Candidates for WA commissioner of public lands make their case to voters

(The Center Square) — Candidates vying to be Washington state’s next commissioner of public lands presented their visions for the office at a Thursday League of Women Voters-sponsored forum at Clark College in Vancouver.

The commissioner of public lands oversees Washington’s Department of Natural Resources, which is responsible for nearly 6 million acres of public lands.

Current Commissioner Hilary Franz announced earlier this year that she will step down after seven years in the position to make a run for Congress. 

Thursday’s forum was moderated by Craig Brown, editor at The Columbian, who noted the position pays $166,762 a year.

Alan Lebovitz, who serves as DNR’s Wildland Fire and Forest Resilience liaison, imagined a "healthy environment, that is sustainable and abundant for generations to come.”

Former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of only two Republican candidates in the group, described how she's raising her children with her husband in the path of the Yacolt Burn, the collective name for dozens of fires in Washington and Oregon between Sept. 8 and Sept. 12, 1902, resulting in 65 deaths.

“In just this past decade, that horrible record has been surpassed three times,” she said. “Too many of our forests are undermanaged or outright neglected and they are turning into crowded, diseased tinderboxes just waiting for a spark.”

She said setting aside nearly half of the state’s forests and not touching them isn’t the best approach.

“Right now, there is a battle taking place over whether or not we’re going to set that additional land aside,” she said.

Dave Upthegrove, the current chair of the King County Council, after spending a dozen years in the state House of Representatives, said the "world is changing” and that Washingtonians are experiencing the impacts of climate change.

“I’m running for lands commissioner to improve the management of our public lands to meet these realities of today,” he said. “My vision includes incorporating environmental justice, and tribal sovereignty into all of our work.”

Sue Kuehl Pederson, the other Republican running, said her background as a scientist and natural resource manager makes her uniquely suited for the position. She ran to be lands commissioner in 2020.

“I’m coming back to this job because I care so much about Washington,” she said. “My vision is to fix Washington, so we don’t have fires anymore, and I have a lot of ideas for how to do that."

Pederson is not impressed with the state’s track record.

“We have missed management, and yes I mean M-I-S-S-E-D management, for about 35 years," she said. "We have trees that are too big and too close together, which is why these forest fires burn about twice as hot as the fires I remember from my childhood.”

Candidate Patrick DePoe is a member of the Makah reservation and DNR employee. He also served as a former co-chair of the state Environmental Justice Council.

He said his Native American upbringing makes him suited for the job.

“Who you are as a person is ingrained and intertwined with our environment,” DePoe said. “I currently work as a direct report to our commissioner of public lands, and I know what this position demands.”

Redmond City Council member Jeralee Anderson, a Democrat, said her vision for the office is to deliver a "fair, healthy and climate secure state, as we face the global threat of climate change and systemic inequalities" throughout Washington.

“I have a lot of experience in sustainability in construction engineering,” she said.

Anderson’s campaign website lists her as the co-founder of the nonprofit Sustainable Transport Council.

"Specifically, for harvesting and forest management, I’d be interested in advancing a certification program for our timber providers to provide additional levels of accountability for sustainability,” she said.

Kevin Van De Wege, a career firefighter and longtime Democratic state lawmaker, had his say as well.

“My vision for Washington is to have less wildfires,” he noted. “Our summers are ruined every August and September by being covered in wildfire smoke. Last year 350 homes burned down in the state, and there was a 48-hour period where the city of Spokane had the worst air quality on planet earth.”

Van De Wege touted his firefighting experience and time in Olympia as making him the best-qualified candidate.

“I believe I’m the only candidate in this race that is actually qualified to do something about wildfire,” he said. 

Republican Kuehl Pederson blamed decades of bad management for the prevalence of wildfires.

“We have missed management, and yes I mean M-I-S-S-E-D management, for about 35 years," she said. "We have trees that are too big and too close together, which is why these forest fires burn about twice as hot as the fires I remember from my childhood.”

Only two candidates, regardless of party preference, will advance from the Aug. 6 primary.