Around the 307
News, commentary, and other items of interest from the greater Wyoming landscape.
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Here are a few Wyoming news items for the week of October 13th, 2024:
I think it’s worth starting with an event that occurred a bit later in the week—I’m talking about the precipitation and snowfall that came down on Thursday, October 17th into Friday, October 18th! This most welcome bought of moisture has helped firefighters on location at both the Pack Trail Fire and the Elk Fire. As of today the Pack Trail Fire, burning in the Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) and Shoshone National Forest southeast of Moran, Wyoming, has consumed over 89,000 acres and is now considered about 62% confined. You can read today’s fire update on the Pack Trail Fire here. The other massive wildfire, the Elk Fire, has now burned over 96,000 acres in the Bighorn National Forest. Following the wet weather, containment of the Elk Fire now stands at about 44%. Read the latest updates on the Elk Fire here. And, you can also read this story from Cowboy State Daily published on October 17th with further updates on how the recent snowfall has impacted these wildfires.
In other news from the past week, on Friday, October 18th, WyoFile published this article about the Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, that has been amazing Wyoming star-gazers since earlier in the month. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observatory website, Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS may never be visible again in our solar system, making this viewing event—for those of you who were lucky enough to see it—a truly once in a lifetime opportunity. Read more about Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS here in this NASA Earth Observatory article.
Also on Friday, October 18th, the National Park Service (NPS) published this press release asking for public comment on improvements for Grand Teton National Park’s (GTNP) Taggart Lake area. Growing visitation to this very popular trailhead year-round has led to overflow parking, deteriorated trail conditions, trail crowding, vegetation loss, and overall insufficient facilities. The comment period is open from now through November 21st, 2024. Visit the Reimagining the Taggert Lake Experience project website here to read more about this effort and to contribute your public comments.
That’s all for today Buckaroos! Thanks for reading and have a great week!
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