Burn Ban On State Lands East of Cascades – Goes Into Effect Immediately

Effective Tuesday, June 16th, the Department of Natural Resources says there will be a burn ban on all state protected lands East of the Cascades in Washington state.

How will this affect campers and recreation? From the DNR:

"The eastern Washington burn ban applies to state forests, state parks and forestlands under DNR fire protection.  It does not include federally owned lands such as national forests, national parks, national wildlife refuges or other areas administered by federal agencies.

The June 17 burn ban applies to all outdoor burning on DNR-protected forestlands east of the Cascades with the exception of recreational fires in approved fire pits within designated state, county, municipal and other campgrounds."

So far there have been 241 fires this year in our state. Last year was the largest on record, especially because of the massive Carlton Complex fire that scorched 250,000 acres.

Officials stress even if you're in an area where a burn ban isn't in place, to exercise extreme caution.  When camping, if fires are permitted, only use approved fire pits or other designated facilities, and make sure your fires are fully extinguished when done using them.