Teton Interagency Fire

Teton Interagency firefighters and fuels managers will be conducting up to 557 acres of prescribed fire. Prescribed fire will be used to regenerate decadent aspen stands and to mitigate conifer encroachment.

This will occur in the Haystack Fork and Little Bear Paw Fork of Slate Creek in the Gros Ventre River Drainage. See map. 

Ignition will occur with hand crews, other ground resources and helicopters. Depending on weather and potential smoke impacts, the burning window will occur in the fall of 2022 near the end of September into the middle of October, operations should last 4-10 days. Flyer

LOCATION: Star Valley Ranch, WY

PROJECT SIZE: 196 acres

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Interagency Fire personnel burned 9 acres in the south of Lost Creek drainage, project area map. 2018: Contractors finished thinning and piling slash on the National Forest System Land along the southern half of the town of Star Valley Ranch. The continuation of burning these piles may be implemented in the spring, late April to mid-May and/or fall, late September to late October. news release and map. Valley Ranch. Burning of those piles may be implemented in the spring, late April to mid-May and/or in the fall, late September to late October.  map

News Release 4/24/2023   

Information and maps

The Greys River Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton National Forest plans to complete a 3438-acre prescribed burn, Unit 2, in the spring of 2023 and a 992-acre prescribed burn, Strawberry, in the fall of 2023 within Star Valley Front Vegetation Treatment Project. The Star Valley Front Vegetation Treatment Project is located east of Star Valley and consists of a 64,612-acre project area with 31,477 acres of proposed burn units extending from Strawberry Creek south to Cottonwood Creek, from the forest boundary to the top of the Salt River Range. The main purpose for treating vegetation in the Star Valley Front Project Area is to begin restoring a balance of age classes in mountain shrubland, mountain big sagebrush, aspen, and conifer communities.

The benefits of prescribed fire can go beyond creating a health balance of young and mature vegetation. In fact, prescribed fires can support wildlife by creating new habitat or improving existing habitat. In the two to five years following a prescribed fire, burned areas often sustain more grasses and forbs, which offer abundant food for large herbivores like elk and their offspring, which is particularly relevant given the great interest in deer and elk populations in the Star Valley area.

Burning would start in the far northeast corner of the project area in unit # 9 (Strawberry) in a 2,554-acre unit starting in Strawberry Creek and heading south along the Salt River Range. The initial acres to be treated in Strawberry Creek will be between 2000 and 3000 acres.

The goals of the burn are to:

1. Contribute to a balanced mix of successional stages of major vegetation types.
2. Reduce the abundance and canopy cover of conifer trees in mountain shrub land, big sagebrush, and aspen types.
3. Rejuvenate shrubs and aspen trees, especially on mule deer and elk winter range.
4. Restore fire to its natural role on the landscape.
5. Reduce fuel loading on the landscape to reduce the extent and severity of future wildfire, both for firefighter safety and for resource protection.

This project may be carried out in the spring between April and June along with implementation months in the fall between September and November, 2023. Actual ignition dates will be dependent on meeting strict parameters for weather and fire behavior conditions. The communities of Bedford and Turnerville, as well as Forest visitors camping and recreating in the area, may experience short-term smoky conditions in the vicinity of the burn. Smoke may linger in valleys during the evening and early morning hours, potentially affecting community residents. Roads and trails should remain open to the public, however certain areas may be closed for a short period of time if and when it is determined that public and firefighter safety may be impacted.

This vegetation treatment is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Forest Service, Wyoming Game & Fish Department, Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust, and other partners.

Packsaddle prescribed burn is located in the La Barge drainage between Forest road 10138 and Forest road 10128. This prescription will target 477 acres. 

• Map
•  

Located near Tunp Ridge, Kemmerer Ranger District

The purpose of this project is to improve existing aspen stands by prescribed burning a large area to stimulate aspen cover types. Also, will allow improvement over a large enough area to help minimize impacts from big game animals. 

News Release 05/19/2023

Nugent RX Vicinity Map

Nugent RX Topo Map

The Monument Ridge Vegetation and Recreation Management Project, proposed by the Sublette County Collaborative, is multifaceted. It addresses vegetation management within the wildland urban interface, wildlife habitat enhancement activities, along with safety and access improvements for recreation. These activities are set to improve forest health and promote wildlife populations for elk, mule deer, and sage grouse. This project will provide positive wildlife benefits and recreation opportunities well into the future.

•  
• Public Information Map
• Project Overview Page
• Monument Ridge Vicinity Map

Little Hornet prescribed burn is a 602 acre area broken up into smaller units along the La Barge Creek drainage. Each smaller unit will be managed individually.

For more information, see  and Map

LOCATION:  Basin Creek off the Green Knoll/Big Spring cutoff, Kemmerer Ranger District

Prescribed burning will be used to develop a diverse mix of vegetative composition and structure and increase a mosaic pattern on the landscape of different fuel types, fuel loadings, forested communities and stand age-classes to decrease the proportion of the landscape that would be affected by high intensity wildfires. The primary objective of this burn is to stimulate regeneration of aspen plant communities, reduce conifer encroachment, and reduce hazardous fuels within the Hams Fork Vegetation Project area.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:  News Release 05/19/2023,  Unit Map,