Kane Fire allows for temporary Firewood cutting

Community members can collect free cottonwood firewood from November 3-17 while helping clean up the Kane Fire area, where a fire burned about 1,900 acres last spring, mostly on National Park Service land in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Local fire crews and Wyoming Game and Fish cut down the trees, which were left in place to dry over the summer.

Anyone collecting firewood must check in at the Cal Taggart Visitor Center each day so the National Park Service can count participants. The center will provide a map showing the designated collection area. Its hours recently changed to 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Collection is limited to dead and downed wood within the designated area. Visitor center staff emphasized that standing trees are not available for cutting; only trees already cut down and left to dry over the summer may be collected. Motorized vehicles must stay on existing roads, and collectors must not block roads while gathering wood, according to the park service.

Skidding or dragging logs is prohibited. Visitor center employees said collectors must go to a downed tree, cut it into pieces and carry the wood back to their vehicle. Leave No Trace rules also apply: Collectors must remove all trash and litter, and slash piles must be cut up and scattered.

The Park Service recommends wearing blaze orange because hunting season is underway. All loads of wood must be secured before leaving the work area. Chainsaws must have spark arrestors, and collectors must have a fire extinguisher on-site to help prevent another wildfire, even though the area has already burned.

All National Park Service rules and regulations remain in effect during the collection opportunity. The agency states that the government will not be held responsible for any claim involving property damage or loss, personal injury or death.

After checking in and picking up a map at the Cal S. Taggart Visitor Center, collectors can reach the area by turning off Highway 37 onto Lane 8 1/2 and continuing east past Pond 5. Turn right at the canal toward the Gams place, then continue east down the hill. Turn right at the first intersection. Signs mark the route, and the check-in map provides additional guidance.