Local News

Spring Prescribed Burning Planned In Okanogan County


Mar 20, 2015

Spring burning conditions for National Forest Lands in Okanogan County are being evaluated.  Prescribed Fire Specialists think they will be able to begin burning soon at lower elevation National Forest sites around Lyman Lake, Havillah and Mt Annie, east of Tonasket, Washington, as well as Fawn and Eightmile Creeks near Winthrop, Washington.

“Depending on weather and fuel moisture, crews could even begin next week,” said Shawn Plank, Assistant Fire Management Officer for Fuels on the Tonasket Ranger District. “They could keep working on prescribed burning objectives until June if conditions permit.”

This season, prescribed burning treatments on the Methow Valley Ranger District are planned northwest of Winthrop, Washington near Eightmile Creek and Fawn Creek.

Tonasket Ranger District has prescribed burning treatments planned this spring in the Mt Annie and the Lyman Lake areas; both southeast of Tonasket, Washington, as well as the Mutton area northwest of Conconully and the North Flank project area near Havillah.

Each of the areas planned for either spring or fall burning are shown on a map in the 2015 Burn Plan, a brochure produced by the Forest Service.  The Burn Plan brochure is available at local Forest Service offices and includes information about the reasons for treatment in each of the areas.

In some areas, the prescribed underburning treatments will reduce amounts of created slash from forest thinning and natural accumulations of needles and branches.  The treatments are also intended to reduce the risk of wildfire to nearby homes and forested lands.  In other areas, slash piles from forest thinning treatments will be burned.

Each element that affects the success of a prescribed fire plan is evaluated prior to ignition.  Smoke dispersal and minimizing smoke impacts to public health are of primary concern. Monitoring weather conditions, long term forecasts, forest fuel moistures, and neighboring prescribed fire activity are all part of the evaluation process. Before submitting a prescribed burn for approval, specialists on the Methow Valley and Tonasket Ranger Districts monitor the moisture of accumulated forest debris and assess weather conditions.

“Timing is important and we try to plan our ignitions to coincide with favorable winds that will help disperse smoke away from residential areas,” said Trebon.  

Prescribed burning is one tool used to reduce forest fuel accumulations in an effort to reduce the risk of uncontrollable wildfire, restore resilience to in forested areas, and improve forest health. Prescribed burning in strategic areas improves forest conditions and the safety of the public and wildland firefighters, minimize the size and intensity of wildfires, and create healthy forested habitats. Additional benefits of prescribed burning include habitat restoration, maintenance of species diversity, stimulation of forage for browsing species, and return of nutrients to the soil.

“Last year’s Carlton Fire is still fresh in all of our minds,” said Meg Trebon, Assistant Fire Manager for Fuels on the Methow Valley Ranger District.  “On National Forest lands, we were very interested to find out whether recent vegetation and fuels treatments affected the fire’s behavior and growth.  Some treated areas experienced extreme fire behavior that far exceeded the kind of conditions we design treatments to withstand.  In several locations, though, it’s clear that treatments helped slow the fire’s growth and reduced fire severity, providing opportunities for direct suppression and minimizing impacts to soil, vegetation, and habitat.  These treatments also helped create safer working conditions for firefighters, especially in the unburned pocket in the Benson Creek vicinity.  The treatments that made the difference had a combination of thinning and prescribed fire, and were relatively recent, within the last 15 years.  They were also large enough to affect fire behavior; at least a few hundred acres up to over 1000 acres in size.  Prescribed fire projects planned for this spring have similar characteristics.” 

The prescribed burning program emphasizes treatments in areas of the National Forest that are nearest private lands and those lands managed by other agencies.  Lower to mid-valley elevations are of highest concern. The prescribed burning program is part of the comprehensive Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Restoration Strategy. Forest Service managers began implementing the strategy in 1999 to reduce the threat of uncharacteristically severe fires and bring resiliency to unhealthy forest ecosystems.

To speak with a prescribed fire specialist or obtain updates during the burn season, please call the Districts’ Prescribed burning information lines. Methow Valley’s 24 hour prescribed burning information line is 509-996-4040 and Tonasket’s is 509-486-5158. Ignition updates are also posted on twitter at twitter.com/OkaWenNF

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources regulates smoke management and must approve all controlled burns on national forests within the state. Okanogan-Wenatchee N.F. fire specialists closely coordinate with the state’s air quality managers, after they receive burn approval.


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