RCW 43.23.300
Purpose-Intent- 2021 c 278 : See note following RCW 43.23.320.
Findings-Intent- 2019 c 353 : "The legislature finds that more than three-fourths of the world's flowering plants and about thirty-five percent of the world's food crops depend on pollinators to reproduce. In Washington state, honey bees and other pollinators are responsible for the production of tree fruits, small fruits, and other crops, with the value in 2016 of crops pollinated by honey bees exceeding three billion dollars. The legislature further finds that, beyond agriculture, pollinators are keystone species in the terrestrial ecosystems of Washington, with fruit and seeds derived from insect pollination providing a major part of the diet of numerous bird and mammal species. The state has experienced pollinator habitat loss through property conversion, fragmentation, and degradation of land, and with the state's population continuing to grow at a fast pace, the additional loss of habitat is a significant concern.
Therefore, the legislature intends by this act to initiate a concerted effort to protect and expand the habitat upon which pollinators depend, by providing technical and financial assistance to public and private landowners, and by coordinating with other state agencies and local governments in promoting practices to ensure sustainable, healthy populations of managed and native pollinators." [ 2019 c 353 § 1.]