Teton Interagency Fire

Grand Teton National Park is planning prescribed fire operations for 105 acres 
in mid to late May on a portion of the Slough South unit of the Hayfields Restoration Management Area (HMRA). The unit is located east of Blacktail Butte and west of Mormon Row, between the Gros Ventre and Antelope Flats roads.

Prescribed fire is a key component of a multi-stage effort to restore abandoned pastureland in Grand Teton National Park to native vegetation. In collaboration with park vegetation ecologists, this project utilizes prescribed fire, herbicide applications, and other treatments to transition non-native grasses back to native rangeland species across 18 small units.

Since the early 1900s, agricultural activities and livestock grazing significantly impacted the area. Jackson Hole’s early homesteaders converted large tracts of the local sagebrush grasslands to pasture and hay field grasses for agricultural use. These irrigated crops eventually became known as the Kelly Hayfields.

The primary vegetation in the HMRA now consists of invasive agronomic grasses and noxious weeds, including non-native smooth brome and thistle. The restoration process of removing formerly cultivated and other non-native plant species and replacing them with native grasses and shrubs will benefit bison, elk, pronghorn, sage grouse, songbirds, and other native wildlife.