Bridger-Teton resumes prescribed burning in Wyoming Range
October 17, 2014
The Big Piney Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton National Forest is resuming ignitions on prescribed burn units in the Cottonwood area of the Wyoming Range. They plan to start Friday Oct. 17, on a unit at the head of Nylander Creek in North Cottonwood Creek. They anticipate a couple of days burning in that unit and then depending on weather and conditions, move on to a unit on the north side of S. Cottonwood drainage on Sunday or Monday.
There are no closures associated with the burns, but they ask that the public stay clear of the area while firefighters are working and be aware of hazards that will exist in the vicinity of burned areas post ignition: falling snags, hot pockets/stump holes, rolling rocks and debris on steeper slopes, smoke and active flames in the interior of burn units.
The Cottonwood II prescribed burn is located approximately 20-miles west of Daniel, Wyoming in the North and South Cottonwood drainages and on Bare Pass near Red Castles. The project consists of several units totaling 1,093 acres. Fifty acres were successfully treated with fire earlier in this spring and 120 acres previously. Teton Interagency Fire Managers are hoping to burn several units for a total of over 500 acres this fall.
The primary objective of the burn is to increase aspen regeneration and reduce encroaching conifer. "Fire is a very good tool to help bring back these aspen stands," said Paul Hutta, Fire Management Officer for the East Zone of the Bridger-Teton NF. "Aspen are shade intolerant and removing the overstory of conifers will allow suckering to occur." Additional benefits will be to increase forage conditions for wildlife habitat and reduce hazardous fuels build-up while restoring fire-adaptive ecosystems.
Forest users may experience temporary smoky conditions in the vicinity of the project area and hazards associated with fire will be present inside and adjacent to the burn units. Interagency fire managers will attempt to minimize any adverse impacts as the burn proceeds.
This vegetation treatment is an interagency cooperative effort with Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming Game & Fish Department, Sublette County Fire, and Teton Interagency Fire.
For more information about this project, contact the Big Piney Ranger District at 307-276-3375 or visit www.tetonfires.com or http://gacc.nifc.gov/egbc/dispatch/wy-tdc/prescribed-fires.php.
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