Crate Ridge Fire Area Reopens

Bighorn National Forest officials on Wednesday lifted the nearly year-long closure of the Crater Ridge Fire Area.  Visitors are now  free to access the formally closed roads and area.  Acting Medicine Wheel District Ranger Cordell Perkins said that people need to travel with caution as entering burned areas increases risk of injury or damage to your equipment and fire weakened trees can fall without warning and soils may be unstable due to erosion.

The closure was put in place by the Forest Service on July 17, 2021 after the start of the Crater Ridge Fire.  The long-duration fire, which burned over 7,500 acres, was declared out December 12, 2021.  The closure remained in effect to prevent resource damage from use prior to rehabilitation work. Crews were able to complete the work of removing a burned structure, removing hazard trees along roads, and rehabilitating dozer lines and lower-level roads that were opened for suppression. Logs from a salvage sale are decked off Forest System Roads 110 Boyd Ridge and 111 Red Springs. According to the Forest Service, these logs have been purchased by a contractor and are not available for public use. Unauthorized removal would be considered theft.