The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is requesting a 5.8% increase to its general fund–state (GFS) appropriations for 2023–25. On top of that, it is requesting a larger transfer from the GFS to the wildfire response, forest restoration, and community resilience account (25P).

The 25P account was created as part of 2SHB 1168 in 2021, which was meant to address “long-term forest health and the reduction of wildfire dangers.” In that bill, the Legislature said it “intends to provide $125,000,000 per biennium over the next four biennia for a total of $500,000,000.”

In the 2021–23 budget, the Legislature appropriated $130.4 million from the GFS for the purposes of 2SHB 1168. In the 2022 supplemental, the Legislature transferred $87.1 million from the GFS to 25P. Then, it shifted $87.1 million in appropriations from the GFS to 25P. (Actual spending from 25P in 2021–23 totaled $80.3 million.) In the 2023–25 budget, the Legislature transferred $89.8 million from the GFS to 25P and appropriated $118.1 million from 25P. (The outlook does not assume a transfer from the GFS to 25P in 2025–27.)

DNR is asking the Legislature to increase appropriations from 25P by $1.9 million in 2023–25 and by $1.9 million in 2025–27. Additionally, it is asking the Legislature to increase the 2023–25 transfer from the GFS to 25P by $23.4 million.

Other notable GFS requests from DNR include:

• $2.3 million in 2023–25 for fire suppression costs “to prepare for the expected volume of fire suppression demand for the remainder of FY 2024.”
• $780,000 in 2023–25 and $6.6 million in 2025–27 for light, detection, and ranging (lidar) coverage, which is used “to measure change and apply adaptive management strategies.” According to the request, this “was fully funded during the FY 2022 supplemental session and partially funded during the 2023–25 legislative session with one­time funding. Ongoing funding is necessary to ensure the success of management and monitoring strategies across Washington business uses.”
• $753,000 in 2023–25 and $2.3 million in 2025–27 for housing infrastructure. DNR “is looking to advance housing projects on its lands that are suited for the development of housing.” This appropriation would allow DNR “to begin the basic site preparation work on parcels, so jurisdictions and developers can lease (or buy) parcels on which to build housing that will be affordable to households typically earning between 60% and 120% area median income.”

(Previous posts on agency 2024 supplemental budget requests are here.)