Name

Cle Elum

Priority Landscape Category

20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan: Eastern WA Priority Landscapes

Description

This priority landscape (aka priority planning area) is 109,396 acres, of which 80,300 are forested. Ownership is 56% private, 24% US Forest Service, 13% The Nature Conservancy, 5% DNR, and 2% other.  This landscape combines high fire risk along the northern and southern ridges with extensive development in the valley and foothills. Burn probability is moderate to high.

DNR conducted a landscape evaluation was completed in 2018, and an update in 2020 incorporates an additional sub-watershed (Middle Cle Elum) as well as identifies treatments that can achieve dual benefits of forest health and wildfire response.  The landscape evaluation identified that treating 22,000 - 35,500 acres is recommended to move the landscape into a resilient condition using a combination of mechanical, prescribe fire, and managed wildfire treatments.  High priority areas for potential treatments that maximize forest health and wildfire response benefit include south-facing slopes of Cle Elum Ridge, north-facing slopes along the southern edge, and locations adjacent to Cle Elum, Roslyn, and nearby communities.

As of October 31, 2023, since 2017:

• Based on data reported by land owners, land managers, and partners to Washington DNR, 4,721 acres of forest health treatments have been completed since 2017, impacting 3,229 footprint acres.
• For additional landscape context: 1,646 acres have experienced low or mixed severity in the priority landscape, while 19,820 acres of Forest Practice Applications have been approved for some kind of active management.

Read the latest summary memo of eastern Washington treatment data reported to Washington DNR, and read the full landscape evaluation summary or download the PDF available below.  Data layers associated with the landscape evaluation are available at https://bit.ly/ForestHealthData.  Information on specific projects conducted within or overlapping this priority landscape that have been uploaded into Forest Health Tracker are below.  Additionally, there is a community driven collaborative planning page to coordinate efforts in this priority landscape.

External Resources