PINEDALE – Sublette County Weed and Pest, along with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and other partners, will conduct aerial cheatgrass treatment on Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, State of Wyoming, and private lands throughout Sublette County starting on July 15th. Sublette County Weed and Pest’s aerial contract applicator will be treating along the Wind River front and Wyoming Range. Treatment will occur daily and with multiple helicopters each day through August.

Roads leading to active treatment areas will be marked in the field with signs. Please avoid these active treatment areas to allow for work to continue. Updates will be posted weekly on the Sublette County Weed and Pest Facebook page. Please check for updates.

Cheatgrass is a non-native invasive annual grass that competes with native vegetation for resources. It grows in the interspace between native plants where it competes for resources, causes an increase in fine fuels and fire frequency, changes the landscape for sagebrush obligate species, and reduces grazing opportunities. This treatment is part of a large-scale landscape-level project to control cheatgrass and limit its spread, protecting native vegetation.

Treatments are a part of an ongoing project of the Sublette Invasive Species Taskforce managing cheatgrass. The 2025 treatments are a culmination of many years of planning to acquire funding, environmental authority, and permissions. The scale is widespread and across multiple land jurisdictional boundaries. Most treatments occur on south-facing slopes. In the Wyoming Range, treatments generally will occur in the foothills from Black Canyon down through Lake Mountain, the little Colorado Desert and the Calpet Road. On Forest Service-managed lands, treatments will be on the ridges and adjacent hillsides of Fremont, Halfmoon and Boulder Lakes. On BLM, north and south of Fremont, Halfmoon, Warren Bridge, Boulder, Scab Creek, Irish Canyon, Muddy Creek, Little and Big Prospect areas and towards Elk Mountain and the Sublette County Line. Along Highway 1919/189 down the rim. State and private lands in these areas will also be treated. The treatments around Silver, Pocket and Cottonwood Creeks will begin August 14 and continue until completed, pending favorable weather conditions. 

For more information and updates, please visit the Sublette County Weed and Pest website or contact Troy Fieseler, Game and Fish Terrestrial Habitat Biologist (307) 367-5617.