Wind River/Bighorn Basin District
| Contacts: | Sarah Beckwith, 307-347-5207 |
Firefighters Make Progress on Upper Bee and Otter Creek Wildfires
Firefighters made good progress on Thursday on the Upper Bee and Otter Creek Wildfires burning south of Ten Sleep.
“Despite continuing critical fire weather, significant progress has been made to contain the Upper Bee Wildfire utilizing crews, engines and three helicopters,” said Incident Commander Russ Wenke.
The Upper Bee Wildfire, east of Spring Creek Road and within the Otter Creek Drainage, has burned close to 4,000 acres in heavy fuels and sagebrush and is 25% contained.
The Otter Creek Wildfire, north of Big Trails between Wyo. State Highway 434 and Red Gulch Road, has burned more than 900 acres and is now 100% contained. Firefighters continue to monitor the fire’s activity.
There are no structures immediately threatened and no evacuations are in place.
Approximately 180 people are fighting these fires from the BLM, Ten Sleep and Worland Volunteer Fire Departments, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Wyoming State Forestry and contract firefighting crews and contract firefighting crews. The fires are being managed by a Type 3 Incident Management Team.
Please report all wildfires immediately to the Cody Interagency Dispatch Center at 1-800-295-9954 or to 911.
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.
Wind River/Bighorn Basin District 101 South 23rd Street Worland, WY 82401