Fuel Break Work On Casper Mountain Progresses

Wild fire mitigation work on top of Casper Mountain continues with plans for fuel breaks around Bear Trap Meadow and the Archery Range.

Natrona County Wildfire Mitigation Coordinator, Sam Weaver, outlined the plans for county commissioners this week.

Weaver says the fuel break work has been going on for much of the last decade and is in various stages with the most populated areas at the top of the mountain of greatest concern.

"We know that if we have a fire that gets in there it's going to be very difficult to control it if we don't have the right fuel breaks and things in place. And we probably will have a great deal of property loss."

Weaver says the top of Casper mountain is recognized by the Wyoming State Forestry Division as one of the most dense wild-land-urban interfaces in the state. That's why he says defensible space is so important, the value of which was confirmed by firefighters defending homes in wild fires like the Arapaho  Fire this summer.

Weaver reminds that matching funds are available to landowners who want to do wild fire mitigation work on their property.