Eastside Recreation Areas CLOSED-TFN

If you haven't figured it out already, the fire danger is extremely high here.

As a result of the perilous conditions, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources has extended the closure of ALL recreation on DNR lands east of the Cascades until Thursday, September 17th.

An announcement of the reopening of the public lands will be made when conditions become safer for people.

“Closing recreation to the public is a difficult decision, and one we do not take lightly, but the risk to public safety and our firefighters is too great to take chances with,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, the elected official who oversees DNR. “Hundreds of thousands of acres of land have burned since Monday, and our resources are fully deployed. But we cannot risk having more human-caused fires right now.

“I know how important hunting season is to so many Washingtonians, but we are in the middle of a historic wildfire event.”