Rawlins Field Office
| Contacts: | Shelley Gregory, | |||
| 307-315-0612 |
BLM Managing Ferris Mountain Wildfire
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) High Desert District is managing the wildfire on Ferris Mountain in conjunction with the seven-person Unaweep Wildland Fire Module (WFM) as part of the planned 42,576 acre Ferris Mountain prescribed fire project.
The wildfire is located approximately 30 miles north of Rawlins, Wyo. within the Ferris Mountain Wilderness Study Area. The low intensity fire is creeping slowly through steep, rocky terrain with occasional torching of individual and small groups of trees and is an estimated three to four acres. The WFM is helping to direct the fire away from undesirable areas while utilizing the fire to achieve the effects of a prescribed burn.
Dispatched from Grand Junction, Colo., the highly trained Unaweep WFM will also assist the BLM in assessing ecological concerns, impacts to water sources and potential safety zones. Tools the WFM uses to manage fires can include constructing firelines, creating defensible space around resources by burning perimeter fuels and using geographic information systems to map the layout of a fire area in order to best plan management actions.
For more information, please contact Frank Keeler, High Desert District fire management officer, at 307-352-0282.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
Rawlins Field Office 1300 North Third Rawlins, WY 82301