This is a cut n paste from King5.com;

FIR ISLAND, Wash. - Looking out at a wide expanse of brightly colored daffodils and tulips, John Roozen wonders if the flowers would survive the intrusion of salt water that state fish and wildlife officials say migrating salmon need.

"This soil is in danger," said Roozen, owner of Washington Bulb Co.

"If or when salt intrudes on this land, everything will die," he said. "And we will no longer produce the quality of bulbs and tulips this valley has become famous for."

Skagit County is under state order to find new estuary land for chinook and other types of salmon under a compromise struck between the state and the Skagit system cooperative, a consortium of three tribes, including the upper Skagit, Swinomish and Sauk-Suiattle tribes.

Farmers want to keep saltwater and salmon out of their fields, which grow crops that yield $275 million in revenue each year.

They're urging lawmakers to block a state Department of Fish and Wildlife plan that says the fish must be allowed in through tidegates and into the estuary habitat where they hide from predators.

As tourists begin flocking to Skagit Valley this weekend for the annual tulip festival, Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, said she fears it could be one of the last years the quarter-million bulbs will bloom in their full glory.

Haugen and other lawmakers have introduced legislation that would protect the farmers while gutting protections for fish.

Haugen's proposal, Senate Bill 5346, would require the state to compensate farmers if their lands are damaged by the draining system. The Senate passed the legislation, despite some contentious debate among her fellow Democrats.

Another bill would let farmers repair their drainage systems on their own, without permission from Fish and Wildlife.

Area Indian tribes, which harvest salmon, support the state's plan. They argue the Skagit farm industry should follow the lead of utilities, the timber industry and other business interests that have agreed to change their practices to aid salmon.

Larry Wasserman, environmental services director for the tribal consortium, said he feels the Legislature could overstep its bounds.

"If the Legislature passes these laws that prevent salmon recovery, it'll force the tribes to look for other legal mechanisms to ensure that they can continue to fish," Wasserman said.

Tidegates are valvelike structures that prevent Fir Island and other areas from being flooded with saltwater. Without any tidegates, saltwater would flow inland as the Skagit River changes direction, causing the mouths of streams and rivers to rise, said Bob Everitt, a regional Fish and Wildlife director for Skagit Valley, about 60 miles north of Seattle.

Fish and Wildlife wants new tide gates that would be self-regulated, allowing for fish passage and raising farmland's water tables. Farmers say intrusion of salt water could prevent many crops from being grown.