A view of the Mount Pilchuck fire lookout in Washington. (Credit: Ham Hock / Flickr Creative Commons) Listen (Runtime 1:04) Read It’s bone dry and blisteringly hot across Washington state, […]Read More
A silhouette of a forest fire. Credit: Egor Vikhrev, Unsplash LISTEN (Runtime: 1:02) READ Many states are failing to adequately budget for wildfire costs before, during and after fires, according […]Read More
Part of the Box of Rain timber sale that the Washington State Department of Natural Resources approved to go to auction in December. Photo courtesy of the Center for Responsible […]Read More
This year’s fire season has been the mildest year for Washington in a decade. But, the season isn’t over yet.Read More
Both the timber industry and environmental groups are celebrating the Washington Supreme Court’s decision on public land management last week. The decision affirms the Department of Natural Resources’ authority to manage the trust lands for public benefit.Read More
A case brought against the Washington State Department of Natural Resources has been decided in the department’s favor.Read More
In the last of our series, The Fight for Legacy Forests, NWPB’s Lauren Gallup reports on reactions to the carbon project on state lands, which will protect some older forests from harvest. Read More
This week in the sixth story of “The Fight for Legacy Forests” series, Lauren Gallups reports on how some communities are worried about losing money from timber harvests, which pay for services they need. Read More
NWPB’s Lauren Gallup continues her series “The Fight for Legacy Forests” with reporting on an environmental nonprofit suing the Department of Natural Resources over six timber sales. Read More
The Beaver Valley Sorts timber sale in Jefferson County will go to auction this July, months later than expected. Lauren Gallup reports the delay is meant to address environmental concerns of county commissioners and residents.Read More
The Keep Washington Evergreen bill died in session. Read More
What does the public think about the Keep Washington Evergreen bill? NWPB’s Lauren Gallup reports on testimony heard at Washington’s Rural Development, Agriculture & Natural Resources committee.Read More
Chris Reykdahl, Washington’s superintendent of public schools says he would like to see the state legislature commit to financing school construction, but not the traditional way. Read More
One family’s continuous wildfire preparation paid off this summer in North Central Washington.Read More
At a Supreme Court hearing, conservation groups argued Washington forest managers should log fewer trees.Read More
On Thursday, the Washington State Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments in a case being brought against Washington’s commissioner of public lands, Hilary Franz, the Department of Natural Resources and the Board of Natural Resources, that may clarify how the state manages public lands.Read More
Fire officials hope to avoid another Labor Day weekend marked by extreme fires.Read More
As wildfires have burned throughout the Northwest this summer, some forest stands have fared better than others. Managers say that’s thanks, in part, to thinning and prescribed burns, which have made the stands more resilient in the face of wildfire.Read More
First a drought. Then record heat. Now Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a statewide wildfire state of emergency. Read More
The Northwest is primed for fire season, and not in a good way. East of the Cascades, forecasters say this year could be worse than recent record-breaking fire seasons. Read More
As the company weighs its options, two Washington state legislators sent a letter Tuesday to U.S. Congress members in Western states, urging them to find a solution to continue the SuperTanker’s operations, which they described as the “biggest and one of the best weapons in battling the catastrophic fires.”Read More
This marks the second year the state Department of Natural Resources has pushed for legislation to expand Washington’s firefighting efforts. This time DNR is seeking $125 million every two years, during a legislative session complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.Read More
Labor Day 2020 lived up to its name if you’re a firefighter. It was a day that set up for numerous fires in central and eastern Washington that have burned tens of thousands of acres, and possibly many more. At least 80 fires started in Washington in what officials call a historic fire event. Read More
The fire grew fast when it first started Tuesday, Aug. 18, quickly becoming the top priority in the state. Fire managers said Sunday night they were really pleased with the progress. Crews did burnout operations over the weekend, a method of basically fighting fire with fire.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a statewide emergency Wednesday to help with fires burning in on the Olympic Peninsula and in central and eastern Washington. Read More
Washington Firefighter Quarantining With COVID; It’s A Test Of Safety Plan Ahead Of Wildfire Weather
The firefighter contracted COVID-19 outside of the fire camp. He tested positive after he left the fire. The firefighter came into contact with 14 others, who have now been quarantined and aren’t showing symptoms right now, according to the DNR. This year, fire camps have been kept smaller and more spaced out – to help prevent widespread outbreaks. Read More
As wildfire season heats up, Washington fire managers are working out new ways for incarcerated people to help on the fire lines and stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic. Correctional crews have helped put out fires and work in fire camp kitchens for decades. And things are a little different this year.Read More
In response to growing fire potential and high temperatures nearing and surpassing 100 degrees, on Tuesday state public lands commissioner Hillary Franz issued a statewide burn ban The order took effect July 28 and lasts through September 30, unless fire conditions improve. Read More
Washington fire managers say they’ve seen a significant number of wildfires in “every corner of the state.” So far this year, the state Department of Natural Resources says it has responded to more than 468 wildfires of varying sizes – nearly double the 10-year average for an entire fire season. But this year’s unprecedented uptick in the number of fires has an unforeseen Read More
In Olympia on Monday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that restrictions on fishing, hunting, hiking and golfing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus will begin easing next week on May 5. Inslee also announced most state parks, state forestlands and state-managed boat ramps will reopen on that Tuesday.Read More
This year, fire camp could be as dangerous as the wildfires, and top Western managers are deep in planning how to make fire camps COVID-19 ready for fire crews. Hilary Franz is Washington’s commissioner of public lands. She says state, federal, tribal and local officials are trying to make fighting wildfires safe during a pandemic. Read More
Some rules aren’t meant to be broken. Rules like Washington’s public lands closures. Enforcement officers have still noted crowded parking lots places such as at the Ahtanam State Forest in Yakima County.Read More
Each year, state, federal and local officials train around 1,000 firefighters. Trainings start in April and last through May. Now, that's all on hold.Read More
The Washington Court of Appeals on Tuesday dismissed a case against the state brought by more than 300 survivors of the 2014 Carlton Complex wildfire in north-central Washington.Read More
Don’t be fooled by the fall weather and cold temps hitting the Northwest this week. Washington officials are warning people to keep an eye on outdoor burning this time of year. It can still spark a fire, especially with strong winds whipping through the state Monday night through Tuesday morning. Read More
Christian Johnson, 55, had been flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after suffering burns over more than half of his body fighting the Spring Coulee Fire on Sept. 1. Read More
There are no agencies assigned to fight fires on certain stretches of Washington rangeland. Ranchers want to form their own firefighting teams – something already happening in Oregon and Idaho.Read More
The fire season so far has been relatively mild as far as large fires and region-wide smoke inundation go. But that could change in late summer and early fall, according to a recent federal report from the National Interagency Fire Center.Read More
It’s been a relatively quiet summer so far for Northwest wildland firefighters. But after a couple days of lightning storms in eastern and central Washington, paired with dry and windy conditions, more fires are starting to flare up. Read More
At the Hanford Nuclear Site in southeastern Washington, and across the West, winter’s deep snow and a cool spring have produced lots of brush and grass. That’s a problem for the coming fire season. Read More
Washington state lands officials are warning people working and playing outdoors to be mindful of higher wildfire danger. They've elevated the wildfire danger status in most of eastern and central Washington from low to moderate.Read More
State and federal officials signed an agreement Wednesday to protect Washington’s forests and wildlife. The plan would combine resources to fight destructive wildfires, threats to forest health and challenges faced by salmon and orcas.Read More
As wildfires become more frequent and intense, the disappearance of snow now ushers in a season of higher anxiety for those who have experienced the destruction of wildfire. And this spring feels particularly ominous, with water levels in ponds and lakes already exposing bathtub rings of pale earth that wouldn’t normally be visible until the end of the dry summer months.Read More
Land managers are using prescribed burns -- also called "good fire" -- and thinning to restore forests and reduce the extra wood, sticks and needles that fuel megafires. Different land managers look for certain things when they’re selecting where prescribed fires will work best.Read More
At this time last year, authorities in Central Washington were on high alert because of the slow-moving Rattlesnake Ridge landslide near Yakima. A year later, what’s changed? The landslide isn’t quite over – yet. But it has slowed down significantly. Read More
Washington may soon copy a rural wildfire fighting strategy that Oregon, Idaho and Nevada already employ: letting private ranchers attack range fires before the blazes get big.Read More
Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz is asking the state legislature to nearly double funding to manage and respond to wildfire.Read More
There’s an old saying that a boat is simply a hole in the water into which you dump your cash. They can be cheap to buy, but are expensive to maintain, insure, berth, repair and operate. They age, they weather, they often sink. When they do, they create another kind of money hole. The solution? Recycling.Read More
On Tuesday, Aug. 14, a water-scooping airplane crashed while working the Horns Mountain Fire in northeastern Washington. The pilot walked away with minor injuries. Read More
Weather predictions across the West are calling for excessive heat and more dry weather this week. That forecast is anything but good news in the Northwest, where significant risk of wildfire continues to increase.Read More
