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House committee hears bipartisan support for adding tribal seat to Board of Natural Resources

House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee · January 27, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee heard testimony supporting House Bill 21‑17 to add a tribal representative to the Board of Natural Resources; proponents said the change would strengthen stewardship and honor treaty relationships while some counties urged protection of trust fiduciary duties.

Supporters of House Bill 21‑17 told the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee that adding a tribal representative to the Board of Natural Resources would improve decision making and better reflect stewardship responsibilities.

"Adding a seat will help to improve the decision making at the DNR level," Jeremy JJ Wilbur, a Swinomish senator, said in remote testimony, urging the committee to back the bill. Representative Chris Stearns, the bill’s prime sponsor, told members the change is straightforward and backed by…

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