The Washington Department of Natural Resources has embarked on Phase 1 of a plan to create fire fuel breaks around White Salmon.  City Councilors last month gave DNR the go-ahead to pursue the first phase of the project, which would be on the east side of White Salmon and reduce fuel loading for a north to south break in the Jewett Creek area from the power station next to Skyline Hospital and extend north.  DNR Landowner Assistance Forester Greg Houle explains that a concentration of the community’s population living in that area led to it being picked for the first phase.  One of the challenges while implanting the project will be protecting the fish-bearing stream, and there will be a buffer established for the stream.  Three more phases are also planned.  Houle says community outreach is being done now, with a goal of implementing the project this spring and summer.