#upper skagit complex

[ncascades]

Haunting photos from the Trail of Cedars and Newhalem on Wednesday 8/26 in North Cascades National Park Service Complex​ by Mark Mulligan for the Everett Herald​. But as the Park noted today, "It can be hard to perceive a burned forest as beautiful but fire is a part of the natural world, just like the wind, the rain and other natural forces. Wildfires are an essential feature of ecosystems; both plants and animals are well adapted to fires and often benefit from fire." Read the story "Firefighters struggle to halt blazes in North Cascades’ terrain" at http://bit.ly/1KnvzfF and view the photo gallery at http://bit.ly/1JwTe8k.

[ncascades]

The Goodell Fire in North Cascades National Park (NOCA) has expanded and now totals 5,573 acres, burning on both sides of State Highway 20 and the Skagit River near the town of Newhalem, the NOCA Visitor Center and Newhalem campground. The fire also continued to slowly move eastward up Newhalem Gorge along both sides of Gorge Lake in the direction of Diablo and the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center.

Firefighters are implementing structure protection in Diablo and the Environmental Learning Center. The Learning Center is a hive of activity today with fire crews on site, including three engines from Darrington, Index and Concrete. Crews have begun installing water pumps in Diablo Lake and hoses and sprinklers throughout campus and surveying the campus in consultation with NOCA for vegetation removal to create defensible space.

We are providing wildfire updates at www.ncascades.org/wildfire