Inslee Signs Small Forest Landowners Bill

Inslee Signs Small Forest Landowners Bill

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. Even though the special session in Olympia continues, Governor Inslee is putting pen to paper by singing many of the bills that have made it through, including a bill that helps some landowners make their property less prone to wildfires ...

TOM DENT ... "House Bill 1924, concerning small land owners, and this is an interesting thing, small forest land owners, is if they want to clean up their forests, and maybe they have 20 acres or 40 acres, and they kind of want to make it fire-wise, then they're able to do that. But, if they hire people, more than two people, the way it is now, if they hire anybody to help them they have to be farm labor contractors and this will eliminate that part. That farm labor contractors license is very expensive so it will allow them to hire people and do it more affordably. So, they're trying to remove the fuel from the forest and help everybody, so I think that will be good."

Bill sponsor, Tom Dent says the bill also helps with the permitting process ...

TOM DENT ... "And the second part of the bill was to be able to get multi-year burn permits and reduce the costs. So, DNR had some issues with that, and also we have a new Administration in DNR over there, a new Land's Commissioner. So, we changed that second part to put it in for, you know they have to review that process and see if they can streamline it for our small forest landowners in order to get that burn permit and whether or not they would be able to issue a multi-year burn permit."

The Moses Lake Republican says bottom line, the bill simplifies regulations for the small forest landowners so they don't become penalized or discouraged from making their land safer.

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