November 7, 2022 |
U.S. Forest Service workers have completed their first LaVA project.
The Medicine Bow Landscape Vegetation Analysis Project, or LaVA, is a program developed by the U.S. Forest Service. Working with several federal and local agencies, their 15-year objective is to address large scale tree die-off caused by bark beetles and provide better grazing for big game animals.
On September 29th, Matt Schweich, the Forest Service’s LaVA Implementation Coordinator, led a group of 26 people out to Troublesome, in the Medicine Bow mountains, to see the first finished stage of the LaVA project. Coordinator Schweich explained what his team accomplished.
Troublesome was chosen because it was a small range and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department were already mowing nearby. Once they were finished, Schweich said his team had WGFD move their equipment to his site. Schweich described how the area was treated.
The LaVA implementation coordinator was encouraged by the regrowth he saw during September 29th’s field trip. Schweich said the project benefited from the help of local agencies.
The U.S. Forest Service’s Medicine Bow LaVA project covers a lot of land. Schweich explained why this area was completed first.
Schweich said Troublesome was only the beginning. His team is working on projects across Carbon County.
Troublesome was the first step toward the Medicine Bow Landscape Vegetation Analysis’s goal of keeping Wyoming’s forests healthy and flourishing.
