2020 has been an unprecedented year. Quarantine has reminded us of the enormous value of the outdoors and protecting the natural systems that sustains us. These hard-working lands also help us combat climate change, provide wood products for our homes and businesses, and allow wildlife and salmon to thrive.

Right now, our state agencies play a critical role in ensuring we come out of this pandemic better than we came in, and one of our most important jobs as organizations is to keep the public informed on how well elected officials are protecting these important landscapes.

See the 2020 State of our Forests and Public Lands Report here.

The Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz directs the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and is the only elected statewide office that works almost exclusively with our natural resources, making it a very important position for rural communities, wildlife, and salmon.

Together with Washington Conservation Voters, we reviewed DNR’s past year to determine where there has been success and where more work is needed.

How has our current Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz, been doing? View our fifth annual State of our Forests and Public Lands Report to find out.

Check out what the agency has been doing in the face of COVID-19, how the Commissioner is prioritizing wildfire resilience, and why decisions on determining if fish can live in streams are so important.  

The threats to our forests and rural communities are real. Healthy forests support millions of dollars in economic activity in timber, fishing, and recreation, and thousands of jobs across the state. They protect our most critical drinking water sources, clean our air, and are one of our best tools to fight the climate crisis.

Commissioner Franz has the opportunity to sustainably manage state and private forest lands that benefit the environment and local communities across Washington and we will continue to push her towards progress.