County fails to abide by state harvest rules

JEFFREY CAMM; University Place

Published: 08/29/08 1:00 am

0 comments

Re: “Geoduck harvest back on again” (TNT, 8-28).

Taylor Shellfish is embroiled in a boundary dispute in Totten Inlet involving aquaculture on state-owned lands it wasn’t entitled to. The Department of Natural Resources has been overseeing the issue for years.

Taylor Shellfish has been told to re-apply for permits that have expired in Pierce County for land it leases, and it threatened legal action. The director of the county’s Planning and Land Services Department allows them to harvest their crop anyway.

We’re not debating environmental issues here, just the laws of the state. Is it any wonder that private citizens give up fighting for their causes when faced with such a stacked deck?

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