MEGAN SMITH, Kennewick

Clint Didier is my choice for Commissioner of Public Lands.

Recently a letter writer endorsed Clint's opponent blaming the poor condition of our forests on events prior to the current commissioner taking office (Letters, Sept. 9). Fair enough, but Clint has asked why the commissioner waited nearly four years to declare he would aggressively attack our insect epidemic by implementing the forest health hazard process the legislature authorized in 2007. As Clint explains on his website, www.clintdidier.org, we are paying for Goldmark's delay in the form of catastrophic forest fires today and, Clint says, the timing of the current commissioners announcement seems to coincide more with this election cycle than with new-found concerns about forest health.

Clint Didier will buckle down to work immediately rather than wait for an election to suddenly discover the issue of forest health.