Land & Resources Management

Skinney Creek Restoration

Skinney Creek is a tributary to Chiwaukum Creek, along Highway 2, about 20 miles west of Leavenworth, WA. Being adjacent to a major highway has always had an impact on Skinney Creek but conditions were made worse in 2013 when a highway realignment occurred and pushed Skinney Creek into a bermed ditch-like channel between the old highway prism and the new highway. Yakama Nation Fisheries approached the Forest Service with the idea of reconstructing Skinney Creek in the footprint of the old highway.

Aerial Insect and Disease Damage Survey Maps

The Forest Service has been conducting Aerial Insect and Disease Damage Surveys in the Pacific Northwest for 70 years. See the latest map for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and forests across Oregon and Washington. You can zoom in on map and display a legend explaining color codes.

Colville and Okanogan-Wenatchee Forest Plan Revision

The Colville and Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests worked for a number of years on a cooperative effort to update and revise their land and resource management plans, also called forest plans.  

In 2014 the Regional Forester decided to separate the two forest revision effort and opted to have the Colville Forest moving ahead in the schedule to work on completing their plan revision.  Current information about the Colville Plan Revision effort can be found here: www.fs.usda.gov/goto/colville/plan-revision

The Okanogan-Wenatchee Forest’s plan revision effort is currently on hold as Region 6 works to determine a strategy for completing the remaining forest plan revisions in Washington and Oregon. 

Forest Restoration Strategy

The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest has a comprehensive strategy for restoring our forests and watersheds. Learn more...

Travel Analysis

The ability to maintain the roads of the National Forest Transportation System is directly linked to available funding. Funding for road maintenance on National Forests has steadily decreased, and all indications are pointing toward continued reductions in funding. Meanwhile, despite our best efforts to maintain and improve roads for appropriate access and the protection of forest resources, many roads and bridges are aging into disrepair.

Finding the proper balance between environmental protection, affordable maintenance, and continued public access in the Forest road system is called for by Forest Service policy....  MORE

Why are there so many dead trees in the forest?

First of all, the majority of the trees you may be seeing that appear brown and dead have been defoliated (the needles removed) by an insect  -- the Western Spruce Budworm. In many areas of the forest there has been a large cyclical outbreak of this insect in recent years. Though many thousands of trees are killed by these insects, many trees will also appear dead for a season or two and then new growth will appear and the trees recover.

National Forest Recreation Site Facility Planning

The Forest Service has reviewed over 360 developed recreation sites on the Okanogan & Wenatchee National Forests through a national process called “Recreation Facility Analysis” (RFA). This process allows the Forest Service, with ideas and information from you and others, to provide the best developed recreation opportunities in the right locations on the forests.