9 Wyoming counties affected by wildfires now designated USDA disaster areas

CASPER, Wyo. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated nine counties in Wyoming as primary natural disaster areas due to wildfire impact.

According to a release from Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon’s office on Wednesday, United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack designated Albany, Goshen, Platte, Converse, Hot Springs, Sheridan, Crook, Johnson and Weston counties as primary natural disaster areas, as well as nine contiguous counties that include Big Horn, Fremont, Niobrara, Campbell, Laramie, Park, Carbon, Natrona and Washakie.

“The updated designations came after a review of Loss Assessment Reports by the USDA. Wildfires have now burned more than 810,000 acres in Wyoming in 2024, much of it private land,” the release said.

“I am grateful USDA has recognized the size and scope of the impacts these wildfires are having on Wyoming’s agriculture producers,” Governor Gordon said in the release.

Nearly half a million acres have burned so far in Wyoming and Montana this season, according to the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. The Elk Fire currently burning in the Bighorn National Forest is the largest wildfire to burn in the area in a century of recorded history.