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U.S. Forest Service outlines staffing, aviation assets and landscape treatments near Leavenworth
Summary
Okanogan‑Wenatchee National Forest officials described local fire staffing, helicopter support and ongoing hazardous‑fuels projects near Leavenworth, including a multi‑phase treatment around the Chumstick area and pile burning still scheduled for thousands of acres.
The U.S. Forest Service told a Leavenworth workshop that it has staffed engines, crews and aviation resources to respond to wildland fire this season and is carrying out multiple hazardous‑fuels projects on public land near the town.
John Seppley, district fire management officer for the Wenatchee River Ranger District, said the district operates initial attack resources including a 20‑person initial attack crew, a type‑6 engine and a type‑3 engine and that staffing is nearing planned levels as seasonal hires arrive. “We go through two weeks of training … getting folks used to what we do,” Seppley said.
Operations staff also described aviation and regional resources available to supplement local response. Matt Kennedy said the federal aviation surge can include up to four helicopters and that the Moses Lake air tanker base can ramp assets up or down depending on need. Seppley noted additional federal resources such as hotshot crews and smokejumpers stationed regionally.
On fuels work, Forest Service hazardous‑fuels planner Mike Grawhouse described landscape projects the agency is implementing. He said the district averages roughly 10,000 acres of treatment annually across a range of prescriptions from thinning and piling to pile burning and broadcast burning. He described a large southern project of roughly 14,000 acres now in a second phase of maintenance treatment and a Leavenworth‑area project of roughly 6,000 acres with about 3,000 acres of piles remaining to burn.
Grawhouse also summarized planning efforts the agency is coordinating with state and nongovernmental partners. He referenced Good Neighbor Authority work, commercial timber sales and coordination with the Blue Forest Resiliency Bond partnership, which he said has been treating about 6,000 acres and is planning additional large‑scale work. He said a locally important Chumstick (spelled Chumstick in agency materials) project is expected to have a signed decision in the first quarter of the federal fiscal year and emphasized the project’s focus on risk reduction and defensible space around key corridors.
Officials encouraged residents to use Forest Service web resources and social media to track prescribed burning and other operations. Robin Demario, public information officer, said the Okanogan‑Wenatchee National Forest posts planned prescribed burns on its Facebook page and that InciWeb becomes the official public source if a larger incident occurs.
The Forest Service presentation made clear large, multi‑agency projects and prescribed burning are planned across the landscape, but Grawhouse and Seppley stressed treatment timing and smoke management depend on weather windows and resource availability.
