SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee thought it would be a nice gesture to bring some apples from his own tree when he visited eastern Washington communities ravaged by wildfire last week. Instead, he was breaking the law.
By bringing apples from trees growing at the governor’s mansion in Olympia, Inslee violated state regulations about bringing homegrown fruit from an apple-maggot quarantine area into pest-free counties.
Inslee released the following statement Wednesday:
“Last week Trudi and I wanted to express comfort for the communities suffering from devastating fires. When I visited some of these areas, I took some apples we picked from our tree in Olympia. We regret this mistake. This a good reminder of the importance of awareness around apple quarantine. We appreciate the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s efforts to help recover these apples and we are assisting to help make that happen.”
The Spokesman-Review reported that most of Eastern Washington, which grows 65% of the nation’s apples, is pest-free.
Don’t expect the governor to serve any hard time for the violation. Bringing home-grown apples into a pest-free zone is a misdemeanor, but the state rarely cites anyone.