Nine Wyoming Counties Now Designated USDA Disaster Areas for Wildfire Impacts

Wyoming has received an updated U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretarial disaster designation due to damages and losses caused by wildfire. The updated designation expands the number of Wyoming counties designated primary natural disaster areas from one to nine.In an October 15 follow-up letter, United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack designates Albany, Goshen, Platte, Converse, Hot Springs, Sheridan, Crook,  Johnson and Weston counties as primary natural disaster areas, as well as nine contiguous counties. Big Horn, Fremont, Niobrara, Campbell, Laramie, Park, Carbon, Natrona and Washakie. The updated designations came after a review of Loss Assessment Reports by the USDA. Wildfires have now burned more than 810,000 acres in Wyoming in 2024, much of it private land.

Governor Mark Gordon said that he’s grateful the USDA has recognized the size and scope of the impacts these wildfires are having on Wyoming’s agriculture producers.