Columbia Gorge Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX)

The Columbia Gorge TREX provides experiential prescribed fire training and boosts local capacity for burning on all lands.

Columbia Gorge TREX 2026

Host location: Ekone Ranch (Sacred Earth Foundation), 401 Ekone Road, Goldendale, WA.

Dates: May 11-22, 2026.

Event goals: The Columbia Gorge TREX aims to provide quality prescribed fire training to participants coming from a wide variety of backgrounds and experience levels, while providing additional capacity to help local land managers complete prescribed fire preparation and implementation. Specific objectives include:

• Advance local partners’ goals of increasing "good fire" in the Columbia Gorge region to restore fire-adapted ecosystems and reduce wildfire risk to communities.

• Strengthen partnerships and connections that will facilitate and grow future prescribed fire opportunities, particularly in Washington and the Mt. Adams region.

• Increase participants’ prescribed fire skills and knowledge, thereby improving their ability to plan and implement quality prescribed burning in their home units and elsewhere.

• Provide prescribed fire practitioners with opportunities to complete training tasks necessary to advance in NWCG operational positions, helping increase the number of NWCG-qualified prescribed fire practitioners in various positions.

• Exchange knowledge between participants with different backgrounds and strengths and create lasting connections between participants who can then serve as resources for one another into the future.

Event summary: The third Columbia Gorge Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (CGTREX) brought together partners and participants from across Washington and beyond for 12 total days of prescribed fire learning and knowledge exchange. CGTREX was hosted at Ekone Ranch, a land trust and youth education center northeast of Goldendale, WA. CGTREX brought together 35 personnel, representing 18 unique organizations (federal, state, non-profits, universities, and private businesses). During the training, CGTREX participants and IMT members implemented 34 acres of broadcast burning at Ekone Ranch, our host site. In addition to burn operations, participants scouted and prepped three prescribed fire units and completed full mop-up and gridding of our 34-acre burn unit.

CGTREX learning opportunities included:

• A field session about local forest and fire ecology

• Presentations about fire behavior observations and fuel model selection, fire weather and smoke management, fire effects in our CGTREX burn unit, firefighter health and wellbeing, and public outreach and communications

• Hands-on learning about pump and engine apparatus and weather-taking.

• Unit scouting exercises and a mock burn on our anticipated burn unit.

CGTREX also included robust peer-to-peer learning and discussions about NWCG positions and roles, operational tactics, prescribed fire leadership, and more. Among those with open NWCG position taskbooks, 17 individuals received signatures during their time at TREX and 1 individual received a final verification sign off on their task book. Based on feedback gleaned from participant evaluations and group after-action reviews, CGTREX proved to be a worthwhile learning opportunity for attendees and met objectives to build regional partnerships and increase prescribed fire capacity. Thank you to everyone who attended CGTREX and helped make it such a rich learning experience!

Photos from CG TREX are viewable in our Google Photos album.

For more information about CG TREX: please contact Mt. Adams Resource Stewards Prescribed Fire Coordinator Emery Cowan at: Emery@mtadamsstewards.org.

READ OUR 2026 CG TREX FINAL REPORT HERE!