The state House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bill that would put farm plans off-limits to public review.

The new law has already passed the Senate, but since it was amended in the House, it will go back for another vote in the Senate.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, said its passage there was all but assured.

Farm plans have been under increasing scrutiny in Island County since last year, when a local environmental group asked the Whidbey Island Conservation District to provide copies of the farm plans the district helped prepare.

WEAN, the Whidbey Environmental Action Network, wanted to review the plans to see if they offered adequate protection to streams, wetlands and other environmentally-sensitive areas. Island County officials have pressed farmers to complete farm plans so some agriculture operations can be exempted from stringent “critical areas” regulations.

WEAN’s request for farm plans touched off a storm of controversy, however. Some farmers wrongly thought the information they had provided when preparing a farm plan was private and not subject to public review.

Lawmakers were then pressed to make farm plans exempt from public disclosure after farmers and others said they were worried about being targeted by extreme environmentalists. Some threatened to give up farming rather than complete farm plans, which are currently voluntary plans prepared with the help of local conservation districts.

Haugen said the new law will keep farmers in business, and also “helps farmers who want to do the right thing in sensitive areas.”

Steve Erickson, a WEAN spokesman, disputed the claim that keeping the plans private will keep farmers in business.

WEAN has reviewed the plans, he said, and many cover what could be described as hobby farms.

“Most of these farms aren’t a business at all,” Erickson said. “Somebody with two horses on one acre is not a farmer.”

“It’s a little more special interest legislation,” he added. “It will, of course, insulate the conservation districts from public oversight more.”

Conservation district officials hope the new law will help them mend fences with farmers.

“Disclosure of farm plans was no doubt considered a disincentive for agricultural landowners and operators to utilize district services,” said Karen Lennon, district manager for the Whidbey Island Conservation District.

Lennon expects the bill to make it to the governor’s desk for approval.

“We don’t expect any surprises, but one never knows. The important point in the amendments that were made at the House level is that disclosure of farm plans is triggered by a ‘permit,’” Lennon explained. “If there is no permit issued that uses/depends on the farm plan, then the farm plan is not subject to disclosure.”

“The upshot from the conservation district perspective is that it is quite likely that farm plans will be protected and that Whidbey Island Conservation District can start mending its valued relationship with farmers,” she said.