Washington counties have a second chance to join the Voluntary Stewardship Program, created by state lawmakers a decade ago as an alternative to fights over mandatory riparian buffers on farmland.

Most counties, 27 out of 39, embraced VSP during a six-month window in 2011. Lawmakers this year passed a bill allowing the other 12 counties to opt-in. This time, legislators set no deadline for joining.

The bill passed the House and Senate easily, tacitly endorsing a program that took four years to negotiate between counties, farm groups and conservation organizations.

“It’s a great public policy outcome after a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” said John Stuhlmiller, who represented the Washington Farm Bureau in the negotiations between 2007-11.

The Growth Management Act, passed in 1990, ordered counties to protect “critical areas,” such as wetlands, and wildlife and fish habitat. The order led to the buffer battles.

“It was awful,” said Stuhlmiller, who is now executive director of the Washington State Water Resources Association and remains on the Conservation Commission’s VSP advisory council.

VSP offered counties a chance to protect critical areas without killing agriculture with “big, dumb buffers.” VSP stressed incentives to encourage riparian and ecosystem stewardship.

Counties in VSP have to preserve riparian habitat, but with voluntary projects. Counties report to the Conservation Commission, and Departments of Ecology, Agriculture, and Fish and Wildlife.

So far, no county has been kicked out of VSP. When Gov. Jay Inlsee proposed mandatory riparian buffers in 2022, one of the criticisms of his bill was that it would undermine VSP. Inslee’s bill died, and lawmakers put more money in VSP projects.

The bill to give counties a second chance to join VSP, introduced by Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, passed the Senate 49-0 and the House 94-3.

“It’s proved up. VSP is working very well. Better than many thought it would,” Stuhlmiller said. “If we can keep VSP moving and pushing out to other counties, we can protect rural land from big buffers.”

The counties that didn’t join VSP are Clallam, Clark, Island, Jefferson, Klickitat, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Skamania, Snohomish, Wahkiakum and Whatcom.   

Pierce and Whatcom counties appear to be candidates to entertain joining. Pierce County planners have prepared a paper to brief the county council and executive. Whatcom County councilors have invited the Conservation Commission to make a presentation about VSP.

“I do think that the VSP is a direction that we do want to travel,” Whatcom Council Councilman Ben Elenbaas said at an April meeting.

“It feels to me like there’s better participation and more buy-in from the folks who own the land when you’re doing it this way versus how we do it now in Whatcom County,” he said.