overflow-x: auto; } So are a lot of the floating homes on Lake Union. The tax would raise $63.5 million per year. It's a win across the urban-rural divide. padding-bottom: 3px; The agency anticipates the amount of timber that can be sustainably harvested on state lands will drop over the next five decades, which could leave DNR in a financial crunch. The unfortunate timing of this announcement, at the beginning of the holiday season - with an impossible December 14 deadline to remove equipment and slaughter 332,000 juvenile fish, representing 2,656,000 meals - shows both a lack of humanity and an alarming lapse of leadership. We had eight [firefighting] helicopters that all fought in the Vietnam War. The head of the WA Department of Natural Resources has a take on Alvin Bragg indicting Donald Trump. .non_result_row { As the leader of Washingtons wildfire fighting force, Hilary pushed for new strategies to respond to fires quickly and keep them small. Washington DNR chief Hilary Franz has put firefighting front and center A pro-fish farming group in the Pacific Northwest of the United States has renewed its criticism of Washington state elected public lands commissioner Hilary Franz after her decision to ban open net pen aquaculture in state-controlled waters. She revealed that the two met on a blind date set up. I totally believe in Mother Natures ability to keep going. if (typeof $ != 'undefined') { "The community came out, and they were grateful," Kretz said. Contact our sales team. background-color: #f9f9f9; Cookes problems in Washington state began in 2017, less than a year after it moved into the area by buying the assets of another fish farmer. background-color: #003388; margin-right: 10px; width: 100%; Kuehl Pederson said clear-cut logging has faced discrimination and that it provides habitat benefits for some species, adding that she did not support leaving once-logged forests alone in hopes of developing old-growth habitat for wildlife. Incumbent Hilary Franz defeated Sue Kuehl Pederson in the general election for Washington Commissioner of Public Lands on November 3, 2020. Wildfire threatens nearly 2.2 million homes across the state. }, 100); Alvin Bragg has taken a stand against the abuse of political power on behalf of our nation, values, and democracy. To troll conservatives and anyone else with respect for the legal system, she pretended that the grand jury acted without bias.. [11] The state government prepared a new forest management plan to reduce the effectiveness of future wildfires by introducing new restoration measures and prescribed burns in Eastern Washington to thin out overgrown forests. var nTimer = setInterval(function() { max-height: 580px; word-wrap: break-word; Theres too much uncertainty for me, Kuehl Pederson said, adding that the U.S. has led the world in developing pollution-controlling technologies. width: 100%; } width: 350px; Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. She was barely hip, and now shes really effing cool. Who will Washington's next governor be? Uncertainty over Inslee creates Kuehl Pederson has raised nearly $30,000 from supporters, according to data from the public disclosure commission. } width: 100% !important; .key-messages li:last-child { margin-bottom: 0px;} Franz used tax dollars, government property, and at least one state employee to help her future gubernatorial campaign. With 52% of the early vote, Franz led all of the Republicans in the race, combined, by about 12 percentage points. color: #888; } (Washington State Department of Natural Resources), (Washington State Department of Natural Resources). In their meeting, Franz said, Inslee recognized that it's a short session and an election year, so it's not a time when legislators like passing tax bills. How to run for office | } font-size: 1.2em; } display: inline-block; That might create a few jobs. .widget-row { $('.collapse').collapse('hide'); The Democrat has raised more than $820,000 this cycle, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission website. Franz, a Democrat, had nearly 52% of the initial vote count and Kuehl Pederson, a Republican, had garnered almost 22%. So is King County. Its only by getting out on the land to really understand the problem, but also see the opportunity. font-weight: bold; In the face of climate change, Hilary is prioritizing wind and solar power and making significant investments to preserve forestland, protect agricultural lands, and restore salmon habitat. [18], Franz was re-elected Commissioner of Public Lands in 2020, defeating Sue Kuehl Pederson in the general election. Crosscut summed it up best: "She has the energy of a venti-fueled dynamo and a mind that works at a wildfire pace." width: 90%; } She is a member of the Democratic Party who was previously a member of the Bainbridge Island city council and was elected as commissioner in 2016. background-color: #dac113; The order said the document noted that not all risk can be eliminated, even if every best practice outlined in this document is followed. We were getting $0 in the budget for wildfires. Two weeks later, she accompanied him on a trip to Sinlahekin Wildlife Area in Okanogan County to see forests that had been properly managed to resist wildfire. } The King County Council played Seattle media and gave anti-cop law enforcement oversight director Tamer Abouzeid a complete pass. Im just getting started if you look at my campaign fund amount, Kuehl Pederson said, adding that she expected the Republican party would bolster her campaign coffers. display: inline; Hilary Farr's Ex-Husband: A Look at the HGTV Star's Past Marriage Hilary Franz ( Democratic Party) is the Washington Commissioner of Public Lands. A native American tribe hoping to grow steelhead trout and sablefish in Puget Sound has also condemned the commissioners decision. display: inline-block; width: 35px !important; font-weight: bold; Early life and education .race_header.republican {
