Prescribed burn in Upton/Osage Area

Suitable weather and fuel moisture conditions have aligned to provide a window of opportunity for Forest Service fire crews to implement 327 acres of prescribed burning in the Upton/Osage area of the Thunder Basin National Grassland.

Named Clay Spur, the vegetation treatment will take place Tuesday, March 21.

Proposed burn units are located on National Forest System lands managed by the Douglas Ranger District in Weston County, Wyo. The prescribed fire areas are bordered by natural fuels breaks, roads, livestock trails, and creek bottoms.

The area is 16 miles northwest of Newcastle, Wyo. and five miles north of Osage, Wyo. The hills and draws of the burn units are composed of ponderosa pine, intermixed with juniper, cottonwoods, with grass and sagebrush flats. Elevation is 4,600 feet.

Approximately 500 acres were previously burned in the area during spring 2021.

Much of the vegetation within the project area has not experienced fire in the past 50-100 years. The Clay Spur treatment will mimic historically natural fire disturbances by burning in a mosaic pattern. The burn will benefit a variety of vegetative species and their age class diversity, as well as wildlife habitat and domestic stock pasture. Fire danger will also be reduced by removing potentially hazardous fuel loading.

Necessary smoke permits have been obtained from the State of Wyoming. Smoke will likely be visible in surrounding communities and along Highway 16.

Each prescribed burn planned by the Forests has gone through an environmental analysis and has a detailed burn plan developed in advance.

In 2022, the USDA Forest Service completed a 90-day nationwide operational pause and program review of protocols, decision support tools and practices related to the implementation of prescribed fire. This pause allowed time to identify and immediately implement program improvements to ensure firefighters have the resources, tools and support needed to safely carry out this important work. The lessons learned, driven by the best available science, have been incorporated into the Forests’ burn plan for Clay Spur.

For more project information, contact North Zone Fire Management Officer Shay Rogge at (307) 358-7119 or Nick Collard, Fuels Assistant Zone Management Officer, at (307) 358-7117.

Fire/fuels information may also be found on this website, https://fs.usda.gov/mbr, or you can follow the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland on our Twitter and Facebook accounts.