Washington Commissioner of Public Lands race heading to recount; what does the position do?

With most of the races set for the general election in November, one of those yet to be settled is that for the Washington Commissioner of Public Lands. The race is so close, it will require a hand recount to decide which two candidates are moving on.

As of the last election update, Jaime Herrera Beutler (R) is leading the votes for the position, followed by Dave Upthegrove (D) and Sue Kuehl Pederson (R) respectively.

Upthegrove is ahead of Pederson by 51 votes , leading to the need for a recount.

But what does the Commissioner of Public Lands actually do for Washingtonians?

According to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the Commissioner of Public Lands is responsible for leading the DNR and making new policies for the agency to follow.

The DNR has over 2,000 employees statewide, including over 650 temporary firefighting crew members.

DNR manages about 6 million acres of state-owned public land and protects about 12.7 million acres of non-federal land from wildfires in the state. The department also is in charge of putting rules in place that help guide logging, road construction and other work on forestlands.

The elected commissioner will be in charge of enhancing public safety, environmental protection and supporting a natural resource-based economy across the state. The commissioner will also provide revenue for schools and communities through this position.

Another aspect of the role is controlling the DNR's entire budget and being responsible for managing money coming into the agency. They will also manage the revenue made by harvesting timber and forest products, leasing agriculture or grazing lands, and other activities.

Washington's current Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz has been in the position since 2017. Since then, the DNR said she has developed a 20-year forest resiliency program that will work to make over a million acres of forests more resistant to wildfire, secured $500 million from the state legislature to fight wildfires and build community resilience and created the agency's first-ever climate resiliency plan.

Whoever takes over the position from Franz will be in charge of making decisions that have long-term impacts on the people of Washington.

The general election will take place on November 5. You can register to vote online here.

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