The Seattle Times editorial board recommends: Hilary Franz for the 6th Congressional District
In Washington state, the Legislature’s reactionary strategy to wildfires was to cut a yearly check after they were put out. Instead, state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz spearheaded a visionary plan to prevent fires altogether — and to equip her agency to pounce quickly on ones that still do start. That kind of leadership is direly needed in Congress. Voters in the 6th District, which stretches from Tacoma to the Olympic Peninsula, should send Franz.
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The lessons she learned as lands commissioner would also be invaluable in D.C. The state’s Department of Natural Resources possesses just 10% of the state’s total forestland; federal forestlands here are roughly four times that size. That federal acreage is unkept, unhealthy and in need of the same forest health treatment plans she’s established in this Washington. Her expertise on environmental issues, including climate change, would make her one of the most knowledgeable in those areas on her first day in Congress.
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But Franz’s bipartisan leadership and élan as public lands commissioner is too important to keep from the nation’s capital.
Members of Congress should approach issues the way Franz approached wildfire: tackle problems before they grow out of control. That strategy is both fiscally responsible and the right thing to do. Given her track record, voters should send Franz to Congress.
Read the full editorial at the Seattle Times website.
