Local Food Systems – Friends of Clark County in SW Washington

May 5, 2025

🚨 CALL-TO-ACTION to Save Hundred of Acres of Agricultural Land in the Clark County Comprehensive Plan Update May 7th at 1pm!

in Accountability, Climate Change, Comprehensive Plan & Growth Management Act, Farmland & Forests, Housing & Transportation, Local Food Systems

What’s at stake? The loss of 519 acres of agricultural land in Clark County’s Comprehensive Plan Update to sprawling development, the delay (6 months to a year or more) of passing urgent climate, transportation, and housing policies, noncompliance with state law, and ineligibility for grants and low-interest loans from the state that could be lost […]

May 4, 2025

SAVE THE DATE for our June Forum on Planning for our Collective Future in Clark County: the Final Stretch of the Comprehensive Plan Update

in Climate Change, Comprehensive Plan & Growth Management Act, Farmland & Forests, Housing & Transportation, Local Food Systems, Parks, Trails, & Open Spaces

Do you care about local farms, healthy forests, clean water, clean air, the climate crisis, parks, walkability, housing and transportation, fish, wildlife, and creating vibrant and equitable communities? So does Friends of Clark County! That’s why advocacy around the Clark County Comprehensive Plan update process in accordance with the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) is […]

April 28, 2025

Challenges of Small-Scale Farming in Clark County by Justin Burger

in Farmland & Forests, General, Local Food Systems

Challenges of Small-Scale Farming in Clark County By Justin Burger, owner of Burger Family Farms and Friends of Clark County board member Farming in Clark County is already tough, but for small farmers like me, the biggest challenge isn’t just the work, it’s navigating the complex, overlapping, and often contradictory regulations that make it nearly […]

April 21, 2025

Clark County Comprehensive Plan Update: The Latest Developments

in Accountability, Climate Change, Comprehensive Plan & Growth Management Act, Farmland & Forests, General, Housing & Transportation, Local Food Systems, Parks, Trails, & Open Spaces

Background In our last update, the Clark County Council had adopted the Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) alternatives for the Comprehensive Plan Update. Alternatives are options for the Comp Plan that the cities and county put forward to be studied for environmental impacts in accordance with the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), which requires that […]

February 18, 2025

Friends of Clark County Public Comment on the Climate Community Advisory Group’s Draft Goals and Policies

in Climate Change, Comprehensive Plan & Growth Management Act, Farmland & Forests, Local Food Systems, Mining

Hello Clark County staff, CAG, and Environmental Justice Coalition (EJC) members, FOCC thanks you for your work thus far to create goals and policies for protecting Clark County residents, especially our children and grandchildren, from the dire impacts of the climate emergency by working together to recommend adaptation and mitigation measures. We recognize all of […]

December 16, 2024

FOCC’s Bold Vision for Agriculture in Clark County: View Part of Our Comprehensive Planning Comments to the Clark County Council

in Climate Change, Comprehensive Plan & Growth Management Act, Farmland & Forests, General, Local Food Systems, Responsible Development

Our Bold Vision for Agriculture in Clark County *Not included in its entirety are FOCC’s full comments, including a 23-page executive summary of legal and advocacy arguments, 5 packets containing 6 additional letters, soil maps, photos, and other supplementary documentation sent to Clark County for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement alternatives hearing for the Comprehensive […]

November 10, 2024

Land Use, The Forgotten Climate Solution: Help Advocate for Friends of Clark County’s Climate Change Priorities

in Climate Change, Comprehensive Plan & Growth Management Act, Farmland & Forests, Local Food Systems

Clark County’s public participation process is underway to collect feedback from residents on climate change for unincorporated Clark County. CLARK COUNTY WANTS AND NEEDS YOUR INPUT, so please take some time to learn about FOCC’s climate priorities that are targeted toward tackling the root causes of much of our climate woes: land use. The county’s […]

October 23, 2024

Fall Comprehensive Plan Update

in Accountability, Climate Change, Comprehensive Plan & Growth Management Act, Farmland & Forests, Housing & Transportation, Local Food Systems, Mining

Photo from Clark County government Link to Clark County’s 2025 Comprehensive Planning page here: 2025 Update | Clark County (wa.gov) In our last update, the County had adopted the Population and Employment allocation, which determines what future population and job numbers each of the cities and the county need to plan for. The county had […]

September 23, 2024

Clark County Needs an Agricultural Commission

in Climate Change, Farmland & Forests, Local Food Systems

Over the past several years, members of the farming community, including Friends of Clark County, Clark/Cowlitz Farm Bureau, local farmers market organizers, and the Clark Conservation District have expressed to Clark County the need for agricultural interests to be represented in Clark County government. Currently, there are NO voices representing the agricultural community while the […]

August 15, 2024

WATCH: Returning to Local Food Production in the Era of Climate Change – FOCC’s August 2024 Forum Recording Available Now!

in Climate Change, Comprehensive Plan & Growth Management Act, Farmland & Forests, General, Local Food Systems

For those who could make the live session, we deeply appreciate your attendance at our forum about returning to local food production in the era of climate change. It is a hopeful sign that we had such a great showing of local residents who took the time out of their evening for this discussion. Now, […]