| Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest | |
|---|---|
 View from Maple Pass showing Lake Ann andCrooked Bum | |
 Location in theUnited States | |
| Location | Okanogan County,Washington |
| Nearest city | Omak, Washington |
| Coordinates | 48°33′06″N120°23′06″W / 48.5517°N 120.385°W /48.5517; -120.385 |
| Area | 1,499,023 acres (6,066.33 km2)[1] |
| Established | July 1, 1911[2] |
| Visitors | 397,000 (in 2005) |
| Governing body | United States Forest Service |
| www | |
TheOkanogan–Wenatchee National Forest is aU.S. National Forest located inOkanogan County in north-centralWashington, United States.
The 1,499,013-acre (2,342.208 sq mi; 6,066.29 km2) forest is bordered on the north byBritish Columbia, on the east byColville National Forest, on the south by the divide between theMethow and theStehekin–Lake Chelan valleys, and on the west byNorth Cascades National Park. The closest significant communities areOmak andOkanogan.
Managed by theUnited States Forest Service, its headquarters are inWenatchee. It is the second-largest national forest (after theNez Perce National Forest inIdaho) that is contained entirely within one county and largest of which in Washington.
Most of thePasayten Wilderness (excluding its westernmost part, which lies in theMount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest), and the northeast portion (about 63%)[3] ofLake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness are part of the forest, with the balance lying in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
The western part of the forest is wetter than the dry and less temperate east. The vegetation varies similarly, from the westernboreal forest, to the eastern high-elevationsteppe. A 1993 Forest Service study estimated that the extent of old growth in the forest was 316,000 acres (128,000 ha),[4] a majority of which waslodgepole pine forests.Wildfires are not uncommon in the Okanogan National Forest. Notable fires include the 2006Tripod Complex, the 2014Carlton Complex and the 2015Okanogan Complex fires.
The Okanogan National Forest was established on July 1, 1911, from a portion of theChelan National Forest. On July 1, 1921, the entire forest was transferred back to the Chelan National Forest, but on March 23, 1955, the transfer was reverted.[2]
TheWenatchee National Forest has an area of 1,735,394acres (2,711.55 sq mi, or 7,022.89 km2);[5] it extends about 137 miles along the eastern slopes of theCascade Range of Washington, USA fromOkanogan National Forest toGifford Pinchot National Forest. The forest is located inChelan,Kittitas andYakima counties.
There are six officially designatedwilderness areas within Wenatchee National Forest that are part of theNational Wilderness Preservation System. All of them lie partially in neighboring National Forests (as indicated).
Nearly two miles long and accessible only by hiking or horse trails, Waptus Lake is the largest Alpine lake in the National Forest. Drained by the Waptus River, it is notable for its views of Summit Chief and Bears Breast mountains.
A 1993United States Forest Service study estimated that the extent of old growth in the Forest was 318,800 acres (129,000 ha).[4]Wildfires are not uncommon in the National Forest. In September 2012, a severe lightning storm ignitedhundreds of fires, the largest of which were located southwest of the city ofWenatchee and east ofBlewett Pass.Significant wildfires occurred again in July 2014, in theChiwaukum andEntiat Mountains.[6] A lightning strike near Jolly Mountain on August 11, 2017, ultimately burned more than 38,000 acres and forced significant evacuations.[7]
The Okanogan National Forest was administratively combined with the Wenatchee National Forest in 2000, although the boundaries for each forest remained unchanged, and in 2007, it administratively became known as theOkanogan–Wenatchee National Forest.[8][9] The headquarters are inWenatchee, Washington.[10]
Administration is divided across 6 Ranger districts:
TheForest Reserve Act of 1891 gave the President the authority to establish forest reserves for theUnited States Department of the Interior.[12] After passage of theTransfer Act of 1905, forest reserves became part of theUnited States Department of Agriculture in the newly created United States Forest Service.[8][13] The Chelan National Forest was established by the Forest Service on July 1, 1908,[14] from 2,492,500 acres (1,008,700 ha) from a portion of theWashington National Forest, and was named after the city ofChelan, where its headquarters were. The forest's initial area of 1,732,820 acres (701,250 ha) extended from the northernOkanogan River near theCanada–United States border to divide theLake Chelan andEntiat watersheds to the southernCascade Crest.[15] On July 1, 1911, the forest partly transformed into Okanogan National Forest. However, Chelan National Forest was still existent, then only occupying thedrainage basin of Lake Chelan and Entiat.[16]
The Conconully, Loomis, Squaw Creek, Sweat Creek, Twisp and Winthrop ranger districts were formed between 1911 and 1915.[8] On July 1, 1921, the entire forest reunited back into the Chelan National Forest, and the termOkanogan was discontinued.[16] Subsequently, another ranger district was established, the Chelan Ranger District. Portions of the Loomis Ranger District, along with the Sweat Creek Ranger District, absorbed to become the Loomis State Forest, later abandoned. The forest's ranger area underwent a number of smaller changes until the mid-1940s. The Squaw Creek Ranger District was absorbed by the Twisp Ranger District in the early 1930s, while the Forest Service Monument 83 lookout was constructed in neighboringBritish Columbia as an accident. The Pasayten Ranger District was later created from a portion of the Winthrop Ranger District, and the Conconully Ranger District became the Okanogan Ranger District.[8] The western part of theColville National Forest transferred into the Chelan National Forest in 1943. On March 23, 1955, Chelan National Forest again became the Okanogan National Forest, then headquartered in the city ofOkanogan. As per the change, the rename of the Conconully Ranger District was reverted.[16]
In 1968, thePasayten Wilderness was established, introducing over 200,000 acres (81,000 ha) to the forest.[8] TheUnited States Congress designated almost 65 percent of the forest's area as the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness under theNational Wilderness Preservation System around 1984, upon land formerly occupied by the former Chelan Division of the Washington Forest Reserve.[17]
The first forest supervisor of Wenatchee National Forest wasAlbert H. Sylvester, who named over a thousand natural features in the region.[citation needed]
On October 15, 2024 aU.S. NavyEA-18G Growler crashed east of Mt. Rainer, causing closures in the Pear Butte region of the Natches Ranger District from October 21 - December 31 as the military searched for debris relate to the incident.[18][19]
