OLYMPIA, Wash. – The EPA has cleared Washington to conduct more controlled burns on forest lands.

The state’s updated Smoke Management Plan was approved late last week.

State officials say it gives them more flexibility in managing prescribed burns to protect air quality impacts from smoke, reduce fuel loading and minimize the risk to communities from major wildfires.

They add that the controlled burns will make local ecosystems less vulnerable to the many wildfires that have emerged throughout the state this summer.

There have been just over 1,300 fires in Washington so far this year with over 100,000 acres burned.