Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest

There are six officially designated wilderness areas within Wenatchee National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. All of them lie partially in neighboring National Forests (as indicated). • Alpine Lakes Wilderness (partly in Snoqualmie NF) • Glacier Peak Wilderness (partly in Mount Baker NF) • Goat Rocks Wilderness (mostly in Gifford Pinchot NF) • Henry M. Jackson Wilderness (partly in Snoqualmie NF (46.2%); Mount Baker NF (27.2%)) • Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness (mostly in Okanogan NF) • William O. Douglas Wilderness (partly in Gifford Pinchot NF) Waptus Lake Nearly two miles long and accessible only by hiking or horse trails, Waptus Lake is the largest Alpine lake in the National Forest. Drained by the Waptus River, it is notable for its views of Summit Chief and Bears Breast mountains. ==Ecology==

A 1993 United States Forest Service study estimated that the extent of old growth in the Forest was . Wildfires are not uncommon in the National Forest. In September 2012, a severe lightning storm ignited hundreds of fires, the largest of which were located southwest of the city of Wenatchee and east of Blewett Pass. Significant wildfires occurred again in July 2014, in the Chiwaukum and Entiat Mountains. A lightning strike near Jolly Mountain on August 11, 2017, ultimately burned more than 38,000 acres and forced significant evacuations. ==Administration==

The Okanogan National Forest was administratively combined with the Wenatchee National Forest in 2000, although the boundaries for each forest remained unchanged, and in 2007, it administratively became known as the Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest. The headquarters are in Wenatchee, Washington. Administration is divided across 6 Ranger districts: • Chelan Ranger District (Headquarters: Chelan, WA) • Natches Ranger District (Headquarters: Naches, WA) • Wenatchee River Ranger District (Headquarters: Leavenworth, WA) == History ==

The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 gave the President the authority to establish forest reserves for the United States Department of the Interior. After passage of the Transfer Act of 1905, forest reserves became part of the United States Department of Agriculture in the newly created United States Forest Service. The Chelan National Forest was established by the Forest Service on July 1, 1908, from from a portion of the Washington National Forest, and was named after the city of Chelan, where its headquarters were. The forest's initial area of extended from the northern Okanogan River near the Canada–United States border to divide the Lake Chelan and Entiat watersheds to the southern Cascade Crest. On July 1, 1911, the forest partly transformed into Okanogan National Forest. However, Chelan National Forest was still existent, then only occupying the drainage basin of Lake Chelan and Entiat. The Conconully, Loomis, Squaw Creek, Sweat Creek, Twisp and Winthrop ranger districts were formed between 1911 and 1915. The first forest supervisor of Wenatchee National Forest was Albert H. Sylvester, who named over a thousand natural features in the region. On October 15, 2024 a U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler crashed east of Mt. Rainer, causing closures in the Pear Butte region of the Natches Ranger District from October 21 - December 31 as the military searched for debris relate to the incident. ==See also==