Senate Ag committee hears bill allowing OSPI designee to serve on Board of Natural Resources

The Washington State Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee on March 20 held a public hearing on House Bill 1609, a bill that would permit the Superintendent of Public Instruction to send a designee from OSPI to serve on the Board of Natural Resources.

The measure affects how the Board of Natural Resources — which sets policy for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on state trust lands that support beneficiaries including common schools — is represented. Jeff Olson, staff to the committee, told the panel: "The Department of Natural Resources manages state trust lands for several different beneficiaries. This does include the common schools." He also outlined the board's statutory membership and duties.

The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Kevin Waters, said he supports the change but recommended an amendment requiring the OSPI designee to have timber experience. Waters, who identified himself as from Skamania County, said his district is heavily dependent on timber revenue and urged care in who represents school interests on the board. "Skamania County is 88% owned by the federal government in timber. The other 10% is owned by the state of Washington," Waters said. He added that his district's schools had "had to cut $3,800,000" in the last two years and argued that OSPI should ensure the designee will defend timber-derived school revenue.

Committee members asked whether OSPI has staff with the requested background. In testimony, Tyler Munch of OSPI said the agency has "one, maybe two" staff with a natural-resource or timber background and that OSPI is focused on using trust revenues for schools rather than harvest management. Munch warned that the current practice — where a superintendent's absence at a Board of Natural Resources meeting can result in an automatic no vote on timber sales — is problematic: "If someone doesn't show up, that's an automatic no vote on timber sales. We think that's a dangerous practice." He said stakeholders including the Association of Forest Resources (AFRC) discussed the bill and that AFRC had offered an amendment accepted in the House.

Witnesses and senators discussed possible language to define the designee's qualifications and whether requiring a timber expert could risk leaving the seat vacant if no qualified designee were named. Committee members did not record a committee vote on the bill during the hearing; the public comment period closed and the committee moved on to executive-session items.

The record shows the committee received pro and con testimony and that four people registered in favor and 99 opposed for the hearing as of the clerk's statement on the record. No fiscal note was requested for HB 1609 during the staff presentation.

The committee did not take a final vote on HB 1609 during the March 20 meeting; the public hearing concluded without further committee action recorded in the transcript.