A few short months from now, federal and state foresters around the West will purposely set controlled burns to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires later. This is a regular practice in Oregon, Idaho and California, but much less common in Washington state.
Land managers in Idaho fight fire with fire nearly twice or three times as often as in neighboring Washington. And that's small potatoes compared to Oregon, which has seen way more acreage purposely burned than any of its neighbors on average over the past six years.
The point of prescribed burns is to reduce fuel loads with a controlled, low-intensity fire. State Senator Linda Evans Parlette, who represents wildfire ravaged north central Washington, acknowledges that creates smoke.
"I have to tell you, I say (to that), 'How do we want our smoke?’" Parlette said.
Do you want it in small batches in spring and fall or a smothering blanket for 30 straight days at the height of the summer tourist season?
"The huge economic impact of the fires and the smoke and so forth, we are still not recovered from,” Parlette added.
The Wenatchee Republican said she's uncertain why Washington lags far behind other Western states on this wildfire control strategy. She's pushing several bills that focus on changing policy at Washington's Department of Natural Resources to maximize burn days.
In Washington state, a prescribed burn requires a permit from DNR.
"We approve about 85 percent of the time," Wildfire Division Assistant Manager Karen Arnold said in an interview with public radio.