How Nebraska Ranchers Helped the Amish

By Erik Wesner, from News Channel Nebraska:

Following the wildfire which hit the Amish in the “middle of nowhere”, a non-Amish father and son found they could relate to the community’s loss. ...

Kilgore, Neb. - Wildfires across Nebraska's Sandhills are leaving many ranchers scrambling to find ways to feed their cattle. At the same time, support is coming from those who understand the loss firsthand.

Rick and Triston Stewart of Chadron are among those stepping in to help. The father and son recently delivered two loads — about 60 bales of hay — to an Amish family south of Kilgore whose home and feed supply were devastated by the Anderson Bridge Fire.

Wyoming’s Zero-Tolerance Wildfire Policy Leaves No Room For ‘Let It Burn'

Wildfire is recognized to have a cleansing and renewing role in nature, but allowing it take its natural course is considered too risky in Wyoming.

Most state and federal agencies in charge of public lands have a standing policy to go after every blaze with everything they’ve got, as soon as possible. 

“The State of Wyoming, we do not have a let burn policy, we have a put-out policy, immediately,” Wyoming State Forester Kelly Norris said during a recent interview with Cowboy State Daily Show with Jake Nichols. 

“The Bureau of Land Management has that same policy, obviously private lands have that same policy,” she added. 

In remote areas of vast National Forest land in Wyoming, the U.S. Forest Service has a more leeway to allow natural fires to burn. 

However, that can have dire consequences if a fire escapes a wilderness area, as did the massive Pack Trail Fire in northwest Wyoming in October 2024, Norris noted.