© Ken Meinhart, USFWS
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff from the Inland Northwest National Wildlife Refuge Complex (NWRC) and Mid-Columbia River NWRC, as well as cooperators from Spokane County Fire Districts 3 and 10, and students from the University of Idaho completed a 40-acre prescribed burn at Turnbull NWR in April 2016.
© USFWS Pacific Region
The prescribed burn is a follow-up treatment in a unit that was initially burned in 1992, and is intended to mimic the historic return interval of fire in ponderosa pine habitat.
© USFWS Pacific Region
Prescribed burning in this habitat improves and restores ecosystem health, as well as reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfire - creating a healthy and more resilient landscape.
© USFWS Pacific Region
A firefighter ignites in a willow stand overstocked with ponderosa pine trees. Reducing ponderosa pine density improves habitat diversity.
© USFWS Pacific Region
© USFWS Pacific Region