We dwell in communities surrounded by forests — they outline our landscapes, our livelihoods and our security. We have now witnessed each the devastation of maximum wildfires, and the unbelievable progress made in wildfire prevention and forest well being. This legislative session, we urge our elected representatives to uphold their promise and allocate $125 million within the biennial funds to maintain this very important work.
In 2021, Washington passed House Bill 1168, committing $500 million over eight years in wildfire response, forest well being and neighborhood resilience. This historic funding has already reworked landscapes and lives, enabling forest thinning, managed burning, workforce coaching and higher safety of properties — steps that scale back catastrophic wildfire danger whereas revitalizing forest ecosystems.
We’re seeing this funding in motion with massive modifications on Cle Elum Ridge that surrounds the communities of Cle Elum, Roslyn and Ronald. The 2017 Jolly Mountain Fireplace, ignited by lightning, smoldered for weeks in distant terrain earlier than erupting into a large blaze that compelled lots of to evacuate and turned our sky blood-red. It was a terrifying reminder that our overgrown forests have been primed for catastrophe.
In response, the neighborhood rallied. We established the Kittitas Fireplace Tailored Communities Coalition, which works throughout property ownerships to speed up the tempo and scale of restoration and wildfire mitigation. The Nature Conservancy has thinned almost 2,000 acres of forest, reintroduced prescribed fireplace and created defensible areas that make our cities safer. We have now skilled a brand new technology of staff in prescribed burning — a vital software for restoring fireplace’s pure position in ecosystems. This work wouldn’t have been doable with out help from HB1168, and these investments imply that when the following fireplace comes, we could have a preventing likelihood.
An identical story unfolds in Klickitat County, the place more and more extreme wildfires have burned on the slopes of Mount Adams, creeping nearer to the communities of Trout Lake and Glenwood. The fires sparked conversations about forest well being and the way we as communities can head off catastrophe.
With HB 1168 funding, we now have constructed a collaborative, community-based strategy to fireside resilience. We have now constructed an area workforce, geared up with the abilities and instruments — from chain saws to drip torches — to sort out the unnaturally dense forest undergrowth that would channel the following massive fireplace into our neighborhoods. With chippers, saws and prescribed fireplace, we’ve handled 1000’s of acres of forests. This isn’t simply fireplace prevention — it’s financial revitalization. By creating forestry jobs and increasing native companies that help restoration, we’re bringing new vitality to rural economies lengthy affected by the timber trade’s decline.
The facility of HB 1168 lies not simply in what it pays for however in what it unlocks. The state’s funding has leveraged further federal and native grants, permitting us to pool our assets to maximise affect. There may be inspiring work taking place in communities like ours throughout the state due to this funding, and we can not afford to lose momentum particularly as federal investments wane.
Stopping wildfires is fiscally accountable. Each greenback spent on proactive forest administration saves a number of {dollars} in prevented firefighting prices and catastrophe restoration. Catastrophic wildfires drain state assets, displace households, and injury air and water high quality. Investing in resilience now reduces the probability of billion-dollar disasters sooner or later.
Because the devastating Los Angeles fires remind us, continued funding at scale is significant. Over 2.8 million acres of Washington forest want restoration. We urge lawmakers to resume this essential $125 million dedication for the 2025-27 biennium. Our forests, communities and future rely upon it.
