The Annual Oyster Land Fight
A recurring legislative battle over tide lands in Olympia pits private interests against state ownership, with millions of dollars in potential profit at stake.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
OLYMPIA, Feb. 26.—No session of the legislature is considered complete unless the 'oyster land grab' bill comes up, and it is now before the legislature, coming from the committee on tide lands. This bill has been before the legislature in one form or another for many years past, and if persistency counts for anything, some of these bright days it is going to work its way under the governor's pen and the lessees of the state's oyster lands are going to check up a couple of millions of dollars' profit. State oyster lands are now held by individuals on merely possessory rights, the state having the privilege of stepping in and taking the lands any time on the payment for certain improvements. The holders of these lands are extremely anxious to secure title to their lands so that they may be relieved from the restrictive rules laid down by the state. Incidentally, the title will be worth about $2,000,000 to the owners.
“No session of the legislature is considered complete unless the 'oyster land grab' bill comes up.”
The 'oyster land grab' reflects the early 20th-century obsession with privatizing public resources in Washington. It serves as a reminder that the struggle over who controls the state’s shoreline has been a central civic argument in Washington politics for well over a century.
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