Washington’s lands commissioner is looking to the state’s climate funds to help fill a wildfire funding gap.

Dave Upthegrove says he’ll ask lawmakers for an additional $60 million in the next legislative session to bring wildfire prevention and response funding back up to levels promised under a 2021 law.

That law—House Bill 1168—committed the state to investing $500 million over eight years in wildfire programs. The money supports three main areas: stopping small fires before they spread, improving forest health via thinning and prescribed burns, and making communities more fire-resilient.

Lawmakers have so far kept close to those targets, but this year, facing a budget shortfall, they trimmed the amount to $60 million, half of what was planned. Upthegrove wants to restore the differen

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