DEER PARK, Wash. – Washington’s peak fire season may be over, but fires are still being fought, and outgoing Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz says she’s still working hard on future fire prevention until the very end of her term.
Franz spoke in Deer Park on Friday about Washington’s approach to wildfire management during her eight years in office.
Reflecting on the 2024 peak wildfire season, Franz stated, “Our conditions are going to continue to get hotter and drier,” highlighting the urgency for ongoing investment in wildfire resources.
“(The Legislature said) we don’t have a fire problem anymore, we’re gonna take that $30 million we committed to you, we’ll put it somewhere else,” Franz said. “I completely understand, we have so many critical needs, but that is the wrong solution.”
Franz decided not to seek re-election, as she focused her efforts on her U.S. Congress campaign. After losing in the primary, she will no longer be in public office in the near future, and she’ll be closely watching what her successors do.
“The Commissioner of Public Lands, to the Governor, to the legislature (need to keep) investing in a system that is finally working,” she said.
Franz lauded the DNR’s accomplishments, remarking that the state’s recent record speaks for itself.
According to the department’s dashboard, Washington saw just over 311,000 acres burned this year. In contrast, Oregon recorded over 1.9 million acres burned by late September.
Franz credited Washington’s air response strategy, saying, “Our initial air attack has been transformative. The moment smoke’s in the air, they’re flying.”
Her tenure saw a significant increase in the state’s aerial firefighting capability, growing from eight Vietnam-era helicopters to 44 aircraft through ownership and private contracts. These aircraft have Washington as their first priority, so the state no longer needs to be reliant on federal aircraft which might decide another state’s fires are more important.
“States need to move to this place of actually looking at air resources and having exclusive use,” Franz said. “Otherwise, it is really going to be a hit-or-miss about whether you’ll have them or you won’t have them, and I have refused to ever go through that and have Washington State go through that.”
