Wyoming
The Warm, Dry Winter Has Left Firefighters in Wyoming Nervous – Inside Climate News
On the heels of one of the warmest and driest winters on record, parts of Wyoming show “significant fire potential” this spring and summer, according to a national forecast released on April 1.
The U.S. has set or is approaching records for the number of wildfires ignited and the acreage burned by March, and Wyoming firefighters and district managers have already responded to blazes across the state. While the National Weather Service forecasts rain and snow for parts of Wyoming this week, many firefighters in the state are nervous about the potential for huge, quickly spreading conflagrations this summer.
“I certainly don’t ever remember a winter quite like this winter,” said J.R. Fox, Campbell County’s fire warden. “Everybody’s definitely nervous about what the fire season will bring.”
The new report, published by the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, rated areas of southern Wyoming as having significant fire potential in April, June and July.
The report identifies “above,” “below” and “near normal fire outlooks” across the country and has been produced in some form by the organization since 2002.
Wildland fire managers in Wyoming say the season’s meager snowpack and high temperatures have left an unprecedented and volatile range of fire conditions across the state. A team of scientists recently determined that the record-shattering heatwave that gripped the West in March would be “virtually impossible” without climate change.
Some firefighters are making tough decisions about when and how to use limited resources, while others are reaching out to communities earlier than they ever have before, urging fire-smart behavior.
“From my 40 years of being here, we’re six plus weeks ahead of time” in terms of fire conditions, said Liz Davy, a co-founder of the Greater Yellowstone Fire Action Network. This March, her organization, which helps areas around Yellowstone prepare for and respond to wildfires, started reminding communities early how best to protect property from wildland fires.
Homeowners should remove firewood from on or underneath porches, sweep up dead leaves and trim vegetation around their property, including grasses and shrubs near structures, Davy said. The Greater Yellowstone Fire Action Network also helps communities and homeowners make evacuation plans in case of a wildfire, and Davy is considering taking such steps this spring.
“I’ve never packed a go kit, but this year I’m kind of thinking about it,” she said.
Some areas of Wyoming have already dealt with wildfires. The Kane fire in Big Horn County was discovered on March 22 but behaved like an “August blaze,” reported the Cowboy State Daily. There have also been a few small starts in Natrona County, said Brian Oliver, chief of the Natrona County Fire District.
In a typical year, Oliver said Natrona County would usually be able to contract out some of its firefighting crews and equipment to other jurisdictions during the spring, a valuable source of income for his department. But now, with the risk of fire so high—on March 26, Natrona joined 10 other counties in Wyoming under fire restrictions—Oliver doesn’t see this as an option.
“I think we’re gonna need everybody here at home,” he said. “The fires this year have the potential to go big and be very dangerous very quick.”
Springtime can be when homeowners and ranchers, accustomed to receiving snow during March and April, use fire to maintain their property or prepare fields for the growing season. But Oliver said he and his department have asked ranchers and some subdivisions to put aside their plans to burn.
Even in areas of Wyoming where snowpack has been closer to average, fire managers are nervous about the coming season.
“The lower elevation snow is significantly less than normal and it’s disappearing earlier than normal,” said Shad Cooper, Sublette County’s fire warden. Cooper said the county has increased its social media messaging about fire danger and stepped up evacuation planning “because we’re seeing fire activity much earlier than normal.”
Last month, Sublette County sent resources over to Lincoln County, where an agriculture burn had gotten out of control, Cooper said.
On the heels of 2024’s record-setting wildfire season in Wyoming, state lawmakers allocated new resources to firefighting during this year’s legislative session. State Forestry will now oversee two 10-person firefighting crews capable of deploying anywhere in Wyoming; lawmakers also improved state firefighters’ benefits.
“That increase in capacity is gonna directly support local response [and] statewide needs,” Cooper said.
With summer still a few months away, firefighters cautioned that it was too soon to know for certain how this year’s season would unfold. Still, the whole state should already be mindful of fire risks, said Jerod DeLay, Wyoming’s assistant state forester and fire management officer.
“Be aware of your surroundings and be mindful of the conditions out there,” he said. “Have a plan for wildfire, because wildfires could wreck your plans.”
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Jake Bolster reports on Wyoming and the West for Inside Climate News. Previously, he worked as a freelancer, covering climate change, energy, and the environment across the United States. He holds a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University.
Wyoming’s 2026 high school track and field season faces a bit of an abbreviated week, with most schools not in competition over the upcoming holiday weekend. That means Thursday will be a busy day, weather-permitting. There are four track meets in the state, and all of them are on April 2. Worland hosts their annual D&D Invitational, and Natrona County has its Glen Legler Early Bird in Casper. Those are the two largest competitions.
WYOPREPS WEEK 3 OUTDOOR TRACK SCHEDULE 2026
Sheridan and Wheatland also host track meets with a smaller number of teams. A handful of schools will not compete in Wyoming, but instead head to Utah, Nebraska, or Colorado. Spring Break is still impacting programs around the state. Here is the Week 3 schedule. It is subject to change.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1:
Out-of-State events:
North Summit Mid-Week Meet in Coalville, UT – Evanston, Lyman.
