New windows and door
The door and eleven of the fifteen windows have been restored and replaced in the Deadline Ridge Fire Lookout in the Wyoming Range.
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Cleaning windows
Dave Vlcek works to clean putty off of the newly rebuilt windows.
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Tracing the 8
Clint Gilchrist traces the number 8 onto clear plastic to create a template for repainting after the roof is primed.
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Work continues on Deadline Ridge Fire Lookout restoration project
by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online!
September 8, 2016
For the past several years, members of the Sublette County Historic Preservation Board (Certified Local Government – CLG) have been working on a volunteer project to restore a Forest Service fire lookout tower on Deadline Ridge in the Wyoming Range. In August 2015 they spent two weekends cleaning out the building, removing the old windows, shutters and door, and painting the outside of the building.
Over the past year, Richard Kail has been repairing the damaged windows and Bob Beiermann has repaired and restored the door. On Sunday, Sept. 4th, the crew went back up to reinstall the restored windows and door. More work still needs to be done to repair two broken windows and replace two missing windows. Three unfinished sides remain covered by boards. The complete south side is uncovered at the moment showing the restored windows and doors. They will be covered by a board for winter protection. The volunteer crew hopes the weather holds so they can go back up to prime paint the roof and put back the large number "8" that was on the south side for airplane sighting. Members of the Sublette County Historic Preservation Board CLG are Clint Gilchrist, Dave Vlcek, Bob Beiermann, Carmel Kail, Sam Drucker, Jonita Sommers and Dawn Ballou.
A new interpretive display has been put up in the Green River Valley Museum about the fire lookout and its history. The lookout sits at about 10,000 feet elevation and was built sometime in the early 1940s. It was used into the 1960s and perhaps early 1970s, after which all the fire lookout towers on the Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) were abandoned and replaced by newer technology. Only a few lookouts remain still standing on the BTNF.
The Bridger-Teton National Forest has assisted with this project and provided supplies and administrative support. Special thanks to Jamie Schoen, JP Schubert and Mary Greenwood for their help. If anyone has any information or old photos related to this lookout, please contact any of the board members or email info@sublette.com.
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