Chelan County Begins 640-Acre Hand-Pile Burn Near Lake Wenatchee

Chelan County is burning hand piles on 640 acres of land in the Plain and Lake Wenatchee area.

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Forest Health Program Manager for Chelan County Natural Resources Erin McKay said the project, now in its second year, is about 20 percent finished and on schedule. Hand piles are accumulated forest debris created over the past year on the Upper Wenatchee Forest Health Project, which aims to reduce fuels and wildfire across approximately 5,000 acres over five years in the Plain and Lake Wenatchee area.

“The burning of the hand piles is a big step for the project because it marks the completion of mitigation efforts we’ve undertaken this year,” McKay said. “The treatment isn’t done until the piles are burned.”

Restoration treatments are designed to improve stand health and restore fire to the landscape, reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires. Work includes commercial and non-commercial tree thinning, prescribed fire, road construction, and road decommissioning.

Piles will be burned over the next two weeks. Pile burning generally produces much less smoke than a large wildfire. The burns are planned and monitored by the U.S. Forest Service and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.