DNR Issues Statement Regarding 20 Mile Meadow Wolves Mission

by Loni Rahm

On Thursday, at the request of the Tonasket U.S. Forest Service Ranger District, a DNR Wildfire pilot and three crew members conducted a mission to retrieve a U.S. Forest Service affiliated individual in the national forest who reported that she felt threatened by wolves and had taken refuge in a tree.

 

The Okanogan County Sheriff’s office confirmed a research student conducting a survey was rescued by helicopter Thursday when she was surrounded by wolves near Tiffany Spring Campground about 25 miles northeast of Winthrop. She climbed to safety in a tree while the wolves surrounded the tree on the ground below.

The Omak helicopter crew Thursday after their mission. Left to right are Daryl Schie (helicopter manger), Matthew Harris (crew), Jared Hess (crew) and Devin Gooch (pilot). Photo Courtesy of DNR 

DNR helicopter pilot Devin Gooch – “Gooch” as he’s commonly known to this colleagues – and his crew reached the individual’s location within 14 minutes of leaving the DNR base in Omak. Reaching this remote location on foot would have taken an estimated 2 to 3 hours.

“I’m incredibly proud of my team – they are tremendous assets to our communities. Their willingness to step forwarard when it’s the right thing to do knows no bounds,” said Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands.

“Pilot Devin Gooch – a veteran – truly exemplifies what it means to serve our public” – Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands

DNR wildfire helicopters are not typically used for this purpose. They are specialized aircraft designed for wildland firefighting. However, given the proximity to the site and the unknown circumstances, DNR leadership felt justified in taking this action.

LakeChelanNow spoke with Carrie McCausland, DNR’s Deputy Communications Director. She confirmed that placing personnel and equipment in a high risk area is part of their strategy. “We assess the risk and intentionally spread out our resources based upon where we anticipate we might need to be,” McCausland said.

In this particular case, McCausland indicated the helicopter was in a perfect response position to a unusual request for assistance.

DNR completed this mission with the support of both the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife.