Rangers in Wyoming’s Shoshone national forest believe they have figured out how to mitigate an elevated risk of wildfires: they are no longer using explosives to blow up dead horses.

The temporary pause in the seemingly bizarre and somewhat gruesome policy comes as a lengthy dry spell in the state’s backcountry combines with hotter-than-usual temperatures, increasing the possibility of wildfires. Experts say drought and heat from the climate crisis is fueling a rise in extreme wildfires worldwide.

In less extreme times, the US Forest Service routinely blows up carcasses of fallen horses – after removing horseshoes to minimize the hazard from flying metal debris – to prevent gatherings of ravenous grizzly bears that frequent Wyoming’s open spaces.

The service follows directions from its own manual, Obliterating Animal Carcasses With Explosives, detailing best practices for detonating horses, moose and mules.

Created by the forest service’s Missoula technology and development center in 1995, it offers advice including where to place the charges and how many to use.

“Carcasses that have been partially obliterated will generally not show any trace of existence the next day,” the manual says.

The episode was first reported by the Cowboy State Daily.

Evan Guzik, Shoshone’s public affairs officer, said the service had not adopted a wholesale suspension of the use of explosives, but a temporary pause was considered necessary in the case of two horses that slipped and fell to their deaths last weekend on a remote trail near the town of Cody.

Rangers decided not to blow up the horses, and opted instead to maneuver them to the foot of a steep slope and reroute the trail around them, he said.

“Each incident is approached as a unique event and assessed individually. In this particular case, the area was thick with timber and brush that was too dry to safely obliterate the carcasses,” Guzik told the Guardian.

“[The] folks on the ground made a risk-based decision and felt that they could minimize the hazard of a carcass near a trail by creating the reroute and canvassing the area with signs alerting trail users of the potential for grizzlies in the area … without increasing the chance to spark a new wildfire.

“That may not be the case for other similar situations,” he said.

Cody, a popular tourist town in north-east Wyoming named for its co-founder, the wild west showman Buffalo Bill Cody, has a notably dry climate and near-constant winds, making the area particularly susceptible to wildfires.

Northern Wyoming, southern Montana and other western states were affected by large numbers of wildfires this summer, and many areas are still vulnerable to new blazes during the mostly dry conditions of fall.

Wyoming, meanwhile, has an abundant population of grizzly bears, and while encounters with humans are uncommon, they can be dangerous. In May, a man was attacked and seriously injured by a grizzly in Grand Teton national park, and in July last year a woman was fatally mauled on a trail west of Yellowstone national park in Montana.

Bear gatherings are more of a concern at this time of year, experts say, because most are in their hyperphagia stage, otherwise known as when they fatten up for winter hibernation. The recently concluded Fat Bear Week at Katmai national park in Alaska celebrates the process while educating the public about the animals.

Guzik said changing seasons meant a decreasing likelihood of rangers having to decide whether to use explosives on carcasses to keep hungry grizzlies away. As well as the bears heading for hibernation, wetter conditions are expected soon. “All our fingers are crossed for rain or snow,” he said.

Times are tough for families worldwide, thanks to a mission that began in 1993 by Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham.

A man from England contacted him and asked if Graham would be willing to fill shoeboxes with gifts for kids in Europe. Shortly after the mission began, with the help of a church in Charlotte, NC, they filled over 11,000 boxes. That Christmas, Samaritan’s Purse sent 28,000 shoeboxes filled with gifts to kids overseas.

That’s when Operation Christmas Child began, and today, more than 220 million boxes are sent annually to kids worldwide.

This year, National Collection Week for the shoeboxes is November 18-25, so if you’d like to get involved, now is the time to begin packing shoeboxes to ensure that you’ll be able to meet the deadline.

You, your church, organization, family, or friends can easily get involved by having a packing party and then dropping the packed shoeboxes at one of the many drop-off locations around Wyoming.

Remember that some of these kids have never received gifts like this when packing shoeboxes, so make sure to make each box memorable.

There are six categories you should pick items to put into each box for both boys and girls.

1. A WOW item.
2. Personal care items.
3. School supplies.
4. Clothing & Accessories.
5. Games & Activities.
6. Toys.

It’s recommended to avoid items like:

• Food, candy, or gum.
• Toothpaste
• Used or damaged items
• Scary or war-related items.
• Seeds or organic matter.
• Liquids.
• Medication.
• Money.
• Fire-starters.
• Knives, saws, or razor blades.

I have included a complete list of recommended items for boys and girls HERE.  

6 Steps For Wyomingites To Participate In Operation Christmas Child

EVANSTON, Wyo. — Morgan Butler’s pickup truck isn’t exactly the world’s most fuel-efficient vehicle, but he finds the fuel charges he recently got hit with to be extreme.

“Racked up over $2,000 in charges,” Butler said.

Those charges were for 607 gallons of diesel at two separate Maverik stations in North Las Vegas on one day. The thing is, Butler says on that day he was in Wyoming, where he lives and works. Plus, his non-diesel trucks can’t even hold one-tenth of all that fuel. And then the next day he got hit with another bogus $50 charge.

“It’s like someone is running a trucking company with my card,” he said. “I don’t know who it is, but it definitely ain’t me in Vegas, you know.”

Butler uses Maverik’s Nitro card for the 10 cents a gallon savings on gas. It’s linked directly to his bank account.

“I had to reset everything,” he explained. “Our mortgage, everything had to be reset because we had to cancel our entire account to stop this fraud.”

Sent to collections

When Butler contacted Maverik, he says he was told they’ll investigate the fraud. But he says he never got an answer. Instead, he got letters from a debt collector sent on Maverik’s behalf.

“I mean, to me, it’s obvious fraud,” he said. “But yet, they didn’t seem to care to look into it.”

Worried he’ll have to pay thousands for fuel he never bought, not to mention the fear that his credit will get destroyed, Butler asked me to look into it.

So, the KSL Investigators reached out to Maverik’s communications team to ask why the combined purchase of over 607 gallons of diesel was not fraudulent. Well, it appears that fueled a change of heart. A spokesperson told us they “confirmed with Morgan directly any incorrect charges or fees have been fully refunded.”

And he confirmed with us that he’s no longer on the hook for the work of thieves.

“Those guys have saved a lot of money that day,” he said of the theft.

Butler doesn’t know how those guys got access to his Maverik Nitro info. We do know they used a mobile app, not his actual card. Maverik tells us customers should use unique usernames and passwords to help avoid getting hit with fraud as well as password vaults to bolster their security.