Lands Commissioner reports on trip to "the Other Washington"

Commissioner Upthegrove on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
 before meeting with members of Washington’s congressional delegation.

Lands Commission Dave Upthegrove

A few weeks ago, I traveled to Washington, D.C. (known as the other Washington around here), where I met with every member of our state’s congressional delegation. In these meetings, I discussed the future of Washington’s public lands in the face of new changes at the federal level.

I spoke to legislators about the importance of maintaining funding for the State, Private, and Tribal Forestry Program as well as my concerns about proposed changes to the structure of the U.S. Forest Service. In addition, I also discussed the land in the Yakima area known as “Tract D” and how we can pursue congressional action to return that land to the Yakama Nation where it belongs.

This is a challenging moment our public lands, especially those overseen by the federal government.

Staff cuts at the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service have left more than 12 million acres of Washington understaffed, underfunded, and at greater risk. These shortages strain our state lands, overwhelm our own limited staff, and endanger public health, safety, recreation, and wildfire response.

Meanwhile, proposals to sell public lands and weaken long-standing protections put millions of acres at risk and executive orders to ramp up logging on national forests and federal lands disrupt carefully balanced harvest schedules and undercut key environmental safeguards.

I urged our congressional leaders to push back against these threats to our lands and stressed that, while the administration in the other Washington undermines our state’s lands, DNR staff and I are working hard to protect them.

It was a productive trip, and I look forward to strengthening our agency’s partnerships with our state’s representatives as we work together to secure a sustainable future for our lands, forests, and communities.