Wyoming has experienced 1,317 wildfires that burned about 253,000 acres so far in 2025, State Forester Kelly Norris reported to the State Board of Land Commissioners during its regular meeting Thursday.
Norris updated the board on the stateโs fire season and ongoing forestry management efforts. She said that while last yearโs fire season concluded with suppression costs exceeding $37 million, this yearโs costs are tracking at about $21 million. She said Wyoming has now spent over $20 million on wildfire suppression for two consecutive years.
Of the total fires this year, over 75% โ or just over 1,000 fires โ happened on state and private lands, burning more than 56,000 acres. The largest incident was the Red Canyon Fire in Hot Springs County, which grew to over 124,000 acres in August and was the nationโs number-one-priority fire for four days. Norris spoke to the success of state aviation resources, which were enhanced through the last legislative session. The Wyoming helitack program responded to 53 fires, a medium helicopter responded to 15 fires and four single-engine air tankers responded to 76 fires, dropping over 200,000 gallons of retardant. She told the board that as of Oct. 1, all state aviation resources for the year had been released.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder thanked Norris for her email updates throughout the summer and asked for a report on a wildfire task group. Norris explained that a small group was created to help State Forestry prepare unified recommendations for the legislatureโs Joint Appropriations Committee regarding wildfire issues such as insurance, fuels management and state capacity. The groupโs work supported recent changes to the emergency fire suppression account rules.
Norris also told the board about a policy change at the federal level. The U.S. Department of the Interior is moving to unify its various agenciesโ wildland fire programs into a new U.S. Wildland Fire Service. She said the consolidation will require updates to master agreements and operational changes for the state, which interacts with multiple Interior agencies on firefighting efforts.
