(Dickinson, ND) A wildfire in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park is now tripled in size. The blaze grew wildly Sunday after a day of record heat and dry, blustery conditions. The North Unit fire has been called the Horse Pasture Fire, and crews worked through the night into yesterday to try to contain the blaze. The fire now covers three-thousand acres and is 30-percent contained. The park s visitor center is at risk from the flames.
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(Bismarck, ND) Fire crews are progressing on the dangerous Horse Pasture Fire in Western North Dakota.
As of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, firefighters are reporting 45% containment and an estimated 5,000 acres burned for the Horse Pasture Fire in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the McKenzie District of the Little Missouri National Grassland. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Light winds have responders optimistic as they continue to contain the wildland fire. At this time, no structure damage has been reported, but the CCC campground and other infrastructure in the park are still at risk, as well as some private residences on the north end of the fire.
A wildfire blazing in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park has grown to nearly 8 square miles, but fire crews have made progress on boxing it in and protecting threatened structures.
The Horse Pasture Fire on Tuesday was estimated at 5,000 acres and 45% contained, according to Beth Hill, acting outreach and education manager for the North Dakota Forest Service. The cause was still under investigation, though authorities think it likely was caused by a person.
Fire crews have used back-burning eliminating vegetation with controlled burns to create a fire perimeter roughly on the east, north and south sides of the park area, and they were working on the western flank Tuesday, according to Park Superintendent Wendy Ross.
(Bismarck, ND) Fire crews are progressing on the dangerous Horse Pasture Fire in Western North Dakota.
As of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, firefighters are reporting 45% containment and an estimated 5,000 acres burned for the Horse Pasture Fire in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the McKenzie District of the Little Missouri National Grassland. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Light winds have responders optimistic as they continue to contain the wildland fire. At this time, no structure damage has been reported, but the CCC campground and other infrastructure in the park are still at risk, as well as some private residences on the north end of the fire.
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North Dakota bighorn sheep are thriving. Last month, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDGFD) reported that biologists counted 322 bighorn sheep in western North Dakota – 97 rams, 170 ewes and 55 lambs – during its 2020 bighorn sheep survey. This is an 11% increase in this portion of the bighorn sheep population since 2019 and is 13% above the five-year average, News Dakota reports.
“The increase in the 2020 count reflects lessening effects of bacterial pneumonia that was detected in 2014,” said big game biologist Brett Wiedmann.
The record count, which surpasses the previous record of 313 bighorn sheep in 2008, doesn’t include about 40 sheep in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and other bighorn sheep recently relocated to the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, according to News Dakota.