As the U.S. Senate debates a major infrastructure bill this week, hundreds of thousands of acres in Washington have already burned. Smoke-choked air is keeping thousands indoors. Our “fire season” began in March, and April saw a record-setting number of fires. Firefighters across the state are battling a handful of major blazes. And just yesterday, lightning strikes in central Washington ignited a number of fires, as much of the state remains in a drought.
Indigenous peoples’ use of fire sustained ecosystems that supported cultural and food resources and helped ensure communities’ safety for millennia. Today’s collaborative work by the Yakama Nation, the state Department of Natural Resources and The Nature Conservancy on community-led conservation, such as our work with the Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative, is a model for fixing our wildfire crisis.
A recent report from The Nature Conservancy calls for major federal investment in wildfire resilience — five to six billion dollars annually over the next decade. As Congress debates a far-reaching infrastructure package, we urge leaders to include this transformative level of funding. When we invest in people and our lands, we can create lasting solutions for resilient local communities—and we can restore our relationship with fire.
You are part of the solution. You can urge Congress to act by sharing this op-ed on Twitter:
It’s time for bold policy action to reduce risks of catastrophic #wildfire. We’re calling on Congress to invest in #resilience for forests and people.
Daniel Misch is the new Arid Lands Assistant Manager at the Moses Coulee/Beezley Hills Preserves.
He’ll be leading post-fire restoration projects and assisting with many other stewardship activities on the preserves.
Daniel grew up in Northwest Indiana and graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. in Agriculture and Soil Science Minor.
“Every summer through college I worked in conservation either spraying invasive weeds or building trails. After college, I traveled throughout the United States with an environmental resources consulting company, working with Gas and Utility providers in all aspects of Vegetation Management and ecological consulting,” Daniel said . “I’ve been looking for the right position to get back into conservation work, and I’m excited to start as the Arid Lands Assistant Manager. In my free time you can find me skiing, mountain biking, or exploring the backcountry.”
Our country has an unprecedented opportunity to take coast-to-coast action against climate change, and it’s imperative we act now. This year’s budget reconciliation process is an excellent opportunity — the best chance we’ve had in decades — to act.
And we mean business. We’ve joined a dozen other nonprofit organizations in calling on corporate America to publicly support strong climate provisions in the budget reconciliation package currently under consideration in Congress.
The legislation includes the most comprehensive climate proposals to be considered by Congress in over a decade, such as:
tax credits for clean energy, manufacturing, and zero-emission vehicles
a clean electricity payment program that moves the electric power sector to 80% clean electricity by 2030
a fee on methane pollution
investments in grid modernization, transmission and electric-vehicle charging infrastructure
funding for agricultural and forestry programs that achieve carbon removal through soil conservation and reforestation on private and public lands
significant investments in environmental justice and support for overburdened communities
The policies under consideration could help achieve the vast majority of the emissions reductions in the U.S. 2030 commitment under the Paris Agreement.
Cattle graze near wind turbines near a TNC preserve in Minnesota. Photo by Richard Hamilton Smith.
Why business?
The reconciliation bill is a broad and complex package that affects businesses in many ways. This is an essential moment for companies and investors, especially those who have made climate and equity commitments, to match those pledges with consistent actions and advocacy.
The political roadblocks to passing the ambitious federal policies we need to address the climate crisis are significant. The corporate tax provisions in the reconciliation package are leading to some opposition to the entire piece of legislation. Individual companies and their trade associations have been lobbying against the reconciliation package as a whole, including the climate provisions, threatening the success of this once-in-a-decade opportunity to advance meaningful climate action.
What can you do?
A young activist reminds us what’s at stake. Seattle Climate Strike, September 20, 2019. Photo by Djordje Zlatanovic.
Even if you’re not a CEO, you still have a very important role: as a current or potential customer, your priorities matter to companies that want your business. Contact the business leaders you know, and the Customer Service departments of anywhere you shop, to share the letter and urge them to publicly support the climate provisions in the reconciliation package.
This is the moment — our best chance in a decade to make real progress as a country, not just on climate policy at home, but globally too, as world leaders prepare for COP26 in Glasgow this fall. Use your voice to urge the business community to speak up today.
UPDATE SEPT 16: With the return of precipitation and cooler temperatures, TNC lands in Eastern Washington are now reopened for normal recreation and public access—just in time for hunting season. These lands initially closed on July 23 due to extreme fire danger. This summer, Washington faced a historic drought and record-breaking heat, and Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency. The closure included Central Cascades Forest lands on both sides of I-90 around Cle Elum and stretching south to Highway 12, the Moses Coulee/McCartney Creek, Beezley Hills preserves and other preserve lands scattered through Eastern Washington.
Visitors to Cle Elum Ridge should also be aware that specific trails and public access areas may be temporarily closed throughout the fall and winter due to forest health treatments. These treatments include prescribed burning and mechanical thinning. The Cascadia Prescribed Fire Training Exchange will be hosting the prescribed burns and more information can be found on washingtonnature.org next week. Closures will include the Rat Pac mountain bike trail, which will be closed on weekdays. For up-to-date information on these closures, please reference trail signage. For advanced planning you can contact Katie Pofahl, Eastern Washington Community Relations Manager, at katie.pofahl@tnc.org.
ORIGINAL POST JULY 21: Due to extreme fire danger and ongoing drought, The Nature Conservancy is temporarily closing all recreational and public access to lands it manages in Eastern Washington, effective July 23. This includes Central Cascades Forest lands on both sides of I-90 around Cle Elum and stretching south to Highway 12, the Moses Coulee/McCartney Creek, Beezley Hills complex of preserves, and other preserve lands scattered through Eastern Washington.
The Conservancy is following the lead of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in closing these lands. Washington is facing a historic drought and record-breaking heat, and Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency. The Red Apple Fire alone has burned more than 12,000 acres. Across our state, more than 900 fires have burned more than 140,000 acres, Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz noted in announcing the DNR closure.
The latest science coming from a partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the University of Washington (UW) highlights ways nature can help Washington achieve its net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal by midcentury.
Worldwide, nature’s power to breathe, filter and store carbon can provide more than 1/3 of emissions reductions needed to meet the Paris Agreement target. Natural Climate Solutions harness the tremendous capacity of forests, wetlands and farmlands to combat climate change. Changing how we manage, protect and restore our natural resources to be more sustainable and have a climate benefit is essential to slow the pace of climate change and its impacts on people and nature.
According to the new study, which focuses on Washington, the state’s natural spaces have the potential to capture up to 8.8 million metric tons of CO2 annually by midcentury, accounting for over 9 percent of the state’s net-zero goal. How much of the goal is met depends on how quickly and effectively solutions are implemented in these next few years before 2030 and continued over the following two decades.
What’s unique about the study is that it offers county-level insights into which NCS options offer the greatest potential in those counties. These insights will allow local communities and leaders across the state to identify and prioritize the most effective ways to work toward the state’s net-zero emissions goal.
> “Every effort matters when it comes to climate. Giving nature the chance to soak up and naturally store carbon is one, easily attainable way to make a difference.”
— Jamie Robertson, TNC Conservation Geographer and lead author of the study
Three big ways to better enable nature to capture and store carbon dioxide emerged in the study as having the most potential in supporting the state’s net-zero goal:
Deferred timber harvest—logging is delayed so that trees can grow bigger and capture and store more carbon.
Cropland management—the use of cover crops, no-till practices, and nutrient management in agricultural practices.
Avoiding forest conversion—avoiding cutting down forests for urban, suburban and/or rural development.
Not only do natural climate solutions help address the climate crisis, they also often provide many other benefits to people, communities, economies, and nature itself. These “co-benefits” are particularly relevant for communities adapting to, and persisting through, climate change. For example, improved cropland management practices could reduce the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers, in turn reducing nitrates seeping into and contaminating groundwater (nitrate-contaminated water has been directly linked to high cancer rates, low fertility rates, increased water treatment costs and devaluation of property). Reduced use of those fertilizers would also benefit marine, freshwater and soil environments. And, if multiple NCS strategies are employed in combination with each other, the co-benefits are similarly amplified.
Major Natural Climate Solutions Drivers in Washington State Highlighted clusters show where the highest-potential counties of the three highest-potential NCS strategies provide approximately half of each of those strategies’ emissions reductions in 2050. These strategies include: deferred timber harvest in Stevens, Klickitat, Cowlitz, Lewis, Pacific, and Grays Harbor counties; cropland management in Grant, Lincoln, Adams, and Whitman counties; avoided forest conversion in Snohomish, Kitsap, King, Pierce, and Thurston counties.
Further, the NCS strategies that offer the greatest impact largely coincide with and complement major economic sectors of given geographic regions—for example, cropland management is a key strategy with great potential in Eastern Washington, where agriculture is a major economic driver. This knowledge may support efficient, cost-effective and equitable approaches to NCS strategies.
It is important to note that while this scientific study from TNC and UW highlights tangible and very achievable ways to contribute toward the state’s net-zero emissions goal, NCS strategies won’t address our state’s climate goals alone—they must also be complemented by rapid and widespread emissions reductions in transportation, energy and industry sectors. When it comes to addressing the climate crisis, though, every bit of effort matters.
The opportunity to harness the power of nature through natural climate solutions shouldn’t be passed up. Not only can NCS strategies account for over 9 percent of Washington’s net-zero emissions goal, but this study opens routes to better understanding the long list of NCS co-benefits and complementary economic opportunities that NCS may provide. This supports and informs actions that give plenty of reason for hope in addressing the climate crisis.
