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John,
The past year’s global pandemic, climate-fueled wildfires, widespread drought, and extreme heat waves have crystallized the urgency of the climate crisis and the value of our natural ecosystems. Then, this month’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report left no room for doubt: human-caused climate change has locked us into significant warming, extreme weather, and sea level rise.
We need healthy forests and ecosystems to mitigate the effects of climate change and protect the health of our communities — especially the most vulnerable among us.
Since 2015, Washington Environmental Council and Washington Conservation Voters have produced the annual State of our Forests and Public Lands Report, which assesses progress made by Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The Commissioner is the only statewide elected office that works almost exclusively with our natural resources, and their actions are critical to the health of Washington’s ecosystems and people.
This year, Commissioner Franz showed leadership and accomplished success on two important legislative priorities: mobilizing resources to protect Washingtonians from uncharacteristic wildfire and to strengthen DNR’s work on urban forestry. She also made progress on other key areas of work, including the Plan for Climate Resilience and the 20 Year Forest Health Plan.
However, challenges remain, particularly on state forestlands and private forest issues, which are core to DNR’s mandate. In order to adequately respond to the climate crisis, DNR must lead on issues including forest carbon sequestration, managing older forests on state lands, aquatics, and maintaining cool, healthy streams in the forested landscape. Washingtonians expect more from the state’s management of forests and public lands — our forests, salmon, people and all of our futures depend on it.
>> Read the report to see the progress made (and the progress still needed) by Commissioner Franz <<
Yours in service,
Alyssa Macy
CEO
