An 'expensive fire season': Major wildfires spark legislative discussion, executive action

CHEYENNE — A busy wildfire season this summer is draining funds from Wyoming’s Emergency Fire Suppression Account, and state officials will discuss how to refill it during a legislative meeting next week.

Meanwhile, Gov. Mark Gordon is preparing a disaster declaration request from the federal government and already signed two executive orders last week.

Wyoming’s largest wildfire, plus three others sparked in late August, have yet to be 100% contained, burning tens of thousands of acres and costing millions of dollars in damages.

The House Draw Fire, the Cowboy State’s largest wildfire, located nine miles southeast of Buffalo, was at 174,547 acres and 94% contained, as of Tuesday.

Fire personnel are simultaneously battling three other major wildfires, two in Campbell County and one in Sheridan County. The Flat Rock and Constitution Fires in Campbell County are 78% and 95% contained, respectively, according to Watch Duty. The former is a little more than 52,400 acres; the latter is 24,630 aces.

The Remington Fire in Sheridan County, which spread north of the Montana-Wyoming border and is more than 196,300 acres, is 86% contained. A third Campbell County fire, the Silver Spoon Fire, sparked on Sunday, has burned more than 1,700 acres with 0% containment, according to Watch Duty.

Gordon signed two executive orders Friday, nine days after the first fires started, that will assist impacted agricultural farmers. The Governor’s office is also preparing a disaster declaration request to the United States Department of Agriculture for the House Draw Fire, according to Michael Pearlman, the office’s communications director.

Pearlman added that the governor will soon announce “a website that will serve as a one-stop information source for relief assistance.”

Meanwhile, the Wyoming Legislature’s Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Committee is scheduled to discuss fire response and recovery next Wednesday in Buffalo. State officials from the Forestry Division, Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, Wyoming Department of Agriculture and Wyoming Office of Homeland Security will each provide a thorough briefing for lawmakers.

“We need to make sure that we’re tackling the invasive species and weeds as we recover,” said committee co-Chair Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle.

Steinmetz said legislators will also consider refilling the state’s Emergency Fire Suppression Account (EFSA). State Forester Kelly Norris estimated that roughly $25 million to $30 million of these funds have been used since last year.

“It’s been a pretty expensive fire season,” Norris said.

Both the state and counties contribute to the EFSA, which is overseen by the state forester, Norris said. A county fire district will apply for money from the EFSA when it encounters a fire that’s beyond its capacity.

“It’s been getting used quite a bit in the last two months because we’ve had quite a few fires,” Norris said.

Her department coordinates with counties and federal agencies in fire response and rehabilitation. Rehabilitation repairs damage from both the fire and fire suppression efforts, such as dozer lines — which is the use of heavy machinery to remove flammable plants — and cutting fences. It also includes replanting lost vegetation, rebuilding miles upon miles of fencing and replacing damaged power poles.

“As of this morning, between the four large fires, there was already 212 miles of rehab work done,” Norris said, “and we have more work to go.”