Before restoration
The lookout tower structure has been used as a communications site in recent years.
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On top of the mountain
The lookout sits on the top of a high open ridge with a commanding view of the surrounding forest in the Wyoming Range.
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Deadline Ridge Fire Lookout restoration project
by Pinedale Online!
August 17, 2015
In August, members of the Sublette County Historic
Preservation Board (Certified Local Government – CLG)
spent two weekends working on a volunteer project to
restore a Forest Service fire lookout tower on Deadline
Ridge in the Wyoming Range. With the administrative
support and paint supplied by Jamie Schoen with the
Bridger-Teton National Forest, the team cleaned out the
debris piled inside the building, removed the old
windows, shutters and door, replaced missing roof
shingles, and primed and repainted the outside of the
building.
After four days work to "Clean It, Fix It, Paint It" the
building was closed back up to protect it from the
elements. Members of the preservation board will restore
the windows, shutters and door over the winter months and
come back next summer to reinstall them.
The lookout sits at about 10,000 feet elevation and was
built sometime in the early 1940s. It was used into the
1960s and perhaps early 1970s, after which all the fire
lookout towers on the Bridger-Teton National Forest were
abandoned. Only a few remain still standing. The CLG
board plans to work with the Green River Valley Museum to
put up an interpretive display about the lookout and its
history. Not much is known about who worked at the
lookout and its stories.
CLG Historic Preservation Board members who worked on the
lookout restoration were Bob Beiermann, Dave Vlcek, Clint
Gilchrist, Carmel Kail and Dawn Ballou. Other board
members who helped with this project, but were unable to
come up on the work days were Jonita Sommers and Paul
Scherbel. Richard Kail also was of help and will be
restoring the windows. Bob Beiