fear is truth.” you found it hard to follow his words but you tried your best.
“The first victim in 2016 was named Frances, the second one was Erin, the third one was Allison, then came Rory, then Isa, Sarah, Troy, Randy, Ursula, Thomas and Harrison. If you put all of the first letters of their names together in the order of the killings, you get ‘Fear Is Truth’. That's why it was so popular in the true crime media, and why it was called the 'FIT' murders."
You leaned forward in intrigue, and pressed your fingers to your temples.
“So what message is the killer trying to send?” you questioned and you sighed. “It could be that the copycat is also trying to spell a word with his victim's names.” You grabbed a napkin and grabbed the pen. You didn't remember who were the latest victims, but Colin immediately knew what you were trying to do, and he grabbed the files.
“The first victims are Janet and Max. The second victims were Chris and Clara, and the third and most recent victims are Bernard and Marie.”
“Which spells…” you underlined the first letters of their names. “It spells JMCCBM.”
You closed your eyes in disappointment and frustration. You really thought that this was something. Colin however, didn't give up yet. “Wait,” he started and he wrote everyone’s full name on the napkin.
“Janet Stacy, Max Allister, Chris Lee, Clara Vera, Bernard Allen and Marie Tobias.”
He scribbled something and you tried to read what he was writing upside down. “Their last names. Stacy, Allister, Lee, Vera, Allen, Tobias. It spells…” he began and he squinted his eyes. “Salvat?”
“What is Salvat?”
“I don’t know, it looks like the beginning of a word. You think it’s a coincidence?”
“Nothing about this case is a coincidence. This has to be it.” you closed your eyes. You were getting a headache, but you wanted to help Colin and so you thought long and hard. You were getting closer and closer to cracking the code, you just had to have an extra push into the right direction.
Something suddenly clicked in Colin's brain and he snapped his fingers as if trying to make him remember something. “What were the words Kai spoke in court to you?”
You looked up at him and your jaw dropped. You heard Kai’s voice in the back of your head like he was screaming it in your ear. "Fear is the only salvation mankind will ever know.”
“That’s it,” Colin began and the two of you clicked everything together as you spoke in unison. “Salvation.”
“You really think that’s our lead?” you asked and Colin nodded. “Like you said, it can't be a coincidence, nothing about these cases are coincidences. It’s like the killer is killing for fun, but is also trying to send a message. The killer is trying to spread fear again, and he's succeeding.”
A woman walked towards your table and placed two plates of food in front of you. You had ordered fish and chips and you gave the woman a quick smile. Colin continued “It has to be this, I’m sure of it. The killer is trying to finish the word Salvation just like Kai finished the words ‘fear is truth’. He is spelling the words with the letters of the victim's last names. The killer only needs three more letters. I, O and N.”
“So that means that whoever is the next victim has an invitation to the Hotel Cortez, and has a last name that starts with ‘I’.” Everything began to fall in place “Why are the only victims invited to the Hotel Cortez? What makes the Hotel Cortez special? And how do we find out who has an invitation?”
Colin rubbed his temples while thinking hard but before he could have any more time to think, you suddenly chirped up. “Wait, there has to be a guest list, if we see who is invited, we can figure out whose last name starts with an I.”
Colin opened his eyes. “So our goal tomorrow is to get the guest list and prevent the killer from striking again.”
“We have to catch the person who is doing this before he can finish the word ‘Salvation’.”
You and him both smiled as you looked at each other, and it was so satisfying to piece the puzzle together. You had never been interested in these types of things before. The world was cruel enough, but knowing that you might be able to help solve this thing, gave you a satisfying feeling.
Colin held up his hand for a high five.
“You and I, we make a pretty good team.”
--
The next day broke and you were as nervous as ever. The whole day, you had tried to occupy your thoughts with something other than the Hotel Cortez. You had taken the pills Vincent prescribed and to your relief, Kai hadn't shown up anywhere.
You walked down the stairs as the clock struck 7:45. Colin should be here soon to pick you up.
“You look pretty,” Zoe said as you walked into the kitchen and you twirled for her and smiled. “Thank you.”
You wore a wine red dress with spaghetti straps, and it clung to your body in every curve. There was a slit on your right side leading up to your thigh, and the smooth skin of your leg was exposed. Around your neck was a silver necklace that your mother gave you when you were 14, and you had hoop earrings that matched the silver color. You never dressed up like this, but knowing you'd be surrounded by elites, you wanted to dress the part.
Violet walked into the room and she whistled. “Dang, Y/n, you got a date or something?”
You kissed the back of your teeth to that question, and eventually nodded. “I am, actually.”
Zoe smiled. “Shut up?! Who is it?”
Before you could answer, the bell rang and all three of your heads snapped to the door. You fixed your hair one more time and walked to the hall. Zoe and Violet then looked at you as you walked to the door and opened it.
Colin Zabel had his hands in his pockets and looked down, until the door opened and he looked at you. His breath got caught up in his throat and his jaw fell open the slightest. “Holy shit.”
“Hello Detective,” you mused as you looked him up and down. He had a black suit with a black tie, and he looked elegant and stylish, yet he still looked like himself. You had always fancied men who looked great in a suit, but Colin was on a whole other level.
Zoe and Violet eyed him and then they gave you a knowing look. In just a short glance, you could translate their looks. They approved.
“Let me grab my purse and we can go.” You said and you walked to the living room. Zoe followed you and as you were in the living room, she tapped your shoulder. “He is the man from the tv?!” she whisper-shouted and you chuckled. “The detective? You never mentioned that he was your date?” she then looked puzzled “You’re going to the Hotel Cortez with him?”
“I wasn’t planning on going initially… wait- how do you know about the Cortez…” you began but you figured that she saw the invitation on the kitchen counter. “Never mind.”
You turned around and headed for the hall again. “I’m going, I’ll be back later. Don’t open the door for strangers.”
“I won’t. Have fun with your date!”
You reached the hall again and Violet had her arms crossed as she was talking to Colin. He had an unreadable expression on his face and you narrowed your eyes at Violet.
When he saw you, he looked somewhat relieved and he reached his hand out for you. You grabbed it as you walked out of the front door. You stopped for a second to look back ar Violet.
“Violet do me a favor, please don't smoke. or sneak out”
“I won’t.” she promised. You gave her a nod and you began to walk to Colin's car with him at your side.
Violet stood in the doorway and looked one more time at Colin and a smug look appeared on her face. You couldn't even walk 3 meters before she spoke up.
“Hey Y/n,” Violet asked. “Yeah?”
“Do me a favor.” you hummed to her words “Don’t get pregnant.”
She had a smug look on her face and you pressed your lips together in a thin line and rolled your eyes at her. She used your own line against you. Colin raised his eyebrows while looking amused, yet slightly scared. “Don't get what now?”
“Nothing, let's go” you linked your arm with his and together you wakked further without glancing back at your sister "We got a mission to accomplish."
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