The Washington Commissioner of Public Lands is an elected state position serving a four-year term. The commissioner oversees the Washington Department of Natural Resources, which is responsible for environmental protection in the state. The current officeholder is Hilary Franz, who will step down in January 2025.
Jaime Herrera Beutler
(Prefers Republican Party)
Statement:
Decades of neglect have turned our forests into overcrowded, diseased tinderboxes. Fires scorch our forests and choke our communities every summer. They fill our lungs with smoke, destroy old growth and critical habitat, emit tons of carbon, drive up the cost of home insurance and make housing even more unaffordable. And they cause unimaginable heartache for those unfortunate enough to live in their path.
I won’t leave our kids a legacy of burning forests and choking smoke. We can and will do better to remove dead and dying trees that serve as fuel, quickly fight fires when they occur, preserve jobs, and protect the lives and livelihoods of communities.