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National Fire Plan Success Story

Remote Teton Subdivision Works on Fire Protection Plan
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
National Fire Plan - Firefighting
2010

Cabin.
Student Conservation Association volunteers provided Firewise tips for homeowners in Teton Wilderness Ranches after conducting risk assessments. Many of the homes, such as this one, are seasonal residences.

Teton Wilderness Ranches is an idyllic setting, surrounded by the Bridger-Teton National Forest, just a half mile east of Grand Teton National Park. While the views are amazing, the subdivision creates a wildland urban interface, surrounded by lodgepole forest and sagebrush, five miles from the nearest volunteer fire station in Moran, WY.

Due to prevailing winds and continuous fuels, a wildfire from Grand Teton National Park could easily impact Teton Wilderness Ranches. Recent fires in the area exhibited moderate to high rates of spread due to the fuel types that surround these properties.

Interagency partners have been working on projects to reduce fuels in within the Buffalo Valley area that surrounds Teton Wilderness Ranches. Property owners in the 27-lot subdivision have successfully completed some mitigation in their subdivision, but needed a sustainable wildfire protection plan to tie the projects together. Jackson Hole Fire & EMS (JHFE) used a community assistance grant through Grand Teton National Park to purchase Redzone software to assess the 26 structures in the subdivision. Two Student Conservation Association volunteers completed assessments on the developed lots in Teton Wilderness Ranches for the fire department.

Most residents of Teton Wilderness Ranches contributed to their individual home assessments while the SCAs were working in the subdivision. JHFE joined with fire management staff from Grand Teton National Park and the Bridger-Teton National Forest for a community meeting at the Moran Fire Station, where residents learned not only about the project in their neighborhood, but also what fuels work was under way in Buffalo Valley. The meeting provided a forum for Firewise training, as well as questions and comments from residents.

JHFE has completed the written wildfire protection plan and is working on creating maps through Redzone that will serve as visual aids to show high risk areas, evacuation routes and ongoing projects.

Contact: Traci Weaver, Fire Communication and Education Specialist, (307) 739-3692.