Rawlins Field Office
| Contacts: | Shelley Gregory | |||
| 307-315-0612 |
BLM Initiates Marking Pen Creek Prescribed Fire
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Rawlins Field Office (RFO) anticipates optimal burn conditions and will initiate a 2,000 acre prescribed fire at Marking Pen Creek on the south-southeast portion of the Seminoe Mountains today.
Located 25 northeast of Rawlins, Wyo. and west of the North Platte River and Seminoe Dam and Reservoir, the 7,000 acre Marking Pen Creek project area is included in the 26,000 acre Seminoe Mountain prescribed fire project area and is part of a multi-phase treatment over a 10-year period.
The treatment is intended to reduce the potential for catastrophic wildfire by eliminating existing fuel loads, creating natural fuel breaks, rejuvenating decadent aspen communities and improving upland vegetative health and diversity. Mountain mahogany, bitterbrush, sagebrush, aspen and conifers will be burned.
The Seminoe Mountain project area is a popular recreation and hunting destination and includes antelope, elk, mule deer, and bighorn sheep crucial winter ranges which will benefit from the prescribed fire.
To learn more about the Seminoe Mountain prescribed fire project area, please visit http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/Fire/rxfire/highdesert/seminoe.html.
For more information, contact Chris Otto, RFO fuels specialist, at 307-328-4250.
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 Street Rawlins WY 82301