Governor signs Dent’s bill allowing citizens access to public lands to save livestock from wildfires

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2016
CONTACT: Kurt Hammond, Senior Public Information Officer | 360-786-7794

Governor signs Dent’s bill allowing citizens access to public lands to save livestock from wildfires

Rep. Tom Dent’s bill allowing citizens access to public lands to save their livestock from wildfires was signed into law Thursday by Gov. Jay Inslee. Under House Bill 2925, the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) would be required to allow citizens access to public lands for the purposes of saving livestock as long as they did not interfere with fire responders.

Dent says this change to state law will be a positive development for the ranching community.

“Ranchers like myself know that good animal husbandry requires looking after the health and safety of our animals at all times,” said Dent, R-Moses Lake. “It simply makes sense for DNR to afford citizens the opportunity to rescue their animals, so long as they’re not interfering with fire responders.”

Dent’s bill creates civil liability immunity for the state if a livestock owner accesses public lands to retrieve livestock during a fire response and is injured or killed.

House Bill 2925 goes into effect June 2016.