Sheridan County Conservation District Receives Requests For Living Snow Fences

Some areas in Sheridan County could soon be a bit greener and at the same time reduce the amount of white stuff on highways during the winter.

The Sheridan County Conservation District has recently received two requests for living snow fences and the District has already submitted a notice of intent to the State Forestry Division.

One request is in the UCross area, and the other is by Arvada along state and federal highways.

A living snow fence involves trees, shrubs or bushes that are planted in strategic locations to block some of the wind and snow in areas where both of them tend to be problems to motorists.

District Manager Carrie Rogaczewski says the procedure can be time consuming in terms of both placing the living snow fence and all the procedures that must be followed beforehand.

“It’s a little bit of a lag time based on when the applications are due and the planting, so the earliest plantings with the 2 requests we’ve reviewed would be in 2024, if they’re approved and if funding is allocated to them.”

According to the Wyoming State Forestry Division there are almost 60 living snow fences in the state, with most of them in the southeast along I-80.

Ten-to-15 years ago, a living snow fence was placed on I-90 about 15 miles south of Sheridan.