Local and State agencies unite to fight invasive grasses in areas affected by wildfire

Northern Wyoming suffered from a surge of wildfires this summer season. The Office of Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon stated that more than 629,000 acres had been affected throughout Wyoming as of Sept. 5. 

Costs are still being tallied. Grassroots efforts in northern Wyoming and southern Montana to aid the agricultural community began before the fires were extinguished. Gordon has submitted his U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) request for a Secretarial disaster designation due to impacts of these wildfires.

Recently the Wyoming Game and Fish Department Board of Commissioners approved the allocation of $250,000 to combat annual invasive grasses after the recent fires in northeast Wyoming. Sheridan County Weed and Pest and the Northeast Wyoming Invasive Grass Working Group have been working to educate and bring awareness to the invasive grasses threat to the area.

Brian Mealor is the director of the University of Wyoming Sheridan Research and Extension Center. He has been studying and working with invasive annual grasses for approximately 20 years. He recently explained the concern that organizations have regarding the recent fires and invasive grass species.

B. Mealor

Mealor said much of the fire facilitation relationship with invasive grasses that has been observed occurred farther west, in sagebrush dominated rangeland. Mealor explained the relationship locally where a transition of Great Plains to sagebrush rangeland is more nuanced.

B. Mealor

Affected producers have a lot on their plate. Mealor said evidence of the spread of annual invasive species will most likely not be apparent until next spring. 

Agencies and organizations battling against annual invasive grass species have begun to ensure funding is available and some have agents on the ground already. Landowners who have been battling these grasses on their property may want to develop a plan with Sheridan County Weed and Pest prior to spring. 

Find the Sheridan County Weed and Pest website and contact information by clicking here. 
To learn more about the University of Wyoming Sheridan Research and Extension Center, click here.