HOBACK, Wyo. — The Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) is ready to initiate the next phase of the Monument Ridge Vegetation and Recreation Management Project on the Big Piney Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
The project began in 2020, with phase two implemented in 2021, in hopes of improving a popular hiking, biking and ATVing area.
The project area is near the town of Bondurant in Sublette County. The habitat/fuels treatment area is situated within the wildland urban interface (WUI); Monument Ridge borders the western edge of the treatment area and the residential area along the Hoback River borders the eastern edge.
According to a press release from the BTNF, the project was proposed by the Sublette County Collaborative and encompasses fuels reduction within the wildland urban interface, wildlife habitat enhancement and safety and access improvements for recreation. These activities will improve forest health, promote wildlife populations for elk, mule deer and sage grouse and provide sustainable recreation opportunities.
A prescribed fire is planned for mid-June on 2,150 acres north of the Monument Ridge Lookout and Hoback Guard Station. The Forest Service prepared this area in 2020 by felling trees and allowing the fuels to cure during the intervening time. The cured fuel and timing for this spring allows fire personnel to implement the burn while utilizing high fuel moistures in the surrounding vegetation to keep fire within the project boundaries.
The prescribed burn objectives are to treat the area in a “mosaic” pattern producing mixed severity results. These results create a patchwork of different severities, ranging from unburned to low severity patches where only ground fuels burn to high severity patches where canopy and ground fuels burn. This will enhance habitat by increasing forage (grass, forbs and shrubs) and will stimulate aspen growth in areas where they have declined due to the lack of wildfire disturbance.
During operations, smoke may be visible from Jackson, Pinedale and Big Piney. A combination of resources will be on site to include helicopters. Ignitions are expected to last for three to five days, with smoke expected for one to two days after.
Resources will remain in the area patrolling and ensuring the fire remains within the given boundaries.
Additionally, Fuels Managers are planning for contractors and fire crews falling trees south of Horse Pasture Draw along Monument Ridge to prepare for a planned prescribed fire in 2025. The thinning implementation for this is scheduled to begin as early as June and end no later than Sept. 30.
These treatments will remove conifer encroachment in aspen stands and encourage aspen reproduction through the disturbance of prescribed fire, in addition to removing conifer encroachment from the sage steppe to increase the health of the sage brush ecosystem. The project is also designed to reduce hazardous fuel loading to mitigate the risk of high intensity/severity wildfire.
For more information call Gregory Brooks Big Piney District Ranger (307) 276-5810.
