Short-haul training planned on Bridger-Teton Forest

The Bridger-Teton National Forest has ordered a temporary closure to allow for annual helicopter short-haul training in Hoback Canyon.

The closure includes the Beaver Mountain area adjacent to Wyoming Highway 189 and the Bryan Flats Guard Station. It will take effect at 7 a.m. Wednesday and will remain in effect until the training is complete, probably around 5 p.m. on June 11.

Willow Creek Trail and Trailhead will remain open.

The forest service launched a short-haul program in 2015. It involves transporting personnel suspended beneath a helicopter. A qualified helitack crew’s primary mission is in support of fire management operations, but could be diverted to other short-haul incidents like a “life and/or a loss of limb threatening injury or other medical complications that warrant prompt extraction.” It may also be used if a conventional rescue operation would expose personnel to a higher degree of risk.