} Washington's commissioner of public lands reimagined wildfire fighting and isn't ruling out a run for higher office. To slow them down, Kuehl Pederson said she would ramp up commercial timber harvest to thin out the trees, reduce the level of fuel load in the forest. display: inline-block; Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz | WA - DNR Hilary Franz in the field with firefighters from the Central Washington Interagency Fire Training Academy. Then Franz, ever the happy warrior, burst into laughter for the 400th time that day. He also mentioned other "competing demands," such as the mental- health crisis, the homelessness crisis, the affordable-housing crisis, and the million other crises gripping the state. As a result of Franz's action and attention, Kretz now supports her bill, though he can't say how many other Republicans will, due to the payment mechanism. .results_row td { It likely explains why her spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. "To me, it's a win for everybody. GSBA, Comcast, and other partners are working to address disparities in access to financial resources with the Ready for Business fund. Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz hopes to get funding from the Washington Legislature this session to help prevent and fight wildfires. The two candidates who receive the most votes in the Aug. 4 primary will advance to the Nov. 3 general election. U.S. President | If elected, Franz promised to continue work on wildfire prevention, building resilience to climate change and developing economic opportunity on state lands to boost rural communities and grow job opportunities. The NWAA said the move, which gave Cooke just a month to clear its sites, was not a decision based on science. Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? .votebox_bp_logo { The NWAA said a vast body of scientific studies that show minimal impact of todays aquaculture practices on other species and the environment. She holds a bachelor's degree from Smith College and a juris doctor from Northeastern University Law School. Incumbent Hilary Franz, who emerged from a crowded field in 2016, faces a handful of relative political newcomers this election. After several failed attempts, she has . The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times. "We're supposed to be the Evergreen State. Obviously, Franz cant cite the laws allegedly broken. background-color: #003388; Hilary S. Franz (born 1969/1970) is an American politician and conservation attorney serving as the 16th Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands since 2017. This page is not available in other languages. Elections in 2023 | And, I just dont know with climate change. letter-spacing: 0.03em; .clearfix { The City of Marysville was one of the first local municipalities to pass a law making the first offense of open-drug use punishable. border: 1px solid #a2a9b1 !important; Washington State Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz is championing a proposed bill that would establish a dedicated funding stream to prevent and fight wildfires. As a land-use and environmental lawyer, she was accustomed to 40:60 gender ratios in the workplace, but the world of firefighters and landowners has been decidedly more lopsided. width: 250px; font-weight: bold; }) Washington state government officials are prohibited by law from using their office or state resources for political campaigning. After getting a bachelors degree from Smith College and a juris doctor from Northeastern University, Hilary returned home to raise her three boys on a small farm on Bainbridge Island. And one woman lawmaker even asked her, baffled, who was taking care of her sons at home on Bainbridge Island while she worked. padding-top: 8px; font-size: 1.25em; .inner_percentage.Green { Her current term ends on January 13, 2025. She served as a City Council member for the City of Bainbridge Island from 2008 to 2011 and is the executive director of Futurewise, an advocacy group that describes itself as a "smart growth organization."[1]. 2 dead, 1 critically wounded in shooting at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle, Think Seattle-area property taxes are rising fast? background-color: white; WENATCHEE Reflecting on her fifth wildfire season as Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz says the bottom line is this: "I think the fire season itself was a win, even though we had 650,000 acres burn. display: inline-block; In August 2018, they tied the knot during a romantic ceremony in the Redwoods in . The Jason Rantz Show, 3pm-7pm on KTTH. Hilary Franz for Commissioner of Public Lands - Protecting our Lands [13] Franz was also part of the state government's effort to halt federal plans for offshore drilling in the Pacific Ocean near the Olympic Peninsula. width: 100% As a land-use and environmental lawyer, she was accustomed to 40:60 gender ratios in the. font-size: 12px; .percentage_number { Hilary leads by bridging divides and bringing people together. Last Friday, four days after the Cooke announcement, Franz held a press conference on Bainbridge Island where one of the Cooke farms is sited to announce that she had signed an executive order prohibiting commercial finfish net pen aquaculture on state-owned aquatic lands managed by her agency, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). We are leaving no stone unturned in our quest to preserve our natural habitats, and we are not backing down.