'Keep Washington Evergreen' Plan Aims To Conserve WA Forests

WASHINGTON — State environmental leaders this week unveiled an ambitious plan to preserve and expand Washington's natural forests, citing 4.5 million acres burned by wildfires over the last decade and 400,000 acres lost to development between 2007 and 2019.

The "Keep Washington Evergreen" initiative would seek funding to conserve one million acres of forest land and reforest another million acres, with priority given to communities that are burn-scarred and cities lacking adequate tree cover.

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz announced the plan Tuesday, standing inside the state's Webster Forest Nursery. Franz was joined by Rep. Kirsten Harris-Talley, Tribal leaders and other forestry advocates.

"The short-sighted conversion of working forests in Washington presents a clear and dire threat to our environment, economy and communities that depend on healthy forests on both sides of the Cascades," Franz said. "As we continue to improve our wildfire response and make our forests more resilient to climate change, we must also ensure the forests that provide clean air and water, fish and wildlife habitat, and housing and jobs are not lost to concrete. We must keep Washington evergreen."

The proposal highlights the various health impacts associated with a lack of tree cover, including life-threatening heatwaves like the one that claimed the lives of nearly 100 Washingtonians over the summer.

"The impact of forest loss has not been felt equally across the state," officials wrote Tuesday. "Studies have shown that low-income blocks and communities of color consistently have below-average tree cover and fewer urban forests compared to affluent, majority-white neighborhoods. In Seattle, according to American Forest’s Tree Equity scoring tool, you can travel fewer than seven miles and experience a 13-degree difference in temperature between an affluent, predominantly white community, and a predominantly non-white community due to drastic differences in tree cover."

Franz's office said the new initiative would build off House Bill 1168, approved earlier this year, which secured $500 million for wildfire response and forest restoration efforts over the next eight years. Keep Washington Evergreen also has support from representatives of the state's timber industry and environmental groups like the Washington Forest Protection Association.

"It is critical that we maintain a portfolio of working forests of all types across our state, said Jason Spadaro, executive director of the WFPA. "Healthy working forests provide salmon and wildlife habitat, climate benefits, green jobs, and rural economic health while helping to prevent catastrophic fires. We are in support of DNR’s vision today to develop programs that keep all types of working forests a part of Washington’s future. Each acre of forest lost, whether to wildfire or conversion to other uses, takes the state further from its environmental and economic goals."

Franz's office estimates the initiative would require $25 million for a "rapid response fund" to acquire critical forest lands in need of preservation, and a little over $1 million to support an operating budget.

Learn more about the new initiative on the DNR website.