We’re in Olympia every day urging support for bills that will benefit nature and people. House Bill 2413 is one of them — it seeks to protect Washingtonians on both sides of the Cascades from ever-increasing wildfire risk by establishing a dedicated forest health and wildfire preparedness account to help us get ahead of the problem.
The account would make critical investments in three strategies proven to reduce wildfires: restoring forest health, ensuring firefighters have the resources they need and preparing communities before wildfires occur.
To help ensure this legislation moves through the chambers of the state Capitol and becomes law, legislators need to hear from you. We welcome you to contact your lawmaker and let them know that you support dedicated fire funding.
Here’s how to contact your lawmakers:
Each Washington resident is represented by two representatives and a senator in Olympia, depending on the district in which you live. These legislators work for you, and they want to know what you think about bills they’re considering.
How to get in touch:
Not sure who represents you in Olympia? Use this map to find out before you begin.
Email: Send your two representatives and your senator an email – their addresses are on this list
Phone: Call and leave a message using the legislative hotline: 1-800-562-6000
Copy and paste the message below into an email, or craft your own message using this as a guideline:
Dear [Rep./Sen.___],
I’m writing to ask you to support dedicated funding for wildfire preparedness and prevention in Washington.
Our state is in a forest health crisis and we need to get ahead of the problem. We must make serious, sustained investments to help prevent wildfire risk as much as possible, to educate and prepare our communities, and to give our firefighters the resources they need to fight fires when they start.
Emergency wildfire suppression costs keep increasing, but proactive investment will lower suppression costs overall. As it is, the high costs of wildfires don’t stop at the dollars required to fight them — fires threaten homes and businesses, destroy infrastructure and wildlife habitat and cause choking smoke that makes life more difficult for some of our most vulnerable neighbors. We’re paying for wildfires with not just our dollars, but with our health — especially the health of our elders, people living with asthma, agricultural and construction workers and our children.
We know that as our fire seasons get longer and hotter, the pressure only increases. It’s time to act now for the health of our people and our forests. House Bill 2413 will create a Wildfire Prevention and Preparedness Account to help state agencies proactively work to reduce wildfire risk to all of us and restore the resilience of our forests. I urge you to support this bill.
Thank you,
[Your name]
[Your city]