Evanston placed 2nd in the girls’ team standings with 65 points, and Lyman’s girls were tied for 4th with 47 points. In the boys’ team standings, Evanston came in 3rd with 57 points, and Lyman was 4th with 38 points.
Evanston’s Cassie Barker won the 200 meters and was 2nd in the 100 meters and long jump. Dylan Rees of Evanston won the boys’ 200 meters. Jayson Clark took 1st in the 300 hurdles. Jayden Rieker won the 400 meters. Lyman’s Whitley Bradshaw won the girls’ long jump. Lyman also had some runner-up finishes in relays.
THURSDAY, APRIL 2:
D&D INVITATIONAL at Worland HS – Burlington, Campbell County, Cody, Dubois, Green River, Lovell, Powell, Rocky Mountain, Shoshoni, Ten Sleep, Thermopolis, Worland.
Girls Team Scores = Powell 178, Worland 145.25, Campbell County 73.50, Green River 61, Burlington 40.75, Lovell 40, Thermopolis 33, Cody 26, Dubois 17, Shoshoni 14.50, Ten Sleep 11.
Boys Team Scores = Powell 165.75, Campbell County 116.75, Thermopolis 101.50, Lovell 76.50, Burlington 62.75, Worland 53, Green River 37.75, Cody 35, Ten Sleep 13.50, Shoshoni 4.50.
Worland’s Cherise Douzenis won the 200 & 400 meters. Teammate Kennedy Bassett won both girls’ hurdle races. Worland won 3 of the 4 relays. Powell’s Paige Sanders won the long jump & triple jump. Celeste Lindsay from Lovell swept the throwing events. For the boys, Lovell’s Matthew Newman won the 400 meters, 110 hurdles, and long jump. Braxton Nelson from Powell won the 100 meters, high jump, and triple jump. Anthony Cheatham of Thermopolis won both throwing events.
GLEN LEGLER EARLY BIRD at Natrona County HS – Campbell County, Cheyenne South, Douglas, Glenrock, Kelly Walsh, Laramie, Little Snake River, Midwest, Natrona County, Newcastle, Riverton, Rock Springs, Thunder Basin, Torrington, Wind River, Wright, Wyoming Indian.
No results posted yet…
SHERIDAN QUAD at Sheridan HS – Big Horn, Buffalo, Sheridan, Tongue River.
Girls Team Scores = Sheridan 273, Buffalo 115.50, Big Horn 87, Tongue River 47.50.
Boys Team Scores = Sheridan 288, Buffalo 84, Big Horn 77, Tongue River 32.
Sheridan’s Leah Lynn won the 100 & 200 meters. Teammate Trinity Johnson won the high jump & long jump. Yonah Gradinaru from Sheridan swept the discus & shot put. For the boys, Rudy Green of Sheridan won the 100 & 200 meters. Teammate Ryder Charest was 1st in the 800 & 1600 meters. Matt Brown from SHS captured the long jump & triple jump. Big Horn’s Chase Garber won the 2 throws.
WHEATLAND INVITE at Wheatland HS – Cheyenne Central, Encampment, Glendo, Lusk, Rawlins, Rock River, Wheatland.
No results posted yet.
Out-of-State events:
Bayard CD Track Meet in Bayard, NE – Burns, Lingle-Ft. Laramie, Pine Bluffs, Southeast.
Team Results = Burns was 1st in the girls’ standings with 108 points. Southeast took 2nd with 107 points. Lingle-Ft. Laramie finished 3rd with 73 points, and Pine Bluffs was 9th with 28 points. Burns placed 1st in the boys’ standings with 115 team points. LFL was 8th with 40 points, Pine Bluffs took 10th with 30 points, and Southeast was 12th with 18 points.
Addi Wilkins of LFL won the 100 meters and 300 hurdles. Brynn Bach from Burns won the 100 hurdles and pole vault. In the boys’ competition, Zane Howes of Burns took 1st in the 100 & 200 meters. The Broncs won the 4×100 & 4×400 meter relays.
Read More Track News at WyoPreps
WyoPreps Week 2 Outdoor Track Scoreboard 2026
WyoPreps Week 1 Outdoor Track Scoreboard 2026
Nominate a Track Athlete for WyoPreps Athlete of the Week
2025 Outdoor Track State Championships Girls Day 3 Recap
2025 Outdoor Track State Championships Boys Day 3 Recap
2025 Outdoor Track State Championships Recap Day 2
2025 Outdoor Track State Championships Recap Day 1
2025 Gatorade Wyoming Girls Track Player of the Year
2025 Gatorade Wyoming Boys Track Player of the Year
Nike Outdoor Nationals Recap 2025
2025 Girls All-State Outdoor Track Awards
2025 Boys All-State Outdoor Track Awards
SATURDAY, APRIL 4:
Out-of-State events:
Altitude Invite in Fort Collins, CO – Cheyenne Central.
