By the Okanogan Conservation District

The Okanogan Conservation District in Washington State has served Okanogan County landowners and residents since 1940, offering free, voluntary conservation assistance across agriculture, forests and wildfire, water resources, habitat, education, and community outreach. The district works closely with private landowners, local partners, and agencies such as the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to develop practical, locally driven projects that improve forest health, strengthen wildfire resilience, protect working lands, and support the rural way of life that depends on them.

The story below, shared by the Okanogan Conservation District, shows exactly why that work matters. During the Kaiser Canyon Fire, fuels-reduction treatments on Jackson Ranch helped change the way the fire moved through the landscape, keeping flames lower to the ground, giving firefighters and neighbors a better chance to defend homes and structures, and allowing a neighboring landowner’s cattle to walk out unharmed. It is an impressive reminder that conservation district projects are not abstract investments; they can directly protect livestock, property, livelihoods, and communities when wildfire arrives.

Jackson Ranch is located roughly 2.5 miles northwest of Nespelem, Washington, on the Colville Reservation in Okanogan County. The property straddles Highway 155 and is bordered by private lands, as well as tribal trust lands managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. With support from the Washington DNR Service Forestry and the Okanogan Conservation District, the Jacksons treated their property to improve forest health, wildlife habitat, and wildfire resilience.

DNR first treated 80 acres as a pilot effort through the Commercially Marginal Timber Program, followed by another 9.4 acres through a standard forest health cost-share between DNR and the Jacksons. In December 2024, Sam Halvorsen, the DNR Service Forester working on the project, contacted the Okanogan Conservation District’s Forests and Wildfire Lead, Eli Loftis, to explore whether additional work could be completed on the property using cost-share funds from the Washington State Conservation Commission’s Forest Health and Community Wildfire Resilience Program. Working with the Jacksons and their contractor, Knowlton Forestry, Loftis and Halvorsen developed prescriptions for another 182.2 acres of mastication work, split between two contracts with the district for a total project cost of $187,115. The Okanogan Conservation District used NRCS practice code 384, woody residue treatment, as the basis for developing the prescription. The district contributed roughly 75% of the cost, or $138,794.04, while the Jacksons contributed the remaining 25%, or $48,320.96. Staffing, printing, equipment use, and other associated costs for the district were roughly $2,000.

Altogether, the combined projects treated 271.6 acres of dry conifer forest on the ranch and connected with treatments completed by the Colville Tribe on neighboring parcels. The wildlife benefits were visible almost immediately. A large herd of elk began using the site before the mastication project was even fully complete, taking advantage of the more open conditions and improved forage. Increased numbers of white-tailed deer and songbirds were observed as well. The project also advanced actions in Okanogan County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan related to fuel reductions along major transportation corridors like Highway 155, an area local residents had identified as high risk and high value during public meetings in the spring of 2024.

In April 2026, Chick and Sindy Jackson were awarded the Sustainability Star Award by the Okanogan Conservation District in recognition of their work to support forest health and wildfire resiliency.

Just a few months later, in July 2026, the Kaiser Canyon Fire burned across the entire Jackson Ranch. The prescriptions developed by DNR and the Okanogan Conservation District were designed to keep fire on the ground or force it back to the ground in the event of a running crown fire. While the Jacksons were away from home during the fire, neighbors fighting the fire reported a clear change in fire behavior as it reached the ranch. The flames dropped back to the ground and stayed there. Although the fire came within feet of the Jacksons’ home, the moderated fire behavior and the quick actions of their neighbors meant they did not lose any structures, and all of their livestock survived.

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