Local News

Carlton Complex Fire: Public Meeting to Review Results of Burned Area Analysis

Sep 24, 2014

Okanogan Conservation District will present the results of the analysis conducted by the Interagency Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team on Monday September 29 at 6 pm. The meeting will be at Pateros City Hall, 113 Lakeshore Dr., Pateros, WA.

The Interagency BAER Team is the first of its kind and was tasked with assessing the erosion threat on state and private lands impacted by the Carlton Complex Fire. Given the size and severity of the Carlton Complex fires on Washington State and private lands, the Okanogan Conservation District asked Governor Inslee to include a request for a multi-jurisdiction assessment team for the Washington State and private lands. After President Obama signed the Disaster Declaration on August 11^th, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) began coordinating with the Okanogan Conservation District and the Forest Service to staff the Interagency BAER team. The team worked in coordination with the Forest Service BAER Teams that evaluated the impacts to US Forest Service lands in order to create a seamless evaluation of all lands burned in the Carlton Complex Fire.

Monday’s meeting will explain the process used by the Interagency BAER team, the conditions the team documented on the land within the burn area, and the recommended actions to reduce risk of additional loss of life and property from rainfall and snowmelt on the landscape. The complete report of the Interagency BAER Team is available at www.okanogancd.org/Carlton

Agencies participating in this process include the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Weather Service, Washington Department of Agriculture, National Resource Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, Bureau of Reclamation, Yakama Nation, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Okanogan, Spokane, Kittitas, Skagit, Underwood, Cascadia, and Whatcom Conservation Districts, County Government and others.