Wind, sage, and planting where nothing stays wet

Big sagebrush is the steppe. It is not on the Firewise appendix. UW Extension Sheridan (Scott Hininger, 6 January 2016): many plants that grow naturally in an area are highly flammable during the summer. Defensible landscape at least 30 feet, out to 100 feet or more. Deciduous trees and shrubs typically are not as flammable as evergreens. Barnyards and Backyards, Spring 2005: there are no truly “fireproof” plants. Rocky Mountain juniper is named fire-prone. The Firewise Wyoming plant appendix lists fringed sage and prairie sage. It does not list Artemisia tridentata. That species currently computes as avoid and includes WY. Artemisia frigida currently computes as on-list and includes WY.

You are treating the basin sage as a drought-tolerant foundation shrub because it is native. Hininger already said native summer fuel. Do not merge A. tridentata with A. frigida. Idaho’s sagebrush page is the same genus-split.

This is not a Wyoming doorway. Teton’s 2024 IWUIC is a local overlay, not a plant table.

No opened source printed a 6% humidity figure. That number is not quoted.

Why it matters

Wind dries whatever you plant. Hininger: plants still have to be watered to keep fire resistance. A xeriscape juniper is still the 2005 fire-prone example. Zone 0 is empty even when the air will not hold water. Fire-resistant is not fireproof.

This site’s Wyoming plant evidence combines 350 occurrence records with ten exact UW Extension examples and 92 Fremont County regional owners. State publication and county scope remain distinct.

How it works

What Hininger (6 January 2016) printed:

• Northeast Wyoming dry weather.
• Remove flammable vegetation; replace with fire-resistant plants; space them; clear roof leaves and dry brush.
• Defensible landscape at least 30 feet, 100 feet or more in some areas. Safety zone for firefighters.
• Native plants highly flammable in summer and can fuel a neighborhood fire.
• Wanted traits: low to the ground, low sap or resin, drought tolerant, easy to prune, no dead-branch accumulation.
• Water and care to keep fire resistance.
• Firewood 30 feet. Gutters in spring, summer, fall.
• Deciduous closer to structures than evergreens.
• Most wildfires late summer or early fall; pick plants still green then (asters, sedums, roses, Rudbeckia, yarrow, among others).

What Spring 2005 Barnyards printed:

• No truly fireproof plants.
• Fire-prone: needles, resin, papery bark. Examples: most conifers, common juniper, Rocky Mountain juniper.
• Fire-resistant examples: cottonwood, aspen, roses, ashes, lilacs, chokecherry, littleleaf sumac, red-osier dogwood.
• Hardscape and natural fire-breaks (roads, meadows, rock, streams).
• Points to Firewise Wyoming Protect Your Home From Wildfire (Natrona County Project).

What the Firewise Wyoming appendix lists:

• Pages 19–20 of Protect Your Home From Wildfire — A Homeowner’s Guide.
• Flowers: Artemisia frigida (fringed sage), Artemisia ludoviciana (prairie sage).
• No Artemisia tridentata.
• Trees include aspen (Populus tremuloides).
• Footnote: some taxa will not grow at higher elevations; check the State Forestry Office or a Master Gardener.

This directory:

• Artemisia tridentata avoid, WY.
• Artemisia frigida on-list, WY.
• Juniperus scopulorum avoid, WY.
• Pinus ponderosa avoid, WY.
• Populus tremuloides on-list, WY.

See how to read a plant page.

Wyoming WUI code status: no statewide IWUIC. Teton County and Jackson 2024 IWUIC overlay effective 1 January 2025. Construction, not sagebrush.

The paths

What people mix up

• Artemisia tridentata with A. frigida because both are called sage. Idaho already split that.
• Xeriscape juniper with firewise. Barnyards named RM juniper fire-prone.
• Teton IWUIC with a Wyoming plant rating.
• A 6% humidity figure. No opened document printed it.
• 350 USDA rows as the Firewise appendix.
• Zone 0 as optional because the air is dry.

How to check

1. Open Hininger 2016. Read native summer fuel and 30 / 100 feet.
2. Open Barnyards Spring 2005. Read no truly fireproof plants and Rocky Mountain juniper.
3. Open the Firewise Wyoming appendix. Find fringed sage. Look for A. tridentata. It is not there.
4. Open Artemisia tridentata and Artemisia frigida.
5. Open Wyoming WUI code status if the question is Teton construction.
6. Open Wyoming plant evidence.
7. Do not plant in Zone 0.

Limits

This page quotes opened Hininger 2016, Barnyards Spring 2005, and the Firewise Wyoming plant appendix. No opened source printed a 6% humidity value. Water-wise landscaping B-1143R was not opened as a fire list. Living with Wildfire Wyoming body text beyond the plant appendix was not fully extracted this session. 350 is a stored USDA-distribution count as of this writing. Teton construction facts are the already-published Wyoming WUI code status page. Zone 0 is not a planting list.

Related records

• Artemisia tridentata
• Artemisia frigida
• Juniperus scopulorum
• Pinus ponderosa
• Populus tremuloides
• Wyoming plant evidence
• Is sagebrush a hazard in Idaho
• Wyoming WUI code status
• East of the Cascades is a different state
• How to read a plant page
• Zone 0