Mosquito Creek burn ready to go

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The Jackson Ranger District of the Bridget-Teton National Forest will be moving forward with prescribed burn operations in the Mosquito Creek North unit, part of the Teton to Snake Fuels Reduction Project.

Implementation could begin as early as this week depending upon weather and fuels conditions. This unit is located approximately 3.5 miles up FS Road 980 (Mosquito Creek Rd), bordering the western edge of the 2001 Green Knoll Fire scar, with Black Canyon located to the north.

The Teton to Snake Fuels Reduction Project is designed to decrease the risk from unwanted wildfires that could impact communities in the wildland urban interface (WUI), specifically communities in or near Phillips Ridge, Fish Creek, Teton Village, Wilson, and the Fall Creek Corridor. Local homeowners also have a responsibility to decrease their risk by creating and maintaining defensible space on private property. Treatments, such as these, done before a wildfire starts, can provide firefighting resources the opportunity to minimize or mitigate impacts to private lands.

Prescribed fires are managed under a precise set of parameters known as “prescriptions” which includes overall project objectives, temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity, current and expected forecast, and fuel conditions, as well as available firefighting resources, and time of season.  Before burning, fire managers ensure that all the parameters are within their prescribed fire plan so the operations can be conducted safely, and objectives can be met.

Teton Interagency Fire managers will utilize ground resources to safely conduct this phase of the Mosquito Creek unit. Smoke from will be visible from around the valley and may continue for a few days after ignitions depending on the environmental conditions and the intensity of the burn. Fire managers will be coordinating with Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality for air quality concerns and will monitor weather conditions closely in the days prior to, and during the prescribed fire ignitions. Resources will continue to work in the area for several days after ignitions to patrol and manage for public safety.