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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Controlled burns planned for east slope of Cascade Range

A firefighter looks over a controlled fire being used to burn out an area between a house and the main fire Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015, in Okanogan, Wash. This year, controlled burns are planned for the east slope of Cascade Range. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)
Associated Press

SEATTLE – Federal officials are planning controlled burns on 9,000 acres on the east slope of the Cascade Range in Washington state in an effort to reduce the threat of wildfires.

The controlled burns this spring in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest are part of a plan to increase the pace of intentionally set fires to reduce fuel loads, the Seattle Times reported. Air-quality monitoring and publication on the burns are included in the plan.

The U.S. Forest Service wants to conduct 22 controlled burns ranging from 300 acres to 1,600 acres. However, operations have been delayed by the winter snowpack so far.

State lawmakers last year approved $800,000 in pilot projects for the prescribed burns. Fifteen of the projects were approved, which drew the interest of other communities.

“It really brought the right partners and the right voices into the room together to take a hard look not only at how we conduct our operations but also . how we effectively communicate about fire in the ecosystem,” said Forest Service spokeswoman Holly Krake.

Scientists say controlled burns keep forests healthier by reducing dense stands of timber that have developed following decades of fire suppression.

This year, state lawmakers passed two bills aimed at restoring Washington state forests, including one that calls for reducing fuel loads on 1 million acres by 2027 through controlled fires, thinning and other treatments.

“There is a lot of leadership in our Legislature,” said Reese Lolley, the Nature Conservancy’s director of forest restoration and fire in Yakima. “I think they are recognizing how big the issue is, and that it’s not going to go away.”