Wyoming reports 1,560 wildfires in 2025 season; $21 million obligated from emergency suppression account as aviation assets credited for better initial attack

Wyoming State Forester Kelly Norris told the Joint Appropriations Committee on Oct. 31 that the state had recorded 1,560 wildfires in 2025 that burned about 209,870 acres, and that about 79% of those fires occurred on state and private lands.

Norris said the 2025 tally was above the 10-year average and that counties took the season seriously: 21 counties adopted some level of fire restrictions in August and September. She reported that the state had 18 fires approved for the Emergency Fire Suppression Account (EFSA) from eight counties and four incidents on state trust lands, and that state forestry had committed approximately $21,000,000 from the EFSA to cover suppression costs for those incidents.

"We have 18 EFSA fires for the 2025 fire season," Norris said. "Approximately $21,000,000 has been obligated to cover the 18 different EFSA fires this year." She added that final cost shares remain under negotiation with counties, local fire districts, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management and therefore obligations are currently based on estimates.

Norris told the committee the state closed out its 2024 EFSA cost shares at roughly $37 million in state costs, lower than a $54 million…