Fuels reduction project enters new phase
JACKSON, Wyo. (KIFI) — The next phase of the Teton to Snake Fuels Reduction Project on the Jackson Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton National Forest is set to begin Monday on Phillips Ridge.
Throughout the next month, contractors will be cutting trees and stacking woody debris to minimize fire hazards in proximity to the powerline road, the Snotel and Phillips Ridge trails.
To provide for public safety and allow contractors to complete the tree cutting as quickly as possible, temporary closures will be in effect for small portions of the Snotel and Phillips Ridge Trails. Officials ask you respect temporary trail closures between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and do not enter the work zone if these areas are posted closed for your safety.
The reduction in hazardous fuel loading within the Phillips Ridge area will aid in modifying potential fire behavior by reducing a fire’s opportunity to get in the forest canopy and lowering the chance of fire impacting communities and recreation use areas. Benefits from fuels reduction includes removing dead and down vegetation, reducing small diameter trees which serve as ladder fuels that carry fire from the ground to the tree canopy, and increasing tree crown spacing by opening the tree canopy to limit potential fire spread by crown fire. Through these efforts we create more fire adaptive communities and reduce the risk and cost of fire suppression during an unwanted fire within the wildland urban interface.
The project area is within the wildland urban interface as defined by the 2014 Teton County Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) as communities at risk of wildfire. Maps of the project are posted at trailhead areas and on the web at tetonfires.com. For more information please call 307-739-5425.
