Severe wildfire reduction is goal
An award of $1.4 million in federal funding will launch a new forest restoration project aimed at reducing the risk of severe wildfire on lands spanning Okanogan and Chelan counties.
The area includes several communities deemed at highest risk from wildfire in the Pacific Northwest, including Twisp and Winthrop.
The funds are described as an “initial investment” in a collaborative landscape restoration project developed by the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and the North Central Washington Forest Health Collaborative. The project area includes 1.1 million acres. Work on the project — including thinning, prescribed fire and habitat restoration — could continue for up to 10 years.
“Communities in this landscape are among the most threatened by wildfire in the Pacific Northwest,” according to the project proposal. “Of 1,005 communities evaluated in Oregon and Washington, five of the most at-risk occur in the (project) landscape. The community of Leavenworth was ranked as the most vulnerable and the communities of Chelan, Entiat, Twisp and Winthrop are ranked among the top 25 most vulnerable.”
The funding for the project comes from the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), a federal program that provides multi-year funding for large, landscape-scale forest health and resiliency projects that are planned collaboratively by local communities, environmental and business organizations, and other interested groups.
The North Central Washington CFLRP project has the potential to receive up to $30 million over the next decade, depending on future appropriations, according to the Forest Service.
The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest (which includes the Methow Ranger District) is one of the most challenging national forests in the nation for wildfire reduction projects due to the amount of steep rugged terrain and difficult access, the project proposal states. The terrain is complex, with communities located in valley bottoms and against steep slopes.
Strategic response
The North Central Washington CFLRP “will respond to these complexities by strategically planning fuels treatments where they will be the most effective for engaging in wildfire management efforts,” the proposal said.
“In order to meet landscape scale restoration objectives, when conditions are favorable fire will play its natural role as we manage wildfires. Treatments are positioned in accessible areas and adjacent to communities to improve firefighters’ ability to more safely and successfully engage wildfire and increase the potential for unplanned ignitions to result in more beneficial outcomes,” the proposal said.
Work on the project will begin this year with two hazardous fuels reduction projects and an invasive species project, said Victoria Wilkins, a spokesperson for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. The two fuels reduction projects include a 1,000-acre treatment called East Pine Zone located on Entiat Ranger District, and a roughly 470-acre treatment called Falls Coyote located on the Chelan Ranger District. The projects include mechanical thinning, mastication, and piling.
“There is also an agreement being put in place with Washington Conservation Corps to do invasive species control on approximately 900 acres,” Wilkins said. “WCC will also survey and treat new sites to avoid spread of new infestations and seeding areas in need of restoration with native grass.”
Wilkins said the new funding and project goals align with the state’s 20-year Forest Health Action Plan. The project will also be coordinated with the Central Washington Initiative — a project announced earlier this year by the Forest Service to address the “wildfire crisis” on 2.45 million acres of federal, state, tribal and other lands from Winthrop to Naches.
The Central Washington Initiative has received funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed by Congress last year. The Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest expects to receive $24.6 million in funding this year from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $102.6 million in total funding for fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024. The funding will support projects that reduce the risk of fire across Okanogan, Chelan, Kittitas, and Yakima counties.
The collaborative forest restoration project for North Central Washington is one of 15 across the country to receive funding, said Kristin Bail, Okanogan-Wenatchee forest supervisor.
“The selection of this proposal as one of just 15 across the nation reinforces the importance of this landscape and the need for restoration to address the growing wildfire crisis. I’m thankful for our partnership with North Central Washington Forest Health Collaborative, whose members helped us develop this successful proposal,” Bail said.
The forest health collaborative is composed of 22 member organizations that represent a broad range of interests including timber companies, environmental groups, government agencies and tribes.
Key elements of the North Central Washington CFLRP project are 54,000 acres of fuels treatment; 393,849 ccf of forest products from commercial thinning; 150 miles of road work to decrease sediment delivery to streams; 85,000 acres of wildlife habitat restoration; and 94 miles of in-stream fisheries improvements.
