As the former Wildfire Chief and Commissioner of Public Lands for Washington state, Franz led a 2400 member agency responsible for the state's wildfire response and management of six million acres of public lands - from acquatic lands to forestlands, agricultural lands, industrial, commercial and residential development.

Over the last eight years, Franz led the transformation of Washington state's wildfire response, so that in the last four years, even with increasing fires and geography to fight these fires, 95% of fires have been kept to 10 acres or less. Her reactive and proactive efforts have helped protect communities and environment from the impacts of a rapidly changing climate, dying forests, drought, and extreme wildfires.

Franz has also prioritized supporting local communities, both urban and rural. The land she managed sustainably generate hundreds of millions of dollars for schools and public services, like public safety, housing, human services and hospitals. And she has allocated millions of dollars to spark economic opportunities in struggling rural communities. She knows that our working lands - and the communities that depend on them for family-wage jobs - are integral to our success.

In her eight years as Wildfire Chief for Washington State, she successfully:

- Drafted and secured a historic $500 million investment from the state Legislature to prevent and fight wildfires, accelerate forest restoration, and build community resilience. This bipartisan legislation - supported by a wide-ranging coalition of firefighters, fire chiefs, tribes, environmentalists, and public health advocates - passed unanimously.

- Launched new investments in AI technology for wildfire prevention and prediction.

- Changed the state's wildfire response through initial attack, expediting request and deployment of aviation resources, and growing aviation resources from to 44 through exclusive use contracts.

- Developed a 20-year Forest Health Strategic Plan to restore wildfie resilience to 1.25 million acres of forests. In just 7 years already 940,000 acres have been restored, so that the state will achieve its 20-year plan in half the time, making forests healthier and more resistant to wildfires - at a scale and pace that is unprecedented.

- Developed the agency's first-ever Plan for Climate Resilience, which lays out a course of action to combat the threat of climate change. Commissioner Franz worked with a coalition of science, policy, and business leaders to recommend and implement climate resilience in Washington state.

- Developed a nationally recognized Wildfire Ready Neighbors program, helping thousands of homeowners and communities with home hardening and defensible space to save homes and lives.

- Introduced a sweeping proposal to "Keep Washington Evergreen" by protecting 1 million acres of forest from deforestation and reforesting 1 million acres of forest by 2040.

Under Commissioner Franz's leadership, DNR has built a rebust clean-energy program to help combat the climate crisis and create clean energy jobs. For the first tie in Washington state history, the agency has leased state trust lands for solar power projects. Franz has also expanded DNR's wind power program, with wind turbines on state trust lands that can generate 200 megawatts of power, which raise millions to build public schools and universities.

Franz is a third-generation rancher and small forest landowner, with a background in real estate, environmental and land use law. She holds a bachelor's degree from Smith College and a juris doctor from Northeastern University Law School.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME