Living Snow Fence To Be Built On US Highway 14-16 Near Ucross

An area of concern in the winter on US Highway 14-16 in southeastern Sheridan County will soon be improved.

Recently the Sheridan County Conservation District approved plans to have a living snow fence built along the northwest side of the highway, about 1 mile northeast of the Ucross intersection.

Last year, WYDOT and a nearby landowner approached the District regarding the idea, saying the area of highway is known to be bad for blowing snow, ice and cars going off of the road.

Jackie Turner is the Program Specialist within the District.

She says prep work will start sometime this fall and the trees will be planted in May of next year.

There will be 2 rows of trees split into two sections.

One will be 750 feet long, the other will be 185 feet for a total of 935 feet.

Turner adds she estimates it may take about 5-to-10 years before the trees make an impact on the area, because they need some time to grow, and explains another advantage to a living snow fence.

“I think when you look at it compared to the usual wooden snow fences, the living snow fence is supposed to last a lot longer, then those wooden fences and also be a lot less long term maintenance than those are.”

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

Ten-to-15 years ago, a living snow fence was placed on I-90 about 15 miles south of Sheridan, or about 3-to-5 miles north of the Piney Creek Road exit.