News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 3, 2000
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136
Alt Contact:  Rob Harper, Emergency Management Division, 253-512-7005

Locke requests farm disaster relief for six eastern Washington counties

OLYMPIA - Gov. Gary Locke today asked Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman to help farmers and ranchers in six eastern Washington counties recover financially from separate incidents of drought, fire and frost over the past several months.


The request for a federal agriculture disaster area declaration could provide emergency low-interest farm loans to cover production and property losses for farmers, ranchers and businesses that support them in Okanogan, Ferry, Franklin, Grant, Walla Walla and Klickitat counties.

"Okanogan and Ferry county ranchers and hay producers have suffered significant losses due to droughts from June 1 to August 30," Locke said.

He added, "Large areas of range land and many fences in Klickitat County were burned in wildfires between July 14 and August 14. And freezing weather in Franklin, Grant and Walla Walla counties on September 21 and 31 destroyed buckwheat and dry bean crops."

"If the secretary of agriculture approves my request, ranchers and farmers in neighboring counties also can seek emergency Farm Service Agency loans to cover their weather-related production losses," Locke added.

Additional information about the program can be obtained from Chuck Hagerhjelm, Washington Emergency Management Division, at 253- 512-7071.

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