Forestry Program

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Mission

Aspen trees.
The mission of the Forest Management Program is to restore and maintain healthy, productive and resilient forested ecosystems for the public’s benefit and enjoyment. The program focuses on on forest health restoration, reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire, and forest product sales by commercial green and salvage timber sales as well as personal use permits.

BLM Wyoming manages approximately 18 million acres of public land which includes 1.3 million acres of forests and woodland ecosystems.

These range from high elevation forests dominated by whitebark pine to low elevation ecotones featuring juniper and limber pine. Commercial tree species include ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, Douglas fir and Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir. Wyoming has extensive aspen and mountain mahogany woodlands. BLM Wyoming also manages Black Hills white spruce, paper birch, bur oak and riparian cottonwood and willow forests.  

By the Numbers

Acres

Whitebark pine  

11,464

Juniper

618,984

Limber pine

212,048

Douglas fir

65,273

Englemann spruce & subalpine fir

71,727

Aspen

77,041

Mountain mahogany

24,828

Ponderosa pine

95,354

Lodgepole pine

85,000

Elm & Green ash

6,497

Cottonwood

4,335

  TOTAL

1,289,958

Ecosystems matter

Because trees are long-lived, the forest management actions we take (or don’t take) have long lasting effects on the ecosystem over 100+ years – affecting watersheds, recreation, wildlife, and the economies of our rural communities.   Forestry actions also have a direct impact on forest insect, disease spread and wildfire intensity.

The BLM Wyoming public domain forests are important for many reasons.   Many of these forests are “transitional” forests between the sagebrush/grass steppe and higher elevation forests. These forests serve as:

  • Critical wildlife habitat
  • Important habitat links and migration corridors
  • Significant socio-economic contributors to the local communities
  • Hydrology and water producers: forests provide 85 percent of the surface water in the western United States

Insects and Disease

Like most of the Rocky Mountain area, forests and woodlands managed by BLM Wyoming have been, and are being, heavily impacted by mountain pine bark beetle. Many other insects and diseases, such as white pine blister rust found in five needle pine populations, are also a problem It is estimated that up to 50 percent of the BLM forests have been impacted by these diseases statewide, with some areas experiencing up to 90 percent mortality. The majority of BLM Wyoming's forestry efforts involve combating these insect and disease infestations.