On Tuesday, May 20, Governor Bob Ferguson signed the 2025–2027 Capital Budget (Senate Bill 5159) during a televised ceremony at the State Capitol, joined by Senator Yasmin Trudeau (LD 27). The Governor highlighted major investments in housing, K–12 education, behavioral health facilities, and—last but not least—recreation and economic opportunities, including $120 million for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP).
The WWRP is the state’s largest public funding source for outdoor community projects, supporting new parks, playgrounds, trails, habitat restoration, and land conservation. This funding matches the previous biennium’s record investment, reflecting continued strong bipartisan support for outdoor access and conservation.
The Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition is deeply grateful for Governor Ferguson’s leadership and his continued support of the WWRP. We also want to thank the dedicated legislators who made this possible, especially the 24 members of the Senate Ways & Means Committee and the 19 members of the House Capital Budget Committee, who spent countless hours crafting this budget.
Since 1991, the WWRP has leveraged over $2.2 billion in public and private funding to support more than 1,800 projects across Washington, preserving wildlife habitat, protecting working lands, and expanding access to outdoor spaces. Funding is administered by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) and distributed through 12 grant categories statewide.
Thank you to all who made this investment in Washington’s outdoors possible.
Senate Ways and Means Committee Members: Chair: June Robinson; Vice Chair, Operating Budget: Derek Stanford; Vice Chair, Capital Budget: Yasmin Trudeau; Vice Chair, Finance: Noel Frame; Ranking Member, Operating: Chris Gildon; Assistant Ranking Member, Operating: Nikki Torres; Assistant Ranking Member: Mark Schoesler; Assistant Ranking Member: Perry Dozier; Matt Boehnke, John Braun, Annette Cleveland, Steve Conway, Manka Dhingra, Drew Hansen, Bob Hasegawa, Claudia Kauffman, Ron Muzzall, Jamie Pedersen, Marcus Riccelli, Rebecca Saldaña, Keith Wagoner, Judy Warnick, Lisa Wellman, and Claire Wilson.
House Capital Budget Committee Members: Chair: Steve Tharinger; Vice Chair: Lisa Callan; Ranking Minority Member: Mike Steele; Assistant Ranking Minority Member: Peter Abbarno; and Assistant Ranking Minority Member: Stephanie McClintock; Stephanie Barnard, Lauren Davis, Mary Dye, Carolyn Eslick, Mary Fosse, Natasha Hill, Mari Leavitt, Melanie Morgan, Alicia Rule, Osman Salahuddin, Chris Stearns, Jim Walsh, Kevin Waters, Janice Zahn.