Frank Woodburn Invitational in Grand Junction, CO – Little Snake River.
Timpanogos Alpha Invitational in Orem, UT – Cokeville, Lyman, Mountain View.
Wheatland vs. Laramie Softball on March 27, 2026
The Bulldogs hosted the Plainsmen in a doubleheader at Lewis Park
Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Randy Bell
State and federal officials are seeking public comment on the proposed Bridger Pipeline Expansion project to carry Canadian crude from the border in Phillips County, Montana, to a terminal near Guernsey.
The massive 36-inch-diameter pipeline would span 647 miles and move about 550,000 barrels of crude oil daily. The proposed route includes about 210 miles across Crook, Weston, Niobrara, Goshen and Platte counties in eastern Wyoming, according to developer Bridger Pipeline Expansion. The company is a subsidiary of Casper-based Bridger Pipeline LLC, which owns a network of oil pipelines, including the Belle Fourche and Butte pipelines that connect North Dakota, Montana and eastern Wyoming oilfields to the Guernsey storage and interconnect hub.
Bridger Pipeline is owned by True Cos., which has had several significant pipeline spills, including a 45,000-gallon diesel spill in eastern Wyoming in 2022 and an incident that spewed more than 50,000 gallons of Bakken crude into the Yellowstone River in Montana in 2015.
The U.S. Bureau of Management is the lead federal regulatory authority “to review potential impacts of the entire project to ensure environmental, cultural and community considerations are fully evaluated,” according to a BLM press release. The company has also applied to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality for a “certificate of compliance” required under the state’s Major Facility Siting Act, which triggers a parallel environmental review under Montana’s Environmental Policy Act.
The 30-day public scoping and comment period initiated this week will help both federal and Montana officials identify potential impacts and alternatives. The agencies will co-host one virtual and three in-person public meetings, to be announced at a later date (check here for updates), they said.
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality “will serve as a participating agency” in the BLM’s review, according to the department.
You can learn more about the environmental review for the project here, and choose the “participate now” tab to submit a comment.
Keystone Light?
Some locals in eastern Wyoming refer to the project as “Keystone Light,” a Niobrara County rancher told WyoFile. The name, borrowed from a beer, is a nod to the notion that the Bridger Pipeline Expansion would help fill the industry’s aspiration for the Keystone XL oil pipeline project abandoned in 2021.
Amid major opposition and protests, President Joe Biden — on his first day in office — cited his plans to address climate change by revoking a Trump-era permit for Keystone XL, which was required for the border crossing. The Bridger Pipeline Expansion will also require a presidential permit for the international border crossing, according to the BLM.
Similar to the Bridger Pipeline Expansion, Keystone XL would have transported Canadian oil-sands crude, but was larger — designed for up to 830,000 barrels per day. Its proposed route also differed, crossing in Montana and spanning portions of South Dakota and Nebraska.
One major advantage of the Bridger project, according to company officials, is that the Canada-Montana-Wyoming route follows many existing rights-of-way. About half of the route in Montana is parallel to existing pipelines, and a little more than half of the 210-mile route in Wyoming follows existing pipeline corridors, according to a project description provided by the BLM.
Additionally, the developer owns much of that existing infrastructure: “The Project would parallel Bridger‐owned infrastructure for roughly 138 miles in Montana and 100 miles in Wyoming.”
The route includes about 6 miles of BLM-managed lands in northeast Wyoming, as well as about 5 miles of Thunder Basin National Grassland, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The federal review includes the Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Construction could begin by July 2027 and would employ about 400 workers for each of four stages of development, according to a BLM planning document.
Health and environmental concerns
In 2023, Bridger Pipeline and its subsidiary Belle Fourche Pipeline Company paid $12.5 million to resolve penalties related to a series of pipeline spills and alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and federal pipeline safety laws.
The company’s track record, combined with allegedly lax oversight by state regulators, is cause for concern, said Jill Morrison, who serves on the board of the Sheridan-based landowner advocacy group Powder River Basin Resource Council.
“They’ve had a lot of spills and breaks,” Morrison told WyoFile. “Are they going to up their game to be more on top of ensuring we don’t have spills and breaks like other pipelines?”
For its part, Bridger Pipeline says it has launched an artificial leak detection company, FlowState, that monitors its pipeline systems. FlowState was awarded a $2 million Energy Matching Funds state grant in 2024.
Parent company True Cos. created FlowState because it couldn’t find a leak-detection system on the market that satisfied its needs, “so we built one,” Bridger Pipeline spokesman Bill Salvin told WyoFile.
“We have had some instances where our pipelines have leaked — that’s simply a fact,” Salvin said, adding that some of the company’s leaks were related to outdated practices that have since been improved industrywide. “Every one of those incidents is terribly unfortunate. That’s how we view it: We don’t want any [spill] incidents.
“What’s most important to us,” Salvin continued, “is when those incidents happen, that we respond very quickly and with everything we have, and that we learn from them so they don’t happen again. And that’s why we’ve got FlowState today.”
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