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Forest Health Bill Clears Another Washington House Hurdle

freep.com

The devastating wildfire seasons of 2014 and 2015 are the inspiration for legislation approved this week by an important Washington legislative committee. The bill is aimed at improving the health of state forest lands that are most in need of TLC.

The House Appropriations Committee said yes to the bill sponsored by Okanogan County Rep. Joel Kretz (R-Wauconda). It aims at preventing wildfires by requiring the Department of Natural Resources to prioritize state lands that are most in need of active management. It directs the agency to create two-year, six-year and 20-year lists for state timberlands that need timber thinning or planned wildfires to make them more resilient.

It’s not surprising that a bill like this is shepherded by a rural representative who lives in wildfire country. But you might not expect the co-sponsor to be someone lives in Seattle’s suburbs. That is Rep. Larry Springer (D-Kirkland), who invoked the memory of those terrible wildfire seasons in urging his colleagues to vote for the bill.

“We cannot continue to come down here to Olympia, year after year, and write bigger and bigger checks in order to put out fires," Springer said. "We need to build forests that are resilient and that’s what this bill is aimed at beginning the process it’s going to begin.”

The wildfire policy advisor for the Department of Natural Resources says the state has, over the last six years, spent $400 million dollars to battle wildfires, but only $20 million to prevent them.