WYOMING – The Kemmerer District of Bridger-Teton National Forest is planning two prescribed burns to further vegetation projects, including one near La Barge. Initial plans said burns could start as earlier as Sunday, Oct. 10, although the week’s weather could have postponed them.

A Little Hornet prescribed burn has been issued for up to 942 acres, broken into smaller sections along the La Barge Creek drainage. Each of those smaller units will be managed individually.

The La Barge Vegetation Restoration Project targets 52,273 acres to promote biological diversity in tree and plant species. It is currently dominated by homogeneous older conifer and sagebrush. A release from Bridger-Teton said increasing diversity of species will provide abundant forage and habitat for wildlife as well as minimizing the risk of future severe wildfires. About 2,217 acres have been identified for future prescribed fire operations to be conducted over multiple years and broken into smaller units.

Both ground and aviation resources will be deployed to safely conduct operations. Smoke impacts are estimated to be minimal due to seize of the operations, remote location and shortness of the burns. However, firefighters will remain in the area several days after ignition to patrol and manage public safety.

The other project planned for the district is a 27-acre unit of Basin Creek Rx located near Basin Creek, about 3 miles east of Kelly Guard Station. That is part of the Hams Fork Vegetation Project, covering approximately 74,267 acres. That is a cooperative between Bridger-Teton, Wyoming Game & Fish Department and Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative.

Local notifications will take place as well as social media postings alerting the public when these burns will be implemented. For more information, contact the district at 307-828-5100, visit Tetonfire.com or follow Bridger-Teton National Forest on its Facebook page.