GSA terminates Farm Services Agency lease at port

DAYTON — The Port of Columbia County Executive Director Jennie Dickinson received a Government Service Agency email on February 25, terminating the building lease between the port and the Columbia County Farm Service Agency, effective August 31. The FSA houses the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The NRCS offers programs that support conservation work in agriculture, timber, and pasture lands. For example, Dickinson said her family utilized an NRCS cost-share program for pre-commercial thinning and fire prevention work on land they own.

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) offers economic safety-net programs for farmers. These include the Agriculture Risk Coverage program, which provides payments to farmers when actual revenue is less than annually guaranteed levels based on historical data and market conditions.

“Lots of contracts and paperwork must be signed each year,” she said.

Dickinson is concerned about losing jobs in Columbia County due to funding cuts at the federal level, including the six people who work at the FSA service center,.

Though the location will close, Dickinson did not think the federal programs at the center have been cut.

“I have no idea how it will work now. Farmers and ranchers will either have to drive to a different town for these services, or the USDA will have to provide more of the necessary interactions electronically,” she said.

Columbia County Commissioner Marty Hall said he learned about the closure from a March 8 article in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

“My hope is that as things shake out, the decision will be reversed,” he said. “The closure is bad news not only to our local producers, but to the business community, as well. Every job we can keep in our small town is a big deal. Going to either Walla Walla our Pomeroy for our FSA and NRCS services will add a cost of both time and money to our local producers.”

Dickinson listed other local organizations and services dependent on federal dollars; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lyons Ferry Marina owned by the Army Corps, and school programs including Title I and Special Education.

Cuts have been made at the Bonneville Power Administration where Columbia REA gets its power. Dickinson said a potential proposal for natural gas transmission over BPA transmission lines could also be impacted by the cut.

The Columbia County Health System is the largest employer in the county. Dickinson said potential cuts to Medicaid could be devastating for the health system, its employees, and the people it serves. She said that thirty percent of eastern Washington residents are enrolled in Apple Health, which is the state’s Medicaid insurance program.

Dickinson said funding was frozen for food banks this quarter through the Blue Mountain Action Council.

“All rural communities depend more heavily on government funding and will disproportionately feel effects of cuts,” Dickinson said.

“The Times” reached out to the USDA press office and will provide an update after the USDA responds.