OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove is ready to fight the state to restore budget cuts coming to his agency next year.

Lawmakers reduced the Department of Natural Resources' wildfire prevention fund from the previously promised $125 million per biennium to $60 million for the next two years.

Upthegrove said Monday that fully funding the department this summer helped keep fires from getting out of control on both sides of the Cascades.

The state is looking at another deficit, but Upthegrove wants legislators to look elsewhere for cuts.

"There's never enough money to fund everything we want," he said. "But putting out wildfires is a core, basic function of government that saves lives, protects property and saves us money in the long run."

Washington state saw

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