Logging Operations May Cause Delays on WY-130 [Photos]

The U.S. Forest Service and the Wyoming Department of Transportation are advising travelers of Wyoming Highway 130 to be aware of work that is going on between Laramie and Saratoga.  Heavy equipment, logging trucks and highway flagging personnel will be dotting the scenic road, possibly as late as March.

“For about a twelve mile stretch on the western side of the summit, between mile posts 46 and 58, there will be logging trucks, machinery and flaggers,” says Ross Doman, a spokes person for the Wyoming Department of Transportation.  ”There’s a lot of turns on that highway, and people can get going pretty fast up there.   We’re just asking people to try to remember to watch out for things they don’t normally see on the road.”

Doman goes on to say that there are a lot of beetle-killed trees lining the highways, and this operation is to get those trees out of the area and away from the roadway, before they cause a potential road hazard.  ”These trees can fall over and lay right across the roadway.  So it’s the potential for problems that we’re trying to alleviate.”

The work zone encompasses mileposts 46 to 58. This stretch is approximately from Headquarters Park Road (also known as Forest Road 103) to the Forest Service’s Brush Creek Visitor Center.

Beyond simply mitigating potential road hazards, Aaron Voos, spokesperson for Medicine Bow National Forest says clearing out the dead timber can help in creating potential boundaries for a wildfire.

“Anytime you take a continuous forest and you put a fuel break in there, like a highway, that can be used in the case of a forest fire,” Voos said.  ”When you go then and remove some of the dead-fuel in there, for instance beetle killed trees, it definitely becomes something that could stop a fire.”

The contract for the WYO 130 project expires on March 31, 2013, although it’s possible that the work may finish sooner depending on weather and other factors. Impacts to snowmobiling are expected to be minimal. The contract restricts logging operations to areas below the Chains End parking area once snowmobile season starts in December.

The project is undertaken in partnership between the Medicine Bow National Forest and the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The cost is $208,000 and it is paid for by state funds.

Some campgrounds in the area are closed as well.  Voos says people who want more information can call the Medicine Bow National Forest at 307-745-2300 (Laramie) or 307-326-5258 (Saratoga.)