How to best prevent wildfires and how much forest area should be protected from logging have become flashpoints in the race for Washington state’s commissioner of public lands .
Why it matters: The lands commissioner manages nearly 6 million acres and leads the state’s wildland firefighting agency — a role that has come under more scrutiny in recent years as wildfires have increasingly blanketed the state in smoke .
Zoom in: Dave Upthegrove, a Democrat, is chair of the King County Council and previously served 12 years in the state Legislature.
- Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler spent 12 years representing Southwest Washington in Congress and before that, served four years in the state Legislature .
- Upthegrove is endorsed by environmental groups and the state labor council, while Herrera Beutler is endorsed by the Washington Farm Bureau and Association of Washington Business.
Here are some of the candidates’ biggest areas of disagreement.