| Environment Protect and restore forests Issue Team Chair: Sherri Dysart, sdysart@lwvwa.org |
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Overview The League of Women Voters of Washington finds that all benefits of the forests—ecological, human and economic—are inextricably interconnected. Healthy forests are essential to habitat for a diversity of plant and animal life, to the hydrologic cycle, and to carbon storage to mitigate global warming. In addition, healthy forests are essential to a forest products industry with the jobs and goods they provide, and to the economic and aesthetic values of their recreational opportunities. The League supports laws and policies to insure that forest management (for timber extraction, recreation or any other activity) are carried out in a manner that will sustain healthy forests, streams and habitats. In addition to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, we must draw down the dangerous levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. The most efficient and effective way to accomplish this goal is to preserve and protect our mature and old-growth forests on public lands (state and federal).
League priority bills are in bold below.
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| House Bills | House | Senate | After Passage | |||||||||
| Bill # | Bill Name (Brief Title) | League Position | Take Action | In Committee | On Floor Calendar | Passed | In Committee | On Floor Calendar | Passed | Passed Legislature | On Governor's Desk | Signed |
| HB 1018 |
Changing the expiration date for the sales and use tax exemption of hog fuel |
Watch |
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| Mitigating the risk of wildfires | Supports |
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| Urban forest management | Watch |
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| Protection & restoration of riparian areas | Supports |
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DNR –Trust Land Transfer |
Supports |
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These weekly updates will provide you with a "deep dive" into the progress of each bill, along with more analysis of the potential impact of the bill if it should pass.
- Weekly Report 1.15.23—Read More
- Weekly Report 1.22.23— Read Here
HB 1018 Changing the expiration date for the sales and use tax exemption of hog fuel to comply with the 2045 deadline for fossil fuel-free electrical generation in Washington state and to protect jobs with health care and retirement benefits in economically distressed communities.
HB 1032 Mitigating the risk of wildfires through electric utility planning and identification of best management practices appropriate to each electric utility's circumstances.
HB 1078 Concerning urban forest management ordinances. Requires any city or town that has or that enacts an urban forestry management ordinance to allow for any tree protection or management obligations imposed by the ordinance to be satisfied by the use of a tree bank
HB 1215 Concerning the protection and restoration of riparian areas. Restore and protect riparian areas, enlisting the stewards of those watersheds through a voluntary riparian grant program for landowners while developing options for compensatory, mitigation, and regulatory measures to achieve progress on riparian protection in support of salmon recovery.
HB 1460 Concerning the department of natural resources land transactions, revenue distributions, and creation and management of a trust land transfer program. Revitalizing the Trust Land Transfer program.
SB 5030 Changing the expiration date for the sales and use tax exemption of hog fuel to comply with the 2045 deadline for fossil fuel-free electrical generation in Washington state and to protect jobs with health care and retirement benefits in economically distressed communities.
SB 5039 Mitigating the risk of wildfires through electric utility planning and identification of best management practices appropriate to each electric utility's circumstances.
SB 5266 Concerning the protection and restoration of riparian areas. Restore and protect riparian areas, enlisting the stewards of those watersheds through a voluntary riparian grant program for landowners while developing options for compensatory, mitigation, and regulatory measures to achieve progress on riparian protection in support of salmon recovery.
SB 5372 Concerning the department of natural resources land transactions, revenue distributions, and creation and management of a trust land transfer program. Revitalizing the Trust Land Transfer program.
SB 5390 Establishing a programmatic safe harbor agreement on forestlands. Recruit, enhance, or maintain habitat for spotted owls on any nonfederal forestlands via a voluntary, incentive-based program.
- Local Leagues in Washington have action chairs who coordinate action teams. Some local Leagues have environmental teams to take action locally. Contact your local League action chair to find out and join.
- You may also express your opinion on legislation with the LWVWA issue chairs. We will take your perspectives under considerations as we determine our support for legislation and prepare testimony. Sherri Dysart, Forests Issue Chair, sdysart@lwvwa.org.