Chelan County Awarded Almost $200,000 in DNR Grant Funding

Washington State Department of Natural Resources awarded almost $200,000 in forest restoration grant funding to Chelan County for projects to help reduce wildfire risk. Chelan County received almost $172,000 in All Lands Forest Restoration Funding and $27,786 in Building Forest Partnerships funding.

"Chelan County was awarded the Building Forest Partnerships grant to help with staff capacity to continue to facilitate the Stemilt Partnership, which is a coalition of local stake holders that addresses issues in the Stemilt Basin," said Erin McKay, senior natural resources specialist.

Also, funding from the grant will cover road analysis to identify road segments that are causing sediment delivery to aquatic ecosystems in the basin and develop a prioritized list of road segments to either repair or decommission.

The All Lands Forest Restoration Grant Program, is directed to help groups plan and conduct forest health treatments, and the county will use the funding toward implementation of fuels reduction work in the basin in high priority areas.

"We have a few areas identified and we'll be working with landowners and stakeholders to identify additional areas to implement about 300 acres of fuel reduction work," said McKay.