Yellowstone National Park Info

Officials hope slow start to Wyoming wildfire season continues

LANDER — Excessive amounts of snow and rain in Wyoming this winter and spring didn’t thwart a wildfire caused by lightning last week.

The Norton Point fire burned at 13,700 acres Monday morning near Dubois, said Carl Jungck, fire information officer.

The blaze in the Washakie Wilderness of the Shoshone National Forest is burning in an area that received record snowfall this year, which lasted into June. But “fuel” standing above the snow, especially trees killed by pine beetles, offered plenty of spark, Jungck said.

Up to 90 percent of some of the burning slopes were ravaged by beetles.

Other trees and vegetation dried out in the summer wind.

“We have that nice Wyoming wind in the area,” Jungck said.

Record snowpack throughout the state won’t prevent wildfires this season, although it could change when they occur or how they burn, fire officials said.

The snowpack delayed the start of fire season in the Bighorn National Forest, said John Warder, fire management officer.

The Bighorn National Forest just reached high fire danger, about a month later than normal. So far this season, the Bighorn area hasn’t had any fires, but the timber is now dry.

“We could have fires clear through October,” Warder said.

Warder and other Bighorn National Forest employees are focusing on fire prevention, especially reminding people to put out campfires, an issue in the area.

Yellowstone National Park has had four small fires this year, all started by lightning, according to park spokesman Al Nash.

The Gibbon Fire, discovered last week, was the largest of the four after reaching one acre.

Yellowstone typically has a short fire season, August through mid-September, because of its climate and elevation, Nash said.

“There is no question that the amount of snow we received last winter and the fact that snow remained on the ground in some places much later than normal impacted fuel moistures and kept us from having an early fire season,” he said in an email.

One fire has been reported in the Black Hills National Forest so far this year, burning about 11,000 acres near Newcastle and into South Dakota, spokesman Frank Carroll said.

“The thing about wildfires is they are dependent on so many different factors, including human and natural factors. It’s really hard to predict the season,” he said.

In 2000, the Black Hills area had three feet of snow fall in April. The moisture helped grow grass and young trees. Then two days of hot weather and wind in the summer dried everything out, and the Jasper fire started and ran through northeast Wyoming and into South Dakota. This year could produce similar fires.

Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Welcome to Yellowstone National Park!

Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. Located in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Myth and history in the creation of Yellowstone National Park

Fishing Yellowstone National Park, An Angler's Complete Guide to More Than 100 Streams, Rivers, and Lakes

Yellowstone National Park

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Yellowstone Treasures, The Traveler's Companion to the National Park