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Closure area

Temporary Closure in effect for New Fork Lakes Fire (posted 8/5/08)
Bridger-Teton National Forest
(Pinedale) – The Bridger-Teton National Forest has issued a temporary area closure in the area around the New Fork Lakes fire to provide for public and firefighter safety during the incident. The New Fork Lakes fire was discovered on July 29 approximately 19 miles north of Pinedale, Wyoming. Fire investigators determined that the blaze was caused by a campfire. Officials are still investigating the incident and gathering more information about the conditions surrounding the campfire.

The fire has burned approximately 11,585 acres. Firefighters are flying over the fire this morning to map the area and gather a more accurate accounting of the acreage involved in the fire.

All roads and trails are closed in the closure area. The New fork Lakes and Willow Lake campground remain open. Most of the southern and eastern shores of New Fork Lakes is closed, as is the north, east, and south shore of Willow Lake, and the northernmost shore of Fremont Lake.

For a detailed map depicting the closure area, visit www.inciweb.org or the Pinedale Ranger District office.

Click on this link for a printable PDF of the area Closure Map (1.3 MB)

Related Links:
www.inciweb.org/incident/1440New Fork Fire info on Inciweb (updates, maps, photos)
Fire and Smoke map NOAA
www.fireweather.info/
Smoke -Weather info
New Fork Lakes Fire grows to 11,585 acres (Pinedale Online, August 4, 2008) 18 photos
Bridger-Teton National Forest

New Fork Lake fire. Photo by Chris Havener.

New Fork Lakes Fire grows to 11,585 acres (posted 8/4/08)
Area trail closures in effect
Pinedale Online!
TRAIL CLOSURE: Bridger-Teton forest officials have issued an area closure for the New Fork Lakes Fire. Trails included in the closure are New Fork Lakes, Willow Creek, Spring Creek, and Long Lake.
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The New Fork Lakes Fire grew to 11,585 acres, as of Sunday night, August 3rd. The fire has been burning since Tuesday, July 28th. The human-caused fire started due to an abandoned campfire on the southeast shore of the lake. The blaze is about 19 miles north of Pinedale, burning mostly east in the Bridger Wilderness. It is burning in decadent stands of timber and bug-kill lodgepole pine, and the growth potential remains high.

Wilderness rangers are working the area ahead of the fire to make contact with anyone in the area to make them aware of the trail closures and have them vacate the area. The fire has been putting up a huge column of smoke, visible from a long distance. Signs are posted at the trailheads to warn of the trail closures.

Fire crews have gained 9% containment of the fire. Firefighters are patrolling the holding lines and providing structure protection for residences, outbuildings and ranches in the vicinity west of the blaze. There are currently 162 total personnel on this fire.

For current updates online, see the Inciweb page for this fire: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1440/. Click on the Photos and Maps sections for current maps and photos of the fire.

Click on this link for more photos local area residents have sent in they have taken of the fire: New Fork Lakes fire update: Monday, August 4 (18 photos)

View of the New Fork Lakes Fire on Saturday afternoon. Lozier's Box R Ranch is in the foreground. Photo by Debbee Miller.

New Fork Lakes Fire: 6200 Acres, 5% Contained (posted 8/2/08)
Update: Saturday, August 2, 2008 8/2/08
The New Fork Lakes Fire grew to 6,200 acres on Saturday. It is spreading southeast in the Bridger Wilderness. It has reached as far as the east side of Big Flattop Mountain and Indian Park.

Crews continue to do burnout operations to ignite pockets of fuel that are left along the control lines. Firefighters and engines on the southern flank will utilize hose lays and bucket drops as needed to hold the line. The fire was human-caused, due to an escaped campfire by someone camping on the southeast shore of New Fork Lake.

Click on this link for current updates on this fire on Inciweb: www.inciweb.org/incident/1440

Pinedale Online file photo.

Unattended Campfires are Unacceptable (posted 8/1/08)
Bridger-Teton National Forest
(Pinedale, Wyo) - The Bridger-Teton National Forest is asking that all visitors to the Forest make a special effort to insure that their campfires are completely extinguished before leaving the area. A properly extinguished campfire is cold to the touch, and ashes are thoroughly wetted with water. "Leaving a campfire unattended is punishable by a monetary fine," said Fire Prevention Technician Nan Stinson. "If your abandoned campfire results in a wildfire, you could be held responsible for the cost of that blaze," she said.

The New Fork Lakes fire is burning 19-miles north of Pinedale, Wyoming and was determined to be caused by an unattended campfire. That fire is now3600 acres and burning in the Bridger Wilderness area. A second fire was discovered late in the evening on Thursday, July 31 north of Bolder Lake, approximately 12-miles east of the town of Pinedale. The Blueberry Lake fire grew to 1 acre in size and is expected to be contained this evening. The Blueberry Lake fire was also caused by an escaped campfire.

Related Links:
www.fs.fed.us/btnf/ Bridger-Teton National Forest
www.tetonfires.com Info for Interagency Fire News (Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks, Bridger-Teton/Shoshone/Caribous National

PSC Warns Consumers: Heating costs to rise significantly (posted 8/1/08)
Wyoming Public Service Commission
The Wyoming Public Service Commission warned natural gas customers today to expect heating bills to rise 50-70 percent this winter.

"Wholesale natural gas prices are expected to be the driver," PSC Chairman Kathleen A. "Cindy" Lewis said. "Cost projections by the utilities show major increases in the wholesale price for natural gas this coming winter. That means most people will have significantly larger heating bills this winter."

People are encouraged to prepare now for higher heating costs. "We may see some of the largest increases in natural gas prices in years," Deputy Chairman Steve Oxley said. "The good news is that we have ways of fighting back. Energy efficiency is the key."

Consumers can help reduce gas bills by:
- Installing energy-efficient appliances and replacing old furnaces;
- Cleaning or replacing furnace filters regularly;
- Caulking and weather stripping windows and doors;
- Closing vents in unused rooms, sealing leaks and adding insulation;
- Washing clothes in cold water, and,
- Lowering the thermostat 10-15 percent for eight hours a day could save as much as 10 percent a year on heating.

Replacing five light bulbs in with CFLs could cut lighting energy bills by half in the average-sized American home, according to the PSC. More information on energy efficiency is available on the PSC�’ Web site at http://psc.state.wy.us.

"The Commission vigilantly reviews commodity rate increase applications from utility companies to ensure these purchases are reasonable and utility companies won't be profiting on increased costs," Commissioner Mary Byrnes said.

The Wyoming Public Service Commission is the state's regulatory agency overseeing rate increases proposed by utility companies. The PSC is based in Cheyenne, and is comprised of three commissioners.

View of New Fork Lakes Fire around 3PM on Friday, August 1. Photo by Kirby Hedrick.

Fire updates: Friday, August 1, 2008 (posted 8/1/08)
New Fork Lakes, Blueberry, Big Sandy, Yellowstone Park fires
New Fork Lake Fire: 3,600 Acres, 2% Contained. Human-Caused (escaped campfire). Burning 19 miles north of Pinedale on the southeast end of New Fork Lake in bug-kill timer. Control lines have been completed from New Fork Lake to Little Flat Top Mountain and north of Willow Creek Guard Station. Burnout operations are ongoing. Structure protection and forest clearing going on around the Forest Service Willow Creek Guard Station as a precautionary measure. Hand crews will be doing controlled burnouts today along the southern perimeter to strengthen control lines and herd the fire in desired directions. Helicopter crews will be doing the same to ignite fuels on the interior. Growth potential is high for this fire. It is spreading east into the Bridger Wilderness area with active fire behavior, torching and spotting. More info on the web on Inciweb: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1440

Blueberry Fire: Started yesterday (Thursday evening, July 31). No report yet on size or status. Burning between Burnt and Blueberry Lakes about 13 miles directly east of Pinedale. Human-caused (escaped campfire). Forest Service is using the big Type I helicopter that has been stationed at the Pinedale airport on this fire making water bucket drops this morning (Friday).

Big Sandy area fire: Reported Friday morning near Forest boundary. At last report was 1/10th acre and crews were on it.

Lehardy Wildland Fire: Yellowstone National Park, 505 acres, 0% Contained

For more information on these fires, contact Mary Cernicek, Bridger-Teton National Forest Public Information Officer at 307-739-5564.

Click on this link for more photos of the New Fork Lakes Fire on Friday: New Fork Lakes fire (8 photos)

Related Links:
www.tetonfires.com Info for Interagency Fire News (Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks, Bridger-Teton/Shoshone/Caribous National Forests)

Executive Order coordinates agencies to protect Sage Grouse habitat in Wyoming (posted 8/1/08)
Governor Freudenthal’s office
(Cheyenne). - In an unprecedented move to coordinate sage grouse conservation efforts across the State of Wyoming, Gov. Dave Freudenthal today released an Executive Order that asks state agencies to work to maintain and enhance greater sage grouse habitat in Wyoming.

The greater sage grouse is an iconic species that inhabits much of the sagebrush-steppe habitat in Wyoming, and robust populations of the bird currently exist across the state. However, several petitions to list the bird as threatened are currently before the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Executive Order notes that such a listing would have a significant adverse affects on the economy, customs and culture of the State of Wyoming.

For years the state has supported the efforts of the Sage Grouse Local Working Groups, the Sage Grouse Implementation Team and others who have worked to develop and implement conservation strategies.

