To help the state prepare for what she calls a potentially catastrophic wildfire season, Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz recently kicked off the Wildfire Ready Neighbors! program. The campaign connects those in wildfire prone areas with efforts and tools to help home and property owners take proactive step action to better protect their belongings from wildfire.

BEND, Ore. — Seven months ago, Central Oregonians felt the impact of some of the worst wildfires in this state’s history. Now there is growing concern that dry fuels across the region could ignite even bigger fires this year. Tinderbox conditions have already ignited several fires around Central Oregon this year, even as higher elevations are still blanketed with snow. Part of that is due to a drying out of the forests at lower elevations, which are experiencing some of the lowest moisture levels recorded in years.

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is implementing temporary burn restrictions on DNR-protected lands in the Northwest Region, the Pacific Cascade Region, and the Northeast Region. For the next week, DNR is asking the public to avoid conducting outdoor debris burns as much as possible. Fire danger is rising in Washington due to dry and warming weather conditions and gusty winds that can spread a wildfire quickly through dry grasses and forests.

After a devastating wildfire season that saw a baby boy die and 1,200 square miles of the state burn, Washington lawmakers are poised to fight fire with money. A lot of money. Legislation that’s received unanimous support would see Washington spend an additional $125 million over the next two years to extinguish, prevent and live with fires. Both legislative houses have passed House Bill 1168 and Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to sign the bill, which would see the state spend $328 million on the efforts by 2027.

(CNN)The wildfire season "is coming quickly and it's coming earlier." That's the message from meteorologist Eric Kurth and the National Weather Service in Sacramento, California, as the state deals with a crippling drought and vegetation and grasses that are already beginning to brown. "We are seeing record levels of dryness for this time of year. It's more like what we would see later in June than mid-April," said Kurth.

Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz was in Wenatchee Monday morning to announce the launch of the Wildfire Ready program.

Producers in southcentral Washington impacted by a wildfire Labor Day weekend near Kahlotus may receive financial assistance from the FSA. The department is implementing the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) due to damage caused by this wildfire to livestock fence and livestock water troughs. The Monday September 7th fire was exacerbated by high winds and burned a large portion of Washington’s Franklin County.

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OLYMPIA – After a historically deadly and destructive 2020 wildfire season, lawmakers are looking at ways to invest in forest health and wildfire prevention. A bill that passed the state House of Representatives unanimously last week might do just that.

The Small Business Administration says the window is still open for people and firms harmed by last September’s wildfires. The federal agency is reminding eastern Washington and north Idaho residents interested in wildfire-related loans due to last September’s fires that they must apply by April 12.

In the 1990s, Washington lost 86,000 acres a year to wildfires. By 2015 the average had climbed to nearly a half million acres a year. Last year? 812,000 acres of forests and grassland were destroyed by wildfires, not to mention homes, businesses, and lives.

Franz says the dedicated fund will fund projects that help rural towns that are vulnerable to wildfires. They include treating forests to lessen the density and creating fire breaks to direct flames away from populated areas.

A good snowpack means more water for farmers who need irrigation this summer, as well as municipal water supplies. It can also help mitigate wildfire season.

The Senate unanimously passed 12th District Senator Brad Hawkins Senate Bill 5158, legislation to implement the Electric Utilities Wildland Fire Prevention Task Force recommendations for wildfire prevention.

From floods to wildfires, mapping programs in Cascadia are showing scientists which communities face higher risk.

To hear about what key players in Washington’s broad environmental coalition would like to see prioritized in budget proposals, I spoke to Adam Maxwell, Campaigns Manager for the Washington Audubon Society, a group focused on conserving natural ecosystems and building healthy communities.

The fire impacted rabbits and sage grouse across their range, further complicating the recovery of each of these very at-risk species. Burned-bare soil across the landscape lies vulnerable to rapid colonization by quick-spreading invasive plants and grasses.

LOOMIS - The United States Geological Survey recently reported that the area just east of Palmer Lake will likely experience drastic flooding this spring as the snow melts and rain falls. The flood risk and debris flow hazard is a result of burn scarring caused by the 13,000-acre Palmer Fire in mid-August of 2020.

Private forestland owners in Oregon’s Wasco County are encouraged to reduce the risk of wildfire and improve their forest health with help from the NRCS. The restoration effort, called the Central Wasco County All-Lands Project, is funded by the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Initiative, a partnership between NRCS and the Forest Service. The overall goal is to reduce the risk of wildfires on both public and private lands.

In an interview with CPR News, Neguse said he plans to use the post to shift the federal approach on wildfire prevention. As one of his first actions, he introduced a bill for a 21st Century Conservation Corps, which would direct more than $40 billion to protect public lands and hire a new generation of forest managers. He hopes Biden makes it a part of an expected infrastructure package.

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Last fall’s wildfires were invoked Friday at a hearing for a new forest health bill in the Washington legislature. The bill is proposed at the request of Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz, who reminded members of a House committee that 2020 was the worst wildfire season in years in Washington.

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