Hilary Franz joins American Forests as its new President and CEO.

Prior to joining American Forests, Hilary most recently served as the Commissioner of Public Lands for Washington state from 2017 to 2025, where she led the state’s wildfire response, managed six million acres of aquatic, forest, agricultural, clean energy, commercial and residential lands, and oversaw Washington Geological Survey. In that role, Hilary led the transformation of Washington state’s wildfire response, so that in the last four years, 95% of fires have been kept to 10 acres or less. In 2017, she developed the state’s first Forest Health Resilience Plan, setting a goal to restore 1.25 million acres of federal, state, private and Tribal forest lands. In just 7 years, 940,000 acres of forests have been restored, setting the state up to achieve its 20-year plan in half the time. She secured a nine- figure funding from both state and federal government to advance forest conservation and restoration, prevent and fight wildfires, and build community resilience.

Hilary has spent almost three decades, working to restore fish and wildlife habitat, conserve natural resource lands and create healthier more resilient communities. She has been a longstanding partner with American Forests, from her forest restoration work to the Washington Tree Equity Collaborative she launched with American Forests, reflecting her deep commitment to advancing solutions for a healthy environment, sustainable economy and a just society.

She has been recognized nationally and internationally for her work in climate resilience, wildfire response, forest conservation and restoration, clean energy, critical fish and wildlife habitat restoration and recovery. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Smith College and a juris doctor from Northeastern University Law School.