In 2020, three large wildfires severely impacted the landscape of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests (MBR) in northcentral Colorado and southeast Wyoming. The East Troublesome, Middle Fork, and Mullen fires cumulatively burned 240,906 acres managed by the MBR. All three fires burned in a mosaic pattern and burn severity varies widely.
Fire recovery is a U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Regional priority and local Forest objective in the coming year. Emergency stabilization and post-fire restoration work has already begun to be implemented. Initial Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) assessments are complete for Middle Fork and Mullen, and still underway for East Troublesome. As access to burned areas improves, additional assessments from Forest Service specialists and partners may occur. This could result in identification of additional restoration needs over and above what was initially found.
So, as Forest visitors make plans to visit areas near the fire footprints this coming year, they should expect to find a changed landscape, with the potential for both long and short-term closures, as well as potential hazards. Hazards could include debris flow, flash flooding, and falling trees.
In addition to 2020 and within the last five years, the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests have had multiple large wildfires including Badger Creek (2018), Beaver Creek (2016), Ryan (2018), and Silver Creek (2018). All of which were over 20,000 acres in size. Those areas are also recovering and impacts to visitation remain.
‘Know Before You Go’ and seek out on-the-ground condition reports before you visit. Forest Service district offices are great sources of information, as well as official social media pages and the MBR web site.
Information about recreation site status, maps, BAER and post-wildfire management efforts, as well as potential hazards and emergency contacts can be found on the forest website.
Jeff
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