joel kretz

Frustration is mounting in Olympia over efforts to prevent large scale wildfires before they start.  House Bill 1784, looks to address the wildfire epidemic, by expanding the scope of DNR’s forest health treatment policy, and establish annual wildfire fuel breaks across public lands.   A...

Joel Kretz said it's time to “share the love” of Eastern Washington predatory wolves with the folks in Puget Sound, who want to protect the animals.  The proposal came after a Bainbridge Island lawmaker introduced legislation that would prohibit the lethal removal of gray wolves.  So, in respons...

Managing the growing gray wolf population is not a top of mind topic this legislative session in Olympia.  Unless you talk to Northeast Washington Representative Joel Kretz.  The Republican said 17 of Washington’s 20 wolf packs call his district home, and with more and more depredations and wolf and human interactions being reported, he says something must be done.  He noted wolf...

When it comes to water availability across the Evergreen state, one Northeast Washington lawmaker says the metropolitan areas should share the same regulations as rural areas.  As lawmakers in Olympia continue to debate over Hirst, and what should be done, property owners in rural portions of the state are caught in the middle.  Re...

According to the Association of Washington Business and state Representative Joel Kretz, the rural economy to not keeping up with the growth enjoyed in the I-5 corridor for the past two years.  As Kretz put it, there is very little to be excited about.  Kr...