"A lot of good work has been done to maintain healthy populations of sage grouse and other species in Wyoming," Gov. Freudenthal said. "But as we learned with the grizzly bear and wolf, if it is going to count for anything under the Endangered Species Act process - both in terms of our efforts to de-list already listed species and to prevent the listing of other sensitive species - our work has to be more unified under the banner of what the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service terms ‘adequate regulatory mechanisms.’ The Executive Order does not create any new authority and legally only applies to state agencies, but is a vehicle to at least align the existing authorities of state government to ensure that we move forward under a more unified framework."

The Governor noted that long before the first petitions were filed to list the species, the State of Wyoming, the Wyoming Legislature, state and federal agencies, industry and landowners were working to improve habitat, fund mapping and habitat projects and to find better ways to drill and mine for the state’s energy resources.

The recommendations spelled out in the Executive Order originated in the work of the Sage Grouse Implementation Team. This group emerged from the Governor’s Sage Grouse Summit, which was jointly held in Casper with the U.S. Department of the Interior and Assistant Secretary Steve Allred in June of last year.

On March 25, 2008, the Governor received a map of "core population areas" for sage grouse and recommendations from the team that suggested conservation efforts be directed to these areas. In April, the Governor’s Office forwarded the map and recommendations to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its review and comment.

In a May 7, 2008 letter, Brian Kelly of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said "[t]he Service does indeed believe the ‘core population area strategy’ is a sound framework for a policy by which to conserve Greater Sage-Grouse in Wyoming." He concluded his letter encouraging that "all seasonal habitats to sustain the core population areas are identified and incorporated into the strategy, and associated maps, once the State’s mapping project is complete."

With the state’s mapping effort already underway, to be completed later this year, Wyoming is well positioned to stave off the listing of the sage grouse.

The 12 stipulations spelled out in the Executive Order include:

1. Management by state agencies should, to the greatest extent possible, focus on the maintenance and enhancement of those Greater Sage-Grouse habitats and populations within the Core Population Areas identified by the Sage Grouse Implementation Team and modified through additional habitat and population mapping efforts.

2. Current management and existing land uses within Core Population Areas should be recognized and respected by state agencies.

3. New development or land uses within Core Population Areas should be authorized or conducted only when it can be demonstrated by the state agency that the activity will not cause declines in Greater Sage-Grouse populations.

4. Funding, assurances (including state-conducted efforts to develop Candidate Conservation Agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances), habitat enhancement, reclamation efforts, mapping and other associated proactive efforts to assure viability of Greater Sage-Grouse in Wyoming should be focused and prioritized to take place in Core Population Areas.

5. State agencies should use a non-regulatory approach to influence management alternatives within Core Population Areas, to the greatest extent possible. Management alternatives should reflect unique localized conditions, including soils, vegetation, development type, climate and other local realities.

6. Incentives to enable development of all types outside Core Population Areas should be established (these should include stipulation waivers, enhanced permitting processes, density bonuses, and other incentives). However, such development scenarios should be designed and managed to maintain populations, habitats and essential migration routes outside Core Population Areas.

7. Incentives to accelerate or enhance required reclamation in habitats adjacent to Core Population Areas should be developed, including but not limited to stipulation waivers, funding for enhanced reclamation, and other strategies.

8. Existing rights should be recognized and respected.

9. On-the-ground enhancements, monitoring, and ongoing planning relative to sage grouse and sage grouse habitat should be facilitated by sage grouse local working groups whenever possible.

10. Fire suppression efforts in Core Population Areas should be emphasized, recognizing that other local, regional, and national suppression priorities may take precedent. However, public and firefighter safety remains the number one priority on all wildfires.

11. State agencies work collaboratively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and other federal agencies to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, a uniform and consistent application of this Executive Order to maintain and enhance Greater Sage-Grouse habitats and populations.

12. State agencies shall work collaboratively with local governments and private landowners to maintain and enhance Greater Sage-Grouse habitats and populations in a manner consistent with this Executive Order.

"While we initially were concerned with getting the state’s house in order, what we have functionally done is bring others to the table - including federal land managers and regulatory agencies and private landowners - to knit together a plan that addresses state and federal land and offers private landowners incentives to voluntarily participate in our collective effort to make sure the sage grouse isn’t listed," Freudenthal noted. "The Executive Order is not an end in itself, it is really just a way to demonstrate that the state’s ante is on the table. Wyoming’s efforts, matched with those of our federal partners and private landowners, will hopefully start us down the road to the point where no one even looks at needing to list the grouse in this state."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to make a decision regarding the listing of the sage grouse within the year. The state has already made a formal submission of data and information to inform the decision, but as more information is developed and as state, federal, local and private efforts such as the Executive Order are put forward, the earlier submission will be supplemented.

To read the Executive Order in its entirety and view other materials, visit: http://governor.wy.gov/media/documents.html.

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