In late 2015, the What’s Upstream campaign emerged. This involved a $500,000 federal environmental grant to environmental and tribal groups, which used the funds to mount a lobbying campaign featuring the same false accusations from the same environmental attorneys. The use of these funds was illegal, as was the lobbying, but since this involved statewide issues, it was beyond the scope of Whatcom County alone to counter the campaign. At the same time, dairy farmers in Eastern Washington, who had been sued by the same attorneys and observed the response in Whatcom County, expressed a desire for a coordinated effort.
