Editor’s Note: This is the fifth of our dispatches from staff that live or work in the areas impacted by this year’s fires. By Mitch Friedman, Executive Director Today, I attended a field hearing on fire policy hosted by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Senator John Barrasso (R-WY). Sen. Cantwell opened the hearing by saying “every dollar spent on (fire) … Continued
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth of our dispatches from staff that live or work in the areas impacted by this year’s fires. George Wooten lives in Twisp, working on forest and wildlands restoration and policy in north-central Washington as part of our Forest Field Program. He has been sending us regular fire updates over the past … Continued
Editors Note: This is the third of our dispatches from staff who live or regularly work in the areas impacted by this year’s fires. By Mitch Friedman, Executive Director While most of this year’s big fires are burning in front country, where they present the maximum threat to people and property, there are two big fires in … Continued
Editor’s Note: The below is the second of our dispatches from staff living or working in the north-central Washington communities impacted by this year’s fires. Dave Werntz, our Science and Conservation Director, lives in Twisp. His family evacuated to the westside this past weekend. By Dave Werntz, Science and Conservation Director Along with my wife and … Continued
Editor’s Note: The below is the first in a series of blog updates from our staff who live or work in the north-central Washington communities impacted by this year’s fires. Look for more updates, photos, real-time coverage and perspective in the coming days and weeks. We also want to express deep gratitude to all the firefighters, … Continued
For those who want to help, The Seattle Times has put together a great list of opportunities to donate to wildfire response efforts in north-central Washington: http://bit.ly/1LpjOa2 Friday Update Tonasket, the Aeneas Valley and portions of the outskirts of the cities of Omak and Okanogan were evacuated last night. As of 9:00 am this morning, evacuation levels … Continued
By Dave Werntz, Science and Conservation Director It’s true. As stated in today’s Op-Ed in The New York Times (More Logging Won’t Stop Wildfires by Chad T. Hanson and Dominick A. DellaSala), Wyoming Senator John Barrasso’s legislation to mandate a four-fold increase in federal forest logging won’t stop wildfires, improve conditions for wildlife, or address the legacy of old-growth … Continued
By George Wooten, Conservation Associate According to a July 23rd update, the Newby Lake Fire is now 95 percent contained. A medium-sized wildfire, the Newby Lake Fire, is presently burning in the area of the Loomis State Forest (also known as the Loomis Natural Resource Conservation Area), important Canada lynx habitat which Conservation Northwest saved from logging in 1999. The … Continued