
Legislative Priorities
~ Commissioner Franz
Last year, DNR responded to more than 1,600 wildfires across Washington state. In all, more than 800,000 acres burned, 600,000 of which burned in the two weeks after Labor Day. Nearly 300 homes were lost and families were evacuated due to wildfire on both sides of the state – Bonney Lake to Amboy and Omak to Malden and over to Yakima.
For two of the last three years, Washington had the worst air quality in the world due to wildfires. On average, fighting wildfires in Washington costs $150 million each year. And that’s just 9% of the total cost of wildfire when you factor in economic and public health impacts.
Historically, fire seasons were manageable with our air and ground resources. In the 2000s, for example, the average acres burned each year was 189,000. In the last five years, that has exploded to an annual average of 488,000 acres. But as fire seasons have gotten more dangerous and destructive, our ability to fight and contain these fires has lagged behind.
That’s why Commissioner Franz has once again asked lawmakers to create a dedicated account funded with $125 million each biennium. Her legislation, House Bill 1168, would provide the proactive resources necessary for wildfire response, forest restoration and community resilience. The long-term investments are needed to fulfill DNR’s 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan, the Wildland Fire Protection 10-Year Strategic Plan.
The time to act is now. We know the resources we need, both for our firefighters and for forest health, to change the trajectory of our wildfire crisis. Please see our fact sheet below or this link to House Bill 1168 for more information.
2021 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
DNR Factsheets
- Bringing Washington’s Forests Back to Health
- Investments in Salmon, Investments in Small Towns
- fpOnline – Forest Practices for the 21st Century
- Making One Washington Work Across the State
- Connecting Rural Washington to Broadband Internet
- Shovel-Ready Investments in Revenue and Rural Jobs
- Zero-Cost Changes to Increase Nontax Revenue
- Trust Land Performance Assessment
- Forest Roads Fix Lowers Liability, Protects Revenue
- Modernizing the Evergreen Communities Act
- We are all at Risk of Wildfire
2020 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
- Agency Priorities (2.5 MB PDF)
- Dedicated Wildfire and Forest Health Funding: SB TBD l HB 2413
- Derelict Vessel Removal Program: SB 6528 l HB 2769
- Designated Target Shooting Locations: SB 6541 l HB 2767
- Modernizing the Evergreen Communities Act: SB 6529 l HB 2768
- Understanding State Trust Lands:
2019 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
- Agency Priorites (140KB PDF)
2017 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
- Operating Budget Priorities (210KB PDF)
- Capital Budget Priorities (201 KB PDF)
- Make Forests More Resilient, Productive (3,622 KB PDF)
- Permanently Extending Contract Harvesting (694 KB PDF)
- Strengthening Washington's Wildfire Fighting Force (643 KB PDF)
- Sustaining Surface Mine Reclamation (230 KB PDF)
- Maximizing Geoduck Harvests and Revenue (268 KB PDF)
- Investing in Conservation (245 KB PDF)
- Facilitating Stewardship (173 KB PDF)
- Trust Land Transfers (364 KB PDF)
- Puget SoundCorps (714 KB PDF)
- Sustainable Recreation (2,157 KB PDF)
2016 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
- Operating Budget Priorities (418 KB PDF)
- Capital Budget Priorities (190 KB PDF)
- Increase Firefighting Capacity (104 KB PDF)
- Understanding Earthquake and Tsunami Hazards (1,062 KB PDF)
- Implement Blanchard Working Forest Strategy (402 KB PDF)
2015 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
- Geological Hazards Assessments: Bolstering safety by enhancing critical hazard identifying technology. (SB 5088 | HB 1182) [204 KB PDF]
2014 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
- Community Forest Trust Account: A tool to facilitate the preservation of working forests. (SB 5973 | HB 2126) [234 KB PDF]
- Specifying recovery for fire damages to public or private forested lands. (SB 5972 | HB 2103) [100 KB PDF]
- Increase vessel owner responsibility and address challenges to removing derelict and abandoned vessels. (HB 2457)
2013 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
2012 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
- Wildfire Protection on State-owned Lands (177KB PDF)
- Replacing Encumbered State Forest Lands (49KB PDF)
OTHER LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES 2012
2011 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
- Community Forest Trust (135KB PDF)
- Puget SoundCorps (395KB PDF)
- Sustainable Funding for Recreation Access on State Lands (388KB PDF)
OTHER LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES 2011
- Improving the Derelict Vessels Removal Program (168KB PDF)
- Surface Mining Reclamation (215KB PDF)
For additional information, visit the Washington State Legislature