Peter Goldmark’s job is putting out fires — both literally and figuratively.
As the state’s Commissioner of Public Lands and the head of the Department of Natural Resources, Goldmark finds his time increasingly being taken up by the prevention and suppression of wildfires. Last year, after all, was the worst wildfire season in Washington history — until this year came along. In 2015, more than 1 million acres of land were burned in more than 50 fires throughout the state; more than 300 homes were destroyed; and three firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service were killed while another was severely injured.
“I can’t stand by and watch this happen again,” Goldmark told The Seattle Times.
The difficulty in dealing with wildfires was demonstrated by the fact the Paradise fire in the Olympic National Park was finally extinguished two weeks ago — in mid-November. The blaze was small compared with many that have torched parched forests on the eastern half of the state, but it had been burning since May and stands as the largest in the history of the park.
Goldmark is trying to stay ahead of the new wildfire reality that is confronting lawmakers and policymakers. He is preparing a request for $24.3 million per biennium, which he will present to the Legislature in January. The proposal includes money for: thinning forests and removing dead trees that provide fuel for fires; helping local fire districts update their equipment; providing training for firefighters; and placing additional firefighters on the ground in key areas around the state.
Last year, Goldmark requested $4.5 million to boost the number of firefighters; his department received $1.2 million, and the three-overtime legislative session meant that the money was not available until July — well into the wildfire season. While the Legislature must be cautious about spending taxpayers’ money, wildfire expenditures should be viewed as an investment that can help reduce costs down the road. The state’s cost overruns for fire suppression this year were about $130 million, and Goldmark also will request funding to cover those expenditures.
There is a reasonable argument to be made that governments should spend less time and less money putting out wildfires, allowing nature to take its course. Goldmark, however, says that such a policy has a negative ecological impact, and many fires cannot be ignored as they approach structures and endanger lives. The fact is that wildfires require attention at both the state and the federal levels. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. and a member of a Senate committee considering the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, said, “We do not want to face the 2016 fire season without better tools, without better processes, without better operations to help our communities and help our states.”
Among the most important provisions in the legislation is one to end the practice of borrowing fire prevention funds from the U.S. Forest Service for use in suppressing fires. This has contributed to a cycle in which forests are not properly thinned and, therefore, the next wildfire season is more intense and more costly than the last.
Senators from western states, where wildfire season is an annual event, are trying to generate attention for a problem that is easily ignored by those in the east. Ideally, Congress will recognize that investing in fire prevention can save money in the long run. Meanwhile, members of the Legislature should have no trouble seeing a problem that hits home every year.
