Legislature considers bill to spend more on urban trees

OLYMPIA - Longview, a designated "Tree City USA" could be even greener if lawmakers pass a bill to boost the state's urban forestry program.

And it's legislation Longview officials plan to take full advantage of if it passes this session, Councilman Dennis Weber said Thursday.

"The age of our trees are at the point where we have more and more diseased trees," Weber said. "It's always frustrating when some of these beautiful trees have to come down. �¿� We fall behind (replacing them) because of shortfalls in funding."

House Bill 2844 would provide incentives such as grants to encourage the planting of trees in cities and create an inventory of trees in cities. The legislation is close to reaching a vote before the Senate but must receive approval from the Ways & Means committee.

The bill, which has the support of 19th District Reps. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, and Dean Takko, D-Longview, would cost the state an estimated $155,000 during the state's 2007-09 budget cycle and $388,000 the following biennium.

Planting trees in cities helps absorb greenhouse gasses and storm water runoff, according to Audubon Washington, a bird-watching organization lobbying for the legislation.

Longview already is a "Tree City USA," meaning it's eligible for limited grants through the Arbor Day Foundation and federal forestry groups.

Weber said Longview is far ahead of the game because it already has an inventory - hundreds of pages long - documenting each urban tree and its age and condition. He also said he soon plans to ask City Council members to provide more financial support to city arborists and called the urban forestry bills "timely."

"We're at the point where that initial stock of trees is at risk," Weber said, "so I'm excited to hear about this possibility."

Dead but not forgotten
His bill to clearly tell voters when tax lid lifts on levees are permanent might be dead, but Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, hopes to amend a similar House bill to suit the same purpose.

His bill would have required local governments to clearly state on the ballot that a levy lid lift would be permanent, and it also would retroactively change any recently passed, permanent lid lifts into temporary increases.

The state Department of Revenue interprets that a levy lid lift is permanent unless the ballot communicates otherwise, Orcutt said in an interview last week, and it's assumed that voters understand the tax hikes they're approving are permanent.

"I'm not convinced that the voters knew these things were permanent," said Orcutt, of the 18th District, whose legislation died last week when it wasn't passed out of the House Committee on Finance.

The legislation similar to Orcutt's, House Bill 2554, requires ballots to tell voters when an increase would be permanent, but it doesn't have the retroactivity clause the local lawmaker's had.

Local bills make progress
Blake's bill to improve public access to state-owned forests and waterways passed out of the House Wednesday evening and will move to the Senate for consideration.

House Bill 2472, which would create a panel to study access to state lands, such as 36,000 acres of Department of Natural Resources forest located between the two forks of the Toutle River.

Meanwhile, the "Local Farms-Healthy Kids" bill, initially supported by local lawmakers Blake, Takko and Sen. Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, passed in the house with a vote of 95-1 Wednesday evening.

The legislation would create a number of programs to encourage the purchase of Washington-grown fruits and vegetables by public schools and food banks, including some two-year grants to schools for purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables.