Hilary S. Franz (born July 1, 1970) is an American politician and

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

attorney serving as the 16th

Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages over of forest, rangeland, range, agricultural, and commercial lands in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The DNR also manages of aquatic areas which include sh ...

since 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party who was previously a member of the

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

and was elected as commissioner in 2016.

Early life and education

Franz was born in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...

and raised in the area, graduating from St. Mary's Academy in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

, in 1988. She was a competitive

ice skater Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be perf ...

for twelve years as a child and teenager, frequenting the same ice rinks as future Olympian

Tonya Harding Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater, retired boxer and a reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised primarily by her mother, who enrolled her in ice s ...

. Franz graduated from

Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's coll ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

in English language and government in 1992 and the

Northeastern University School of Law Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL) is the law school of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as an evening program to meet the needs of its local community, NUSL is nationally recognized for its cooperative legal ...

with a

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

. She practiced as an attorney in the Seattle area from 1997 to 2011, specializing in

environmental law Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the environment. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental Legal doctrine, legal principles, focu ...

and conservation.

Political career

Franz was elected to the Bainbridge Island

in 2008 and served one term, during which she lobbied the state government for the establishment of the area's first open water

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

at Eagle Harbor. After briefly considering a run for the Washington State House of Representatives, Franz joined Seattle-based conservation organization Futurewise as its director. She served on several regional conservation and land management boards, including committees of the

Puget Sound Regional Council The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) is a metropolitan planning organization that develops policies and makes decisions about transportation planning, economic development, and growth management throughout the four-county Seattle metropolitan ...

. Franz announced her intention to run for State Commissioner of Public Lands in April 2016, looking to fill the seat of retiring commissioner

Peter J. Goldmark Peter James Goldmark (born August 4, 1946) was the 15th Washington Department of Natural Resources#Commissioner of Public Lands, Commissioner of Public Lands of Washington (state), Washington, head of the Washington State Department of Natural Re ...

. She received the early endorsement of Goldmark, as well as former King County Executive

Ron Sims Ronald Cordell Sims (born July 5, 1948) is the former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, having served in the position from May 8, 2009 to July 2011. He is also the former King County Executive. Sims ...

and the Bullitt Center. Franz finished second overall during the primary election, advancing to the general election alongside Republican candidate Steve McLaughlin and ahead of seven other Democrats. With the further endorsements of two former governors, U.S. Senator

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...

, and a coalition of environmental groups and unions, Franz won 53 percent of the vote in the general election but failed to win any counties in

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanf ...

. Franz was sworn in as Commissioner of Public Lands on January 11, 2017. During the first year of her term, the Department of Natural Resources faced a minor wildfire season caused by prolonged heat similar to those of previous years. The state government prepared a new forest management plan to reduce the effectiveness of future wildfires by introducing new restoration measures and

prescribed burn A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...

s in Eastern Washington to thin out overgrown forests. On August 19, 2017, a

fish farm upright=1.3, Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye">mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland Fish farming or ...

near Cypress Island in Skagit County accidentally released hundreds of thousands of

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...

. Franz ordered an investigation into the farm and announced that the farm would be removed for various violations of its state license and lease agreement. Franz was also part of the state government's effort to halt federal plans for

offshore drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the t ...

in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

near the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a ...

. The 2018 wildfire season was more severe than the previous year and prompted the state government to declare a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

after the Department of Natural Resources had been overwhelmed in its response to 891 fires by late July. The season had 1,850 recorded fires, setting a new state record, and Franz issued a request to the state legislature for a $55 million budget to expand the department's fire-fighting resources. Franz proposed the hiring of 30 full-time wildland firefighters, the purchase of two helicopters, and the creation of a fire-training academy specifically for wildfires. Under Franz, logging on DNR lands was allowed to increase in order to raise revenue for local government needs, which drew criticism from conservationists. A proposed sale of timber from Capitol State Forest in 2020 was reduced by the DNR after the discovery of old growth trees included in the sale. Franz was re-elected Commissioner of Public Lands in 2020, defeating Sue Kuehl Pederson in the general election.

Gubernatorial campaign

On May 10, 2023, Franz announced that she was running for Washington governor in the upcoming 2024 election. She had previously expressed interest in running in the 2020 election, but incumbent governor

Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee (; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician, lawyer, and economist who has served as the 23rd governor of Washington since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

had decided to run for a third term.

Personal life

Franz has three sons and lived on a farm in Bainbridge Island prior to being elected as commissioner. Her family owns a plot of forestland in

Pierce County, Washington Pierce County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 921,130, up from 795,225 in 2010, making it the second-most populous county in Washington, behind King County, and the 60th-most populous ...

, which includes a habitat of

Ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

that is uncommon west of the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

References

External links

Government websiteCampaign website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franz, Hilary 21st-century American women 1960s births American conservationists Living people Northeastern University School of Law alumni People from Bainbridge Island, Washington Smith College alumni Washington (state) city council members Washington (state) Commissioners of Public Lands Washington (state) Democrats Washington (state) lawyers Women in Washington (state) politics Women city councillors in Washington (state)