(Fremont County, WY) – Governor Mark Gordon thanked the hundreds of firefighters who have been battling several wildfires across the state, including Fremont County’s Pack Trail Fire, in an online news conference held Thursday.
The Governor specifically referenced the Pack Trail Fire having “made a run last night”. According to the latest update from the U.S Forest Service Bridger-Teton National Forest, the Pack Trail Fire has grown to 67,376 acres.
The firefighting funds allowed for in the state’s biennium budget have been entirely spent, the Governor said, while confirming that his office plans to borrow from the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account (LSRA) to continue firefighting operations.
Created in 2005, LSRA is a surplus better known as Wyoming’s ‘rainy day fund’. Governor Gordon also expressed an interest eventually replacing the money taken from the LSRA for firefighting efforts this year.
“My hope is we’ll have a session underway and we can really talk about what it would take to replenish that (funding),” Gordon said.
The Governor also expressed concern about the U.S. Forest Service possibly not hiring the usual amount of seasonal workers next year, citing their importance as first responders at the outbreak of a wildfire.
“This is perhaps not a unique a year as we would like, and we need to make sure we have the resources we need,” Gordon said.
“We’re not out of fire season by a long shot”, the Governor added. “The amount of acreage we’ve burned up in Wyoming is unprecedented.”
“Take every care not to start a fire”, Gordon said in reference to hay swathers, farm equipment, and campfires as some of the possible causes of large wildfires in dry conditions during fire season.
“The after-impacts of this are going to take a while to address… It is going to take a while to understand what exactly has happened, and what the potential consequences are,” the Governor said, specifically referencing recent concerns about fire retardant and ash possibly making its way into the water supplies of communities around the state.
Governor Gordon also addressed his office’s efforts to secure as much funding as possible for Wyoming’s share of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, which will become unavailable prior to the end of the year, and was asked about several others topics during the news conference.