Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark is launching a new initiative to reduce fuel consumption by 5 percent across virtually all areas of Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) operations, the agency announced today.

“Our state’s climate is warming and changing, which is harming the forests, marine waters and other natural resources DNR is sworn to protect,” said Goldmark.  “I strongly believe we must do what we can to slow this process.”

Goldmark has directed DNR managers and employees to come up with plans for reducing agency fuel consumption by 5 percent, compared to average use over the last five years.

“Our employees know best where we can reduce fuel use without compromising our productivity or the quality of our work,” said Goldmark.  Fire suppression efforts will be exempted from the 5 percent reduction.

The 5 percent fuel reduction initiative, which is scheduled to begin March 1, follows a legislative mandate to all state agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent from their 2005 levels by July 2020.

“Reducing fuel use won’t be easy in an agency that manages 5.6 million acres of state-owned lands, but I am confident we can do it without lowering the quality of the services DNR provides to the people of Washington,” said Goldmark.