| Friends of Seattle’s Urban Forest E-Mails Needed Now to Save WA State’s Urban and Community Forestry Program! Dear Friends, The WA State Department of Natural Resources Urban and Community Forestry Program is on the verge of losing funding in the 2026 state operating budget and being shut down. We need your help to urge key Legislators to not cut its funding. Details are below on what is happening and how you can help. The WA State House and Senate have both passed supplemental operating budget bills. The Senate passed ESSB 5998 on Feb 27th and sent it to the House. The House relabeled and passed the supplemental bill with their amendments on Feb 28th. The Senate on March 3rd refused to concur on the House amendments and voted to ask the House to agree to a Conference Committee to resolve the differences. The Senate then appointed Senators Robinson, Stanford and Gildon to a Conference Committee to resolve the differences. On Monday, March 9, the House appointed Representatives Ormsby,Gregerson, and Couture to the Conference Committee. Time is short to ensure cuts are stopped. The Legislature is set to adjourn on Thursday March 12th at midnight which coming up quick. The House amendments included cutting funding for the Department of Natural Resources Urban and Community Forestry Program. Here is the House version – 2025 -27 Omnibus Operating Budget – 2026 Supplemental Passed House (ESSB 5998 w/House AMD) See pages 182 – 185 which details some 18 House proposed budget cuts in the Dept of Natural Resources. Besides Urban Forest Assistance (urban and Community Forestry Program), some of the other areas the House proposes being cut include Climate Change Response Strategy, Climate Commitment Act Work, Environmental Justice, Forest Health Assessments, Forest Help Technical Assistance, Forest Practices Division, HEAL 2026 Act, and Recreation Land Maintenance. The Senate version of ESSB 5998 does not include these cuts to the 2026 Supplemental Operating Budget. We need you to quickly send the message below to your Legislators and the Conference Committee members and the Senate and House Leadership to adopt the Senate version and reject the amendments proposed by the House that defund the Department of Natural Resources Urban and Community Forest Program and other related programs that cut funding for protecting our environment and forests and climate. Click here to find your District Legislators. Enter your address, then click on one of your legislators links. Go to their page and click contact to send an e-mail. Step 1 Verify again your district and then click yes to send to the other 2 Legislators in your District. Step 2 It asks you if you want to send to other legislators.Click yes and add the following legislators. The names include the 6 conference committee names and members of the House and Senate Leadership. Conway, Couture, Dhingra, Fitzgibbon, Gildon, Gregerson, Hasegawa, Jinkins, Lovett, Lovick, Nobles, Ormsby, Ortiz-Self, Pedersen, Ramel, Riccelli, Robinson, Simmons, Stanford, Stearns, and Stonier. Step 3 Cut and paste the draft e-mail heading below in the e-mail template. Please do not adopt amendments proposed by the House to cut funding for urban and community forests, forest health and climate resilience! Step 4 Cut and paste e-mail text:.Please prioritize in ESSB 5998 fully funding the Urban and Community Forestry Program that is critical to helping cities, counties and tribes protect and grow our urban forests to create healthy neighborhoods and communities where people live. Continued funding of urban and community forestry programs includes assistance in creating model urban forest protection ordinances, conducting canopy studies, and creating urban forestry management plans. DNR’s program also help funnel public and private grant money to city, county, state and tribal programs to grow and protect our forests. In addition, also restore funds to programs to increase climate resilience and protect all of our forest resources across the state. Thanks for your help in letting our elected Legislators know that we want them to protect our urban and community forests, our climate and our environment. Thanks for your help. Steve Zemke – Chair Friends of Seattle’s Urban Forest stevezemke@Friends.UrbanForests.org www.friends.urbanforests.org facebook – Friends of Seattle’s Urban Forest instagram – Friends of Seattle’s Urban Forest Bluesky – Friends of Urban Forests |
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