Conor Marshall
I don’t know about you, but I feel that Washington’s state-managed parks and public lands are truly special and offer something for everyone. Outdoor places like Blanchard Mountain, Cape Disappointment, the Exit 38 climbing area near North Bend, and many others connect us to nature through recreation across every region of the state.
Facing a $10-15 billion state budget deficit and challenging revenue forecasts for the next several years, we knew legislators would face hard choices this session, including how to fund our land managers and programs that support recreation and conservation. We’re now seeing how a tough budget year might take its toll on public lands.
Both chambers of the state legislature recently released and passed proposed operating and capital budgets for the next two years. These budgets include cuts to critical funding sources that support our state-managed public lands and connect Washington’s underserved youth to the outdoors. State budgets aren’t just hundreds of pages of text and numbers - they represent tangible impacts to the trails, forests, and parks we love.
The Mountaineers acknowledges that there are many pressing challenges that require funding. At a time when federal public lands are under threat and under-resourced, state land managers face growing backlogs of deferred maintenance, and visitation to our state parks and recreation areas continues to increase, it’s critically important to fund conservation and recreation. We remain committed to the work of supporting public lands and the agencies that manage them through these uncertain times.
The next two weeks represent a crucial time where lawmakers will be negotiating final budgets. Act now to urge your legislators to restore funding for state land managers and programs that connect youth to nature in the final 2025-2027 state budget.
Our Outdoor Advocacy in Olympia This Session
The Washington state government operates on a two-year budget cycle - and unfortunately both chambers are similarly aligned on cuts to critical funding that supports our state-managed public lands and connects Washington’s underserved youth to the outdoors.
Over the last several months, my colleagues and I have advocated with partners on behalf of the recreation community in support of investments in public lands and the recreation experiences they provide during the 2025 state legislative session in Olympia. We’ve been meeting with lawmakers, writing advocacy letters, testifying at committee hearings, and engaging with land managers and Tribes around important initiatives to fund public lands and outdoor recreation.
A few highlights from our work this session have been: our first Outdoor Alliance Washington advocacy day in Olympia, meeting virtually with lawmaker offices to share successes of the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP), and joining with other advocates at the Capitol to advocate for the funding for youth outdoor experiences. At the heart of this advocacy lies the value of connecting to place, and the importance of sharing impact stories about how funding changes lives and conserves the lands and waters that make our state special.
Overall, the proposed budgets were a mixed bag for our priorities, including several bright spots like $120 million for the WWRP. Let’s dig deeper on where our state legislative priorities stand and where we’ll be focusing our advocacy the rest of the session.
Update on Our Priorities
Operating Budget
The state’s operating budget is a critical source of funding to support the work of Washington State Parks (State Parks), the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) - agencies that manage sustainable outdoor access, maintain recreation infrastructure, and conserve and protect natural and cultural resources on Washington’s state lands. There are some differences between how our top priorities shook out in each chamber. Here’s where we stand:
- A 25% cut to ongoing maintenance and operations funding that was previously secured for all three land management agencies. This cut is positioned as ongoing in the Senate version and as one-time in the House version. The funding makes up 20-50% of all recreation maintenance funding at each agency.
- Both budgets lack funding to support tribal government participation in the State-Tribal Recreation Impacts Initiative (STRII).
- Cuts to the No Child Left Inside (NCLI) grant program that connects underserved youth to outdoor experiences (including previous Mountaineers partner programs). NCLI was totally eliminated in the Senate’s proposed operating budget and cut by 25% in the House version.
- Other cuts to state general fund support for all three state land managers.
Capital Budget
The state’s capital budget funds the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program - the state’s largest source of conservation and recreation funding for projects across the state - and other capital projects on public lands. Our capital budget priorities fared a little better. Capital budget writers in the House and Senate included:
- $120 million in funding for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program in both proposed budgets.
- Various levels of funding for three sources of capital funding for the Department of Natural Resources:
- Trust Land Transfer Program funding to protect mature forests on state lands.
- Safe and Sustainable Recreation funding to invest in new or renovated recreation infrastructure on DNR lands, including parking areas, trails, and facilities.
- Natural Areas Program funding to preserve facilities and improve access on DNR’s Natural Areas.
The funding levels for these priorities was higher in the House budget, so we’ve shared our support for the House with the budget leads in the Senate. This isn’t the end of the story for the operating and capital budgets. Lawmakers likely won’t pass a budget until the end of the session on April 27.
Priority Legislation - Discover Pass Increase Bill
This session, lawmakers have advanced SB 5390 to increase the cost for the Discover Pass - the access pass for all state-managed lands in Washington. The Mountaineers is supporting this first-ever adjustment to the cost of the pass to account for inflation. This user fee increase will generate additional revenue for all three management agencies as they face potential cuts to their state general funding. Details of the final bill are still getting worked out, but the legislation has a good chance of passing by the end of this session and helping to offset potential agency budget shortfalls.
Take Action
We’re now at a critical moment in the legislative process where the lawmakers who represent you need to hear why funding to manage recreation and conserve our state’s special outdoor places are important to you. Lawmakers are hearing from constituents and advocates on the importance of so many priorities - your personal stories highlighting your connection to the outdoors are a secret ingredient to our community’s advocacy.
Your advocacy is needed today. Act now to send a personalized letter to your legislators, asking them to include critical funding for state lands and programs that connect youth to nature in the final 2025-2027 state budgets.
