Wildfire season is well underway and state leaders are trying to reduce the number of fires this year.
Washington State’s Department of Natural Resources Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz is going around Central Nation Washington holding several town halls and Yakima is one of the locations.
Franz came out to the Yakima Area Arboretum to speak to the public about what is being planned to prevent wildfires from happening as well as how to better protect our forests.
“We wanted to be able to reach out to the community, educate them on what we’re doing and how many of our private land owners can take and participate to reduce the challenges that our forests are seeing,” said Franz.
Franz says this year is already predicted to be one of the biggest wildfire seasons Washington has seen.
“We have already seen over 380 fires to date just this year. From January 1 to present, that is the most that we’ve ever seen in Washington States history to our knowledge,” said Franz.