LaVA to cover 300,000 acres in Med Bow

The United States Forest Service (USFS) recently held two check-in sessions at the Brush Creek/Hayden District Office in Saratoga. The sessions, which concern the Landscape Vegetation Analysis (LaVA) project, are intended to increase public awareness of the project. The check-in sessions in Saratoga were held from 4-7 p.m. on Jan. 23 and Jan. 24.

Two more check-in sessions have been planned to take place from 4-7 pm on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31 in Laramie. The Laramie sessions will take place at the Lincoln Community Center located at 365 W. Grand Ave.

Over 300,000 acres throughout the Medicine Bow National Forest have been identified as being able to benefit from treatment over the next 10-15 years.

According to literature made available by the USFS that can be found at http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=51255, communities in both Carbon County and Albany County are at risk for “uncharacteristic wildfires of high intensity and high severity” following the epidemic of the mountain pine beetle.

Working with multiple agencies, the USFS plans to implement several types of treatment with objectives including forest restoration, wildlife habitat improvement and timber production.

For more information, the public can contact District Ranger Frank Romero at 307-745-2337 or [email protected].

The Saratoga Sun will be releasing a series of articles covering the different methods the USFS will be implementing for the LaVA project.