Prescribed burns could heal Washington forests after decades of fire suppression

As firefighters walk through part of the Central Cascade Forest near Cle Elum, their drip-torches are lit and dropping fuel on a patch of earth. Fire begins to burn, though it’s not spreading quickly.

It’s Thursday afternoon, and the firefighters are attempting to spread fire – a process known as a prescribed burn.

The Nature Conservancy has been working on the east side of the state for a few years to restore forestlands to their natural processes.

Decades of federal policies drove plans to suppress fires, now forests are often overgrown and have more fuel to burn. After decades of mismanagement, paired with climate change, forests are no longer resilient to large mega-fires.

This week local, county and state fire agencies gathered in the Cle Elum area to work on a prescribed burn on land managed by The Nature Conservancy. In Kittitas County, prescribed burns have become more and more common: by re-introducing fire to the landscape they’re essentially creating a barrier to towns like Roslyn, Ronald and Cle Elum.

"We don’t want to make the impression that prescribe fire is going to make wildfires go away," said Sami Schinnell the cooperative fire coordinator for The Nature Conservancy Washington. "It’s not an either or. Prescribed fires can help mitigate, minimize or reduce the negative impacts of wildfire."

On this day, the conditions weren’t right. A planned burn of 40 acres was scrubbed. The weather conditions were right, but recent rain had allowed brush to hold onto too much moisture, making it less likely to burn.

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DNR conducts wildfire simulations as smoky conditions already fill the skies

As nearly 100 fires gobbled up large swaths of land in Alberta, Canada, smoke is quickly settling over Washington state: a reminder that wildfire season has already begun.

Schinnell told FOX 13 that it’s a good reminder that while they want to put fire on the ground, they want to do it on their own terms. They don’t burn unless conditions are right and goals can be met.

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz had noted that prescribed burns are an important strategy for the state’s 20-year forest health plan during public comments at a training exercise just 24 hours earlier.

According to Franz, the state is facing a forest health crisis – prescribed burns can help, but the forests aren’t resilient enough to curb suppression efforts. The state aims to hold 90% of wildfires to 10 acres or less.

"You’re going to see more prescribed fire on the landscape in the years to come because of the barriers we’re taking down," said Franz, noting that WA DNR has worked on legislation to clear the path for more prescribed burns. "The reason I believe in suppression, suppression, suppression on these hot days while the landscape is dry. Our landscape is not resilient to fire. Whether it’s our forest with the forest health crisis or grasslands."

As heat arrived last weekend, wildfire did as well. While smoke from Canada drifted into a large swath of Washington, more than 20 fires popped up around the state between Saturday and Sunday.

That heat, and drier conditions may also shut the window on the spring prescribed burn season too. That means burns to prep the land for more resiliency to wildfires will wait until the Fall.

Until then, the management strategy continues out in the Central Cascade Forest where more than 30,000 acres are managed through a series of steps: clearing brush, thinning trees through sustainable planning and prescribed burns. The ultimate goal: create a healthy forest that will eventually be turned over to the state or federal government for long-term protection