Eastern Washington DNR lands to reopen on Thursday

SEATTLE – Washington’s commissioner of public lands plans to share some good news for outdoor lovers: DNR lands will reopen this week.

Commissioner Hilary Franz’s office sent out a message on Monday saying she would announce on Wednesday the reopening of Department of Natural Resources lands east of the Cascades to public access. The change will be effective this Thursday.

The announcement is scheduled to come Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Franz and other leaders will also give an update on the state of the 2021 wildfire season.

DNR said this fire season “presented unprecedented challenges with historic heat and drought conditions, as well as an increased rate of COVID spread due to the Delta variant.”

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Firefighters in the state have battled around 1,750 fires that have burned north of 650,000 acres.

DNR said this year, over Labor Day Weekend, there were no significant wildfires started. That’s compared to Labor Day weekend last year when more than 500,000 acres burned in less than 36 hours.

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