Wildfire Proviso
As part of the 2020 state supplemental budget, ESSB 6168, sec 308 (29), the Legislature directed the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to prepare a report due on Dec. 1, 2020 that contains:
- A zero-based budget (ZBB) and performance review of its resource protection program, with specific focus on the Wildfire program’s operating budget and activities;
- An analysis of any inconsistencies and increased costs associated with the decentralized nature of organizational authority and operations;
- An analysis of the DNR’s budgeting and accounting processes with focus on efficiencies to be gained from centralized budget control; and,
- A review of the progress and findings of the ongoing internal fire business transformation team related to current practices in wildland fire business.
Due to several factors, among them being the COVID-19 pandemic that changed how all organizations conduct business by working virtually and the advent of the wildland fire season in the spring of 2020, heightened activity in September and October, and the decision to hire an independent consultant to conduct the performance review, DNR is submitting the report requested in ESSB 6168, sec 308 (29) in two volumes. The first volume was submitted December 1, 2020 and the second volume was submitted March 1, 2021.
