**MEDIA ADVISORY**
August 5, 2010
Press event to highlight fire prevention projects in high-risk area
August 6th press event to showcase fuel reduction efforts
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) invites members of the media to view an area treated with fuel reduction prescriptions that help stop the spread of wildfires.
The Forest Ridge area near Cashmere is a location that is prone to catastrophic wildfires. In order to prepare for these seemingly annual events, a fuel break was necessary in this community.
Media will receive a firsthand look at this area’s successful fuel reduction project and how it works in preventing catastrophic wildfires. Media also will have an opportunity for interviews with fire experts from DNR and Chelan County Fire District 6 and for photos of wildfire prevention efforts.
Across the state, DNR works to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires in high-risk communities through a coordinated effort of fuel reduction projects. Projects are targeted on private and nonfederal government forestlands in the wildland-urban interface. The projects are made possible through federally funded grants, such as the National Fire Plan and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
These prevention projects accomplish desired fire prevention activities to reduce long term fire suppression costs while providing much-needed jobs to the local economy.
Media opportunity
When: August 6, 2010, at 11:00 a.m.
Where: Chelan County Fairgrounds, Cashmere, WA
Directions:
- Arrive in Cashmere on US-2/US-97
- Bear right (South-East) onto Goodwin Road
- Turn right (West) onto Sunset Hwy
- Turn left (South) onto Wescott Drive
RSVP to Janet Pearce at 360-902-1122 or janet.pearce@dnr.wa.gov
Media Contact: Janet Pearce, Communications and Outreach, 360-902-1122, janet.pearce@dnr.wa.gov
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