A large wildfire fuels-reduction project meant to protect subdivisions near forestland from the Tetons to the Snake River is being pursued once again by the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
A U.S. Forest Service document completed this week outlines plans to thin 2,526 acres and conduct controlled burns on another 19,991 acres. Snags would be removed in 37 areas and 11 miles of precautionary fire line would be built if the Bridger-Teton’s preferred plan is OK’d as is.
“The Teton to Snake wildland-urban interface area is one of the highest fire risk areas on the Bridger-Teton National Forest,” a summary of the project says. “The existing forest fuel conditions and prevailing winds can create and push severe wildfire toward high-density residential areas located along almost 40 miles of the national forest boundary.
“Finally,” the summary says, “current fuel conditions and the potential for intense fire behavior pose an ongoing threat to public and firefighter safety, particularly with respect to standing snags in areas near private lands.”
The Teton-to-Snake Fuels Management Project has been in the planning stages for nearly five years, but it had been on hold while the Forest Service finished formally mapping the Palisades Wilderness Study Area, designated in 1984.
From the Jackson Hole News & Guide: https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/fuel-reduction-project-back-for-consideration/article_99949f8c-6fad-5773-93b8-d967ff75cefa.html