In brief: Recreation areas reopen to public after wildfires

As crews continue to harness wildfires in the Methow Valley region of northcentral Washington, the U.S. Forest Service has been able to reopen more recreation areas this week.

Most backcountry areas and front-country campgrounds in the Twisp River and Lake Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness were reopened to public access on Tuesday as the Little Bridge Creek Fire is about 80 percent contained.

The 5,000-acre fire, ignited by lightning on Aug. 2, is about 10 miles west of Winthrop.

Last week, the Methow Valley and Tonasket Ranger Districts on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest reopened many of the areas that had been closed because of the Carlton Complex wildfires.

Started by lightning in mid-July, four fires burned together to form the 256,000-acre Carlton Complex blaze, the largest on record in Washington.

Info: www.fs.usda.gov/okawen.

Boat-in campground reopens

The Enterprise Boat-in Campground has been re-opened as the Enterprise fire has been controlled on Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.

The popular campground for boaters southwest of Hunters is open on a first-come, first-served basis.

“For your safety, we request that you stay out of the burned area and at least 100 yards from the burned area even on the water,” National Park Service officials say in a media release.

Wilderness Writings Challenge

The US Forest Service’s Northern Region is inviting students to submit their personal reflections about Wilderness – whether it is a 140 character “tweet” or the maximum length of 500 words – in a contest celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.

Deadline to enter the Wilderness Writings Challenge is Sept. 4.

See rules and submit writings online at the Forest Service’s Northern Region website, www.fs.usda.gov/r1.

The first 50 writers to submit will receive a poster created by Montana artist Monte Dolack.