Teton Interagency Fire

Pinedale, Wyo., December 11, 2024—The Bridger-Teton National Forest plans to conduct a tree thinning project designed to reduce hazardous wildfire fuels near the Big Sandy trailhead in the southern Wind River Range. The project area, approximately 25 miles southeast of Boulder, WY, contains high levels of dead and down fuels due to historic fire suppression, blowdown events, lodgepole pine mortality from mountain pine beetle, and a large number of trees infested with western dwarf mistletoe. Work would begin in the summer of 2025.

A combination of prescribed pile-burning (Thin-Pile-Burn) and mechanical timber harvesting are planned to remove ladder fuels, blown-down timber and increase canopy spacing on Forest Service lands within the Wildland Urban Interface. These treatments will help mitigate the potential for high intensity wildfire and improve emergency travel to the many homes, special use permitted areas, and Forest Service sites adjacent to the Big Sandy trailhead. Conifer trees encroaching on aspen communities will also be removed to promote aspen regeneration for the benefit of wildlife.

The Big Sandy Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project has been reviewed and discussed publicly and is being conducted with support from the Sublette County Forest Collaborative. Those interested can access and review the project decision documents here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/btnf/?project=64704

For more information about the Bridger-Teton National Forest on our website at https://www.usda.gov/btnf/or by following us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BridgerTetonNFor Twitter X https://twitter.com/BridgerTetonNF 

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Pinedale, Wyo., December 19, 2024—The Bridger-Teton National Forest is currently seeking comments on the Pinedale Ranger District's East Rim Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Vegetation Management Project near the Hoback Rim northwest of Pinedale.

This project aims to reduce excessive wildfire fuels on the landscape by removing dead trees and woody debris, thinning live trees, and removing diseased trees in forested stands on up to 3,000 acres. Fuels reduction will be achieved through a variety of timber management activities and prescribed burning.

The benefits of forest thinning and burning include improving landscape resilience to climate change and other disturbances by reducing wildfire risk, decreasing fuel loading, improving forest stand health, and increasing the age class and species diversity of trees. All proposed activities are consistent with the current Forest Plan (USDA 1990, as amended).

The East Rim WUI project is located approximately 25 miles northwest of Pinedale and 10 miles east of Bondurant on the north side of U.S. Highway 189, adjacent to the Packer-Miner Creek Road.

Comments should be submitted through the public participation portal on the project webpage: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/btnf/?project=67357. Submit comments using the web form on the project webpage select “Comment on Project” under “Get Connected” on the right side of the project’s webpage. This scoping period will run for 20 days. Comments are requested by January 6, 2025. Written comments may also be submitted by mail or hand delivered to:

Kate Olsen, District Ranger
Pinedale Ranger District
29 East Fremont Lake Road, PO Box 220
Pinedale, WY 82941

The office business hours for those submitting hand-delivered comments are: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
For more information about the Bridger-Teton National Forest on our website at https://www.usda.gov/btnf/ or by following us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BridgerTetonNF or Twitter X https://twitter.com/BridgerTetonNF

The Bridger-Teton National Forest will be hiring seasonal positions for the 2025 summer season starting January 23rd through February 5th, 2025. Applicants must apply to the module vacancy by selecting the specific Duty Station or announcement number in USAjobs. You must have your completed application submitted by midnight EST (Eastern Standard Time) of the closing date of the vacancy. The Forest may fill several wildland fire positions, including: helitack, engines, fire module and fire cache. Housing may be available at some duty stations. These positions may start no sooner than June 29, 2025. More information on these positions may be found at www.tetonfires.com.

If you have any general questions or questions about the hiring process, please feel free to contact Susan R. Colligan at susan.colligan@usda.gov or 307-739-5521.

Outreach Notice: 2025 BTNF Fire Seasonal - Late Summer

Pinedale, Wyo., December 20, 2024 Pinedale, Wyo., December 20, 2024 — The Bridger-Teton National Forest is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Smokey Bear Holiday Coloring Contest. 

Winners

• 0-5 years of age: Cayden Colligan of Jackson, WY

• 6-10 years of age: Yvette Medrano of Pinedale, WY

• 11 years of age and up: Sienna Perry of Bountiful, UT

• Adult category: Jill McMurray of Pinedale, WY

Congratulations to all the winners. There were 62 entries from communities across Western Wyoming as well as Utah, Idaho, and one from Tennessee. Fire Prevention Technician for the Pinedale and Big Piney Ranger Districts of the Bridger-Teton Nan Stinson said, “We couldn’t be happier with the number of participants and the positive feedback we’ve received. It’s a great way to recognize Smokey Bear and celebrate his 80 years as the fire prevention symbol.”

Entries were voted on by employees of the Bridger-Teton and winners selected a prize from several choices, with the favorites being the Smokey Bear beanie bear, statuette, and camping mug.

This contest closes out the year-long celebration of Smokey’s 80^th birthday. The celebration began with Smokey paintings on loan from the National Agricultural Library by Rudy Wendelin, the creator of the image of Smokey Bear. Over 2,800 people in Sublette County and beyond viewed the 16 paintings on display at the Pinedale Branch of the Sublette County Library District in April. The towns of Pinedale and Big Piney displayed light pole banners and flags with Smokey’s fire prevention message throughout the year. Many of these events and activities were made possible by the generous contributions of the Friends of the Bridger-Teton. 

The Pinedale and Big Piney Ranger Districts would like to thank all partners that helped support these efforts and made the year a great success. Happy holidays and remember, “Only you can prevent wildfires.”

See All Entries Here

For Coloring Sheets Click here!