Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins warned Washington state agencies of a federal funding review over their alleged "weaponization" against ranchers in the state.

Rollins sent a letter to Washington Department of Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller and Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove on Tuesday in defense of a ranch against allegations by state regulators that the owners illegally filled in wetlands, Capital Press reported.

According to the letter, "the Trump administration will not sit idly by" as ranchers Wade and Teresa King are penalized for maintaining stock-water pond.

“This war on agriculture must stop,” Rollins said.

“USDA is reviewing funding it provides to the state of Washington and any institutions within it that may be weaponized against farmers and ranchers such as the Kings,” she wrote.  

Rollins alleges that the Kings are being prosecuted for the common ranching practice in the West of digging out ponds for cattle.

The Washington Department of Ecology alleges that excavating the watering holes damaged rare alkali wetlands in Grant and Douglas counties, and fined the ranch $267,540 in 2023. The Kings are appealing the fine to the Pollution Control Hearings Board.

After the fine, the Washington Department of Natural Resources canceled two grazing leases the King ranch had held for 60 years, over which the Kings are suing in federal court.

“I hope that the secretary’s letter will cause the agencies to realize the seriousness of what they’re doing to agriculture,” one of the Kings’ attorneys, Toni Meacham, said. “We hope we can win this one for everyone in agriculture.”

Sixkiller said in a statement that the Ecology Department has tried to resolve the matter with the Kings.

“USDA’s letter is misleading and reflects a total disregard of the facts involved in this case,” he said. “It’s inappropriate for USDA’s leadership to interfere with a state issue and threaten federal funding that supports Washington’s agriculture industry, critical research and families.”

Department of Natural Resources spokesman Michael Kelly said in a statement that the department “values the strong relationships we have with the vast majority of ranchers who lease state lands.”

“We work hard to maintain these relationships every day,” he said.

According to the Kings’ attorneys, the state attorney general’s office launched a criminal investigation. The office has said it does not confirm whether it is conducting an investigation.

Rollins alleged that the attorney general is pursuing a “secretive criminal action behind closed doors without any ability for the Kings to defend.”

She said that the fine and legal fees are threatening the ranch’s existence, and that the case sets a dangerous precedent for Washington ranches.

The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in July determined that the ranch did not disturb wetlands.

“These manmade structures eventually start filling back up with sediment and need to be cleaned out,” Rollins wrote. “Targeting a ranch for actively maintaining a manmade farm pond is not only wrong, but impermissible under state and federal law.”