Even as the state battles wildfires that have smothered Puget Sound in smoke for the last two summers, Washington lawmakers have underfunded efforts to control the burning.<\/p>\n
Since 2015, the legislature has given the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) \u2014 the main state agencies tasked with preventing and combating wildfires \u2014 just $18 million out of the $40 million they requested for their operating budget, according to a tally obtained by The Seattle Times from state\u2019s Office of Financial Management. The allocations even fell short of Gov. Jay Inslee\u2019s request for $27 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Out of the $25 million DNR and WDFW asked for in their supplemental budget from 2017 to 2019 to start implementing a 20-year plan to thin the state\u2019s forests, lawmakers granted $18 million<\/p>\n
Funding of the agencies \u201cdoesn\u2019t really scratch the surface,\u201d Peter Goldmark, Washington\u2019s former commissioner of public lands, who\u2019s been\u00a0lobbying for years<\/a>\u00a0for stronger action against wildfires that he expects to worsen otherwise.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s only going to get worse.\u201d.<\/p>\n Washington is on pace to post one of its driest summers on record, having received just an inch of rain since the start of May. As scientists\u00a0predict<\/a>\u00a0more severe fire seasons ahead, wood smoke isn\u2019t only becoming an unpleasant sight for Seattle\u2019s normally picturesque skyline, it\u2019s increasingly becoming a threat to public health. The pollution on some days in August \u2014 drifting into Western Washington from fires in the eastern part of the state, as well as Canadian British Columbia to the north and Oregon and California to the south \u2014 made air in the Puget Sound area among the\u00a0unhealthiest<\/a>\u00a0to breathe in the world.<\/p>\n Despite the shortfall, state lawmakers have significantly boosted spending to combat wildfires, according to Sen. Brad Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee. The current allocation compares with just $2 million set aside from 2011 to 2013, $4 million in the following two years, and $10 million for the two years that ended in 2017, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe legislature is recognizing that it needs to be more proactive and ramp up funding to address forest health,\u201d Hawkins said in a phone interview. While \u201charvesting and thinning forests in a responsible way\u201d reduces the risk of fires spreading, long-term investment in firefighting is also important, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, we\u2019re doing both and it\u2019s really costly,\u201d Hawkins said. Lawmakers haven\u2019t fully funded DNR efforts to take control of the fires, but it\u2019s not uncommon for state agencies to not have their requests fully met, he said.<\/p>\n Carlo Davis, a spokesman for DNR, said his agency will be seeking additional\u00a0firefighting resources and\u00a0increased funding to thin overcrowded forests. About 2.7 million acres of Washington forestland are unhealthy due to the overcrowding that causes trees to be weak and lose their natural wildfire resistance, he said in an emailed response to questions.<\/p>\n The 20-year plan \u2014 the one that\u2019s being underfunded \u2014 calls for the restoration of forest health of 1.25 million acres, according to Davis.\u00a0It targets drier forests in eastern Washington, where decades of fire suppression efforts allowed a build-up of densely-packed trees primed to burn more intensely than in centuries past. The treatment often involves chain-saw thinning and then controlled burns during cooler weather.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Re Blog ” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Re Blog from<\/strong><\/span>:-\u00a0 THE SEATTLE TIMES<\/p>\n