U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff from the Inland Northwest National Wildlife Refuge Complex (NWRC) and Mid-Columbia River NWRC, as well as cooperators from Spokane County Fire Districts 3 and 10, and students from the University of Idaho completed a 40-acre prescribed burn at Turnbull NWR in April 2016.

The prescribed burn is a follow-up treatment in a unit that was initially burned in 1992, and is intended to mimic the historic return interval of fire in ponderosa pine habitat.

Prescribed burning in this habitat improves and restores ecosystem health, as well as reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfire - creating a healthy and more resilient landscape.

A firefighter ignites in a willow stand overstocked with ponderosa pine trees. Reducing ponderosa pine density improves habitat diversity.