Statewide Firefighting, Prescribed Fire Organizations Endorse No on 2117

July 15, 2024 – The No on 2117 (no2117.com) campaign today announced that the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and the Washington Prescribed Fire Council have each endorsed the coalition working to defeat Initiative 2117 (I-2117). The two organizations join over 300 other endorsers — including Tribal nations, labor unions, small businesses and leading companies, environmental groups, and community organizations — who have endorsed the No on 2117 campaign.

If passed, I-2117 would cut funding from vital projects to increase wildfire resilience and prevention across Washington state.

“Firefighters know firsthand the devastating effects wildfires have on our communities and our lands. In recent years, we’ve seen wildfires grow in scale and impact. Initiative 2117 would mean our state’s forests are less resilient to wildfires and local communities are less prepared. I-2117 would put more families, communities, and rural firefighters in harm’s way. The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters is proud to endorse No on 2117, and we urge communities across our state to join us in rejecting this harmful initiative,” said Dennis Lawson, President, Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and a firefighter in Washington state for 35 years.

In 2023, Washington state recorded 1,884 wildfire ignitions, which is the second-largest number of ignitions in the state’s history. This includes two wildfires in Spokane County that were the most catastrophic in the county’s history, and, for the first time, Western Washington saw more wildfires than Central and Eastern Washington combined.

“I have been a wildland firefighter for 26 years, and I know without a doubt that any efforts to roll back investments that reduce wildfire severity and increase forest resiliency will put our communities at risk. Initiative 2117 cuts public programs that protect our forest health and air quality, which make all of us safer from the negative impacts of catastrophic wildfires. The Washington Prescribed Fire Council is proud to join community members from across our state in supporting the No on 2117 campaign,” said Sami Schinnell, Co-Chair, Washington Prescribed Fire Council and veteran wildland firefighter.

I-2117 would cut $30 million in funding for wildfire resiliency and prevention programs across the state that make forests healthier and help local governments, private landowners, and communities prevent and prepare for fires in high-risk areas. These cuts include:

• $10 million for grants through the Firewise USA program, which encourages local communities and landowners in high-risk areas to prepare for wildfire by implementing proactive safety measures, like brush removal, that put individual homes at significantly lower risk of wildfire impact;
• $10 million to restore forestlands that have the greatest potential to prevent wildfires and protect air quality;
• $2 million to reduce wildfire severity through controlled burning and thinning out overgrown forests to make them healthier; and,
• $2 million to build out the workforce needed to maintain and restore healthy forests and manage extreme wildfires. This includes a program that provides wildland fire management training to Tribal communities.
• “Communities across Washington state have become all too familiar with the effects of wildfires. Our beautiful Pacific Northwest summers are becoming smokier and smokier, and yet, the backers of Initiative 2117 think it’s time to cut funding for wildfire resilience efforts,” said Wellesley Daniels, Campaign Manager for No on 2117. “I-2117 is bad for firefighters, bad for our forests, and bad for Washingtonians. It’s out of touch with Washingtonians, who want to support first responders and keep communities across our state safe from catastrophic wildfires.”

To learn more about projects that would be cut by I-2117, visit Clean & Prosperous Institute’s Risk of Repeal map, which provides robust data on the impacts of the initiative, including transportation, water quality, and forest and farmland efforts.

At a time of extreme political division, the No on I-2117 campaign is bringing together Washingtonians from across the state to stop the rollback of protections for our air and water, forests and farmlands, jobs and transportation investments. We are an unprecedented coalition of over 300 Tribal nations, labor unions, companies, environmental groups, and community organizations coming together to fight I-2117 because so much is at stake. Join us to fight for your community: no2117.com.