BLM summarizes fire restrictions, fence rebuilding and Enloe Dam feasibility work affecting county public lands
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Summary
The Bureau of Land Management’s Wenatchee Field Office reported statewide fire restrictions, staffing limits on engines and crews, post-fire fence rebuilding and invasive-species work after Eagle Bluff, and participation in an ongoing Enloe Dam sediment-feasibility study.
The Bureau of Land Management’s Wenatchee Field Office provided a field briefing to county commissioners on wildland fire restrictions and post-fire restoration work, and described its role in a feasibility study regarding Enloe Dam and sediment management.
Curtis Bryant, BLM Wenatchee Field Office field manager, said statewide restrictions are in place and the agency may escalate to stage-1 or stage-2 restrictions this summer; stage 1 would limit campfires to developed rings while stage 2 would ban them entirely on BLM land. Bryant said the BLM is short several engine captains this season, which may change how quickly federal suppression resources can be brought to incidents and could prompt earlier use of preventive measures.
Bryant briefed commissioners on active restoration work after the Eagle Bluff Fire: the BLM is rebuilding fences, prioritizing border fencing to prevent livestock drift into Canada, conducting herbicide treatments and removing Russian olive, and reseeding to reduce invasive grasses. The agency also described partnerships with local veterans’ crews and contractors for fencing, piling and fuels work.
On Enloe Dam, Bryant said BLM is cooperating in a multiyear feasibility study led by the local public utility district and nonprofit partners to evaluate dam removal options and sediment-management alternatives. BLM expressed particular concern with any proposal to deposit contaminated sediments on BLM-managed lands and said recent sediment coring suggests the amount of fine, contaminated sediment may be less than earlier estimates. The BLM will remain engaged as the study refines alternatives.
There were no board votes; commissioners thanked the BLM for the update and asked Bryant to continue coordination on fire restrictions, fencing work and downstream impacts of any Enloe Dam decision.