ROCK SPRINGS – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) High Desert District (HDD) plans to conduct several prescribed fires this fall and early winter contingent upon fuel moisture and weather meeting optimal burn conditions.

The prescribed fires are designed to improve wildlife and waterfowl habitat, increase livestock forage and distribution, enhance rangeland vegetation health and reduce hazardous fuels by targeting stands of sagebrush, mountain shrubs, aspen and wetland vegetation. Burning the overstory vegetation opens the areas for the establishment of grasses and forbs and new, more palatable and nutritious shrubs and aspen. The planned burns include:

• Montgomery Pasture: Approximately 2,100 acres of sagebrush, mountain shrubs and aspen within a 6,000-acre project area 17 miles southwest of Rawlins, Wyo., along Atlantic Rim.
• Upper Separation Creek: Up to 450 acres of aspen stands and mountain shrubs within a 4,100-acre project area 10 miles southwest of Rawlins in the headwaters of Separation Creek along Atlantic Rim.
• Iron Mountain/Middle Canyon: Nearly 3,600 acres of mountain mahogany, bitterbrush and sagebrush within a total project area of 6,250 acres 30 miles northwest of Cheyenne, Wyo.
• Red Wash Wetlands: About 250 acres of cattail vegetation in the Red Wash wetland complex 20 miles north of Baggs, Wyo., along Highway 789.

Several prescribed fires will dispose of slash left over from forest health treatments and the pre-treatment of areas for wildfire suppression and broadcast burns. These include:

• Morgan Creek: Slash piles created during hazardous fuels mitigation in the Seminoe Mountains 30 miles northeast of Rawlins.
• Dirtyman Creek: Slash piles from timber harvest and conifer removal in the creek drainage 30 miles south of Rawlins along the west edge of the Medicine Bow National Forest.
• Airplane Park: Slash piles from a forest health improvement project on Shirley Mountain 45 miles northeast of Rawlins.
• Jelm Mountain: Slash piles created by removal of hazardous trees along the observatory access road (BLM Road 3429) in southwest Albany County.

Hunters and recreationists are advised to avoid these areas during prescribed fire operations. For more information, please contact HDD Fuels Specialist Chris Otto at 307-328-4250.