2017-2022
In 2017, the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest (OWNF) began the Chelan Pilot to restore resilient landscapes, establish fire adapted communities, and improve safe and effective wildfire response.
Born out of the Chelan Pilot, the Upper Wenatchee Pilot Project covered 75,000 acres near Plain, WA. The aim of the project was to restore forest health and resiliency by reestablishing forest structure, returning fire to the landscape, improving wildlife habitat and watershed function, and reducing community wildland fire risk. The WRCD worked directly with the U.S. Forest Service Project Team, North Central Washington Forest Health Collaborative (NCWFHC), and contractors to facilitate completion of pre-National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) spotted owl surveys, common stand exams, aquatic surveys, and full NEPA analysis, all significant planning milestones that laid the path for meeting forest and aquatic restoration goals on Forest Service lands.
To engage local stakeholders, the pilot also supported the first Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) in Washington in 2017 in Leavenworth and Roslyn. WRCD worked closely with the Washington Prescribed Fire Council, OWNF, Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition, Fire Learning Network, and The Nature Conservancy to train 23 prescribed fire practitioners and implement 419 acres of prescribed fire on public and private lands.
A crew member works the interior of the Roslyn
Ridge burn as a part of the Upper Wenatchee Pilot Project TREX. Photo: Kara Karbowski, WRCD.
Further, WRCD worked closely with Lake Wenatchee Fire and Rescue and provided seed funding to develop the Lake Wenatchee Fire Adapted Communities (LWFAC). LWFAC served as an outreach arm for wildfire preparedness in the Plain and greater Lake Wenatchee neighborhoods.
The Washington Resource Conservation and Development Council is a non-exempt IRS section 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
109 South 3rd Street • Yakima, WA 98901
