Advocates and DNR urge full funding for wildfire resilience account in SB 5,893 hearing

The Senate Ways and Means Committee on Jan. 29 heard testimony on Senate Bill 5,893, an appropriations bill that would transfer money from the Climate Commitment Act’s Natural Climate Solutions account into a dedicated wildfire response, forest restoration and community resilience account.

Committee staff said the account was created in 2021 with an intent of roughly $125 million per biennium and that SB 5,893 would add $65 million to help reach that target in combination with enacted budget transfers and a governor-proposed $30 million transfer. "This makes an appropriations from one of the accounts of the Climate Commitment Act to a dedicated wildfire and forest health account," staff said during the briefing.

Witnesses from the forestry and firefighting communities urged the committee to fully restore the intended funding. Matt Domet of the Washington Forest Protection Association said the 2021 law’s investments had improved the state’s ability to suppress fires and save money over time and asked the committee to "fully fund wildfire response and forest health work as originally envisioned in House Bill 1168." Heath Heikla of the American Forest Resource Council testified that thinning and rapid suppression reduce emissions and protect public health from smoke.

George Geissler, the Washington State Forester and DNR deputy overseeing forest resilience and wildland fire management, told senators the funding would support forest-health treatments, hazardous-fuels reduction, DNR ground and aviation firefighting, and pass-through grants to local partners. He warned that without additional funding "90% of all of the pass throughs that we provide to partners can be eliminated" and that the state could be forced to cut detection cameras and reduce full-time firefighting staff.

Committee members asked staff about current account balances and whether the Climate Commitment accounts have sufficient funds for a transfer; staff said there is enough funding in the Climate Commitment accounts now but did not give an exact current balance for the Natural Climate Solutions account. The committee closed public testimony on SB 5,893 and took no final action on the bill at the hearing.

If advanced, the bill would shift Climate Commitment Act proceeds toward wildfire preparedness, restoration and community resilience programs; witnesses emphasized that those programs include a mix of DNR direct work and pass-through grants to local wildfire-response partners.