Fires sweep through Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming
The toughest decision one makes when dealing with natural disasters centers around when to act.
“We weren’t worried the day the Elk Fire started in the Big Horns,” noted fifth-generation rancher Nate Kane who ranches with his family near Ranchester, Wyo. “I thought, ‘This isn’t going to be anything. It’s late September, it’s not going to take off.’ Plus, at that time, the fire wasn’t on our permit.”
Kane’s family and an uncle run 450 head on a U.S. Forest Service permit. They trailed their cows up the mountain July 16 and were due to come off Oct. 10. But on Sunday, Sept. 29, a cold front rocketed in, and the fire blew up. There was a large smoke plume, and the fire blew across multiple drainages on the eastern face of the mountains.
The Kanes have a history of running cattle in the Big Horn Mountains. Even before the government established the Bighorn National Forest in 1897, Kane’s great grandfather used the mountain pastures for summer grazing.
Kane explained that cows were located in an area called Freeze Out Point that was looking like it might have fire. Before Highway 14 closed to traffic, the Kanes drove back up the mountain to move their cows.
“The face of the mountain was on fire, so we moved the cattle back to the Hay Creek Pasture. When the fire started, the Padlock Ranch had probably 600 yearlings in the area, so they had trailed them to a holding trap near Freeze Out. Sunday night the trail to Freeze Out was on fire, and the U.S. Forest Service wouldn’t let Padlock go in to get their cattle. We ended up going in any way to move our cows and let the Padlock’s yearlings out of the trap and left the gates open so they could scatter.”
Tuesday, Oct. 1, although the fire made another run, the Kane’s felt their cows were in a safe location. The family kept a close eye on the fire and were in touch with other permittees and Forest Service personnel. They moved cows again to a safer location Thursday, but after another cold front blasted through Friday night, it was time to come home.
TIME TO MOVE THE CATTLE
The Watch Duty (a popular fire-tracking app) map showed half of the pasture the cows were in had burned.
“I was nervous going up there Saturday because we did not know where the fire was exactly and we didn’t know which way we were going to go, trailing down the highway and or using the trucks. We talked to a hot shot crew, and they believed we could make it to that pasture. Our plan was to trail them over the highway and get cattle trucks in,” said Kane. However, when they arrived, they realized not as much had burned as originally thought, so they opted to trail the cattle out via the face of the mountain. The cattle trail home every autumn on the same trail, so easily walked off the mountain.
“We certainly appreciate everyone who were on standby to use their cattle trucks,” Kane said. “We were never in any danger. There were not any giant blazes in the trees or falling timber. The Padlock’s cowboys rounded up their yearlings, and we came off the mountain together. A special shout out to the Forest Service’s Cordell Perkins who facilitated our trips in and out of those mountains.”
Although the Kane family annually trails their livestock through the small town of Dayton every year heading home, this year seemed special to the residents. The town had been in SET mode, preparing to evacuate for days. Kane estimates the distance from the mountain lease to the home ranch at 20 miles and takes three days.
“Saturday, Oct. 5, was an exceptionally long day. We got them trailed all the way home Monday, Oct. 7. So far, we have not seen any respiratory problems. We went through a lot of ash dust, though, and that’s not good for their lungs. We will keep a close eye on them.”
“I don’t know who is happier to be back home, us or the cows,” Nate added.
LOOKING AHEAD
The family has launched into their usual fall work of preconditioning and pregnancy testing and will wait to consider what the future holds for grazing in the forest.
“We have five pastures leased in the Bighorns; three have burned and the fourth one is currently on fire. The fifth one is the smallest. We expect a deferment, but don’t know for how long. We will try making plans in November or December.”
Taking a positive spin on the situation, Kane added, “I believe the grass that will grow in the mountains will be phenomenal not only for the livestock, but for the wildlife.”
The X-X ranch near Parkman, Wyo., is private land that lies in the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains against the elk winter range. A wet 2023 followed by a wet spring in 2024 and then a hot, dry summer caused the perfect storm of abundant dry grass and incredibly dry forest conditions. Add a strong wind and lightning, and the recipe for disaster was set.
“We lost about a third of the ranch to the fire, it pretty much torched that whole area,” said X-X Ranch Manager David Hannahs. “We saw two different runs out of the timber, and we fought it on the grass as best we could. There were times when the wind and temperatures were too intense and there wasn’t much you could do until you hit a road or very large fire break.”
The ranch custom grazes yearlings, which fortunately had been shipped before the fire. What remains for grazing next year will need to be assessed. Since they lost a large portion for grazing, that portion will need to rest and the ranch manager will see how it grows back.
“Unfortunately, in the foothills the greatest problem is going to be erosion if we get heavy moisture,” Hannahs said, adding, “Probably the best thing that could happen now is a heavy snow dump to get pressure to force the moisture into the ground rather than having it hit and rolling off.”
In addition, the ranch lost 3,500 acres of fencing. Although the pipe and steel post fence survived, the older wooden posts and braces will need to be rebuilt.
“We’ll be assessing that and seeing how much we can afford to bite off this early fall or early spring,” the ranch manager said.
Large herds of elk come down from the mountains into the foothills this time of year and the fire had them streaming down. The X-X has an outfitter who holds elk hunts; it remains to be seen where the elk will settle since their usual habitat has burned.
“If they stay on the north end, we may be able to have some hunters later in October,” Hannahs said.
Although the fire continues to sweep down the mountains, Hannahs said it was rewarding seeing people helping each other.”
“When that fire started, we had five to six neighbors who all had pump tanks on their pickups. Thanks to their huge effort, our buildings are safe, and we put out fire from affecting other parts of the ranch. Neighbors helping neighbors has been going on all summer long in this area of our country.”
The fire, which was started by lightening, has consumed nearly 100,000 acres as of Oct. 15 and was about 28 contained on Oct. 18.