Thanks to everyone who came out to the workshop last week!
If you missed it, don’t worry. We may present another workshop in the fall. Stay tuned or sign up for our newsletter/email list to get a notification when it’s scheduled.
Do you live in a rural or semi-rural area in the Bighorn Basin? Would you like to find out how you can reduce your property’s wildfire risk? Then come to the Bighorn Basin Firesmart workshop!
When: Monday, May 6.
Doors open at 6:30, program starts at 7, and we will wrap up by 9.
Where: Worland Community Center Complex, 1200 Culbertson Ave., in Worland (map & directions here).
Learn about Russian olive mitigation, how to create a defensible space around your home and buildings that will protect your property AND look good, wildfire behavior, hazardous fuels, resources for land owners, and much more.
Speakers include CJ Grimes, Wildlife Biologist with Canyon Wren Consulting in Tensleep, who will discuss wildlife conflicts with the Russian olive; Chris Kocher, Washakie County Fire Warden and Worland Fire Chief, on challenges with wildfire in Washakie County; Eve Warren, on firesmart landscaping and managing hazardous fuels; Russ Linneman, Fuels Treatment Contractor, on what to expect when removing Russian olives from your property; and Chris Weydeveld, Washakie County Firesmart Coordinator, on available programs offered to private landowners through the Firesmart program. Click here or scroll down to read more about all of our speakers.
In addition, you can take home informational brochures and handouts from the State of Wyoming and other agencies and organizations.
There will be refreshments!
And so we have enough chairs, handouts, and treats — but not too much — please RSVP below.
Speakers:
Chris Kocher
Chris is the current Washakie County Fire Warden and has been Fire Chief with the Worland Fire Protection District for 10 years. He grew up in Butte, Montana, and moved to Cody after finishing school in 1994, then moved to Worland in 1997 when he joined the department. The Worland department is a small combination department with some paid staff and many volunteers.
Chris will talk about wildfire behavior and about the Ready Set Go program. The latter is a classification system for letting people know their evacuation status in the event of a wildfire nearby. You can read more about this ahead of time at www.wildlandfirersg.org.
CJ Grimes
Since 1995, CJ has worked for three land management agencies in five states. His true passion is our native birds and their habitat, which turns out to be interrelated with most of the projects he has worked on — from wildland fire and fuels to invasive species management and reclamation. In 2015, he started Canyon Wren Consulting, LLC, to help with habitat-related projects in the Bighorn Basin and beyond. For the 2019 field season, he will be collecting and analyzing data on the Shoshone River Russian olive removal project for The Nature Conservancy.
Dr. Eve Warren, NRS
Dr. Warren earned her PhD from Texas Tech University in Rangeland Science and Fire Ecology and is a certified Wildland Fire Ecologist. She has taught at the University of Kansas and at Panhandle State University in Oklahoma until 2004 when she joined the Wyoming BLM Fuel Team as a Natural Resource Specialist. Her specialty is managing hazardous fuels in the wildland urban and industrial interface and post-wildfire vegetation management.
Russ Linneman
Russ is a local forestry and fuels contractor with many years’ experience in the treatment of forest vegetation in the wildland-urban interface. He uses a variety of methods to remove hazardous vegetation (fuels) in and around homes to reduce the chance of unwanted wildfire threatening life and property. His work results in a safer home ignition zone while leaving trees, shrubs, and other vegetation in the home landscape and looking good.
Chris Weydeveld
Chris is the owner and operator of Technical Forestry Services. He has served as Washakie County Firewise/Firesmart Coordinator since 2013. Chris is a 1987 graduate of the University of Montana with a BS Degree in Forest Resource Management and is a Certified Forester and a Certified Arborist.
