No Fires Allowed: Game and Fish Bans Open Flames Across Southeast Wyoming Lands

If you’re heading out to camp, hike, or fish in southeast Wyoming, leave the firewood and matches at home. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has slapped a fire ban on all Commission-owned lands across five counties—Albany, Carbon, Goshen, Laramie, and Platte—effective immediately, GocoNow reports.

Thanks to dangerously dry conditions and sky-high fire risk, open flames of any kind are now off-limits in 14 Wildlife Habitat Management Areas and 43 Public Access Areas. That includes some of the state’s most popular outdoor spots like Laramie Peak, Table Mountain, and the Game and Fish-managed areas of Glendo and Saratoga Lakes.

What’s Banned:

• No campfires.
• No charcoal grills or coal-burning stoves.
• No smoking unless you’re in a building, vehicle, or a cleared spot at least three feet wide.
• No fireworks—ever (those are always banned on these lands anyway).

Gas grills? Still OK—for now. Just be sure you have the right gear on hand to put out a flare-up fast.

Wildfires don’t just scorch trees—they wreck wildlife habitat, mess with agriculture, ruin recreation, and help invasive grasses like cheatgrass take over. A single fire in a winter range area could destroy forage big game animals depend on when the snow starts flying.

Game and Fish is asking everyone to be smart and respectful with the land.

“We need folks to be good stewards out there,” the agency said in a statement. “It takes years for these areas to recover after a fire.”

Check the Wyoming State Forestry website for current county-wide restrictions, and don’t assume rules are the same on Forest Service or BLM lands—they often vary. When in doubt, call ahead.

For questions about the Game and Fish fire ban, reach out to the Laramie Region office at (307) 745-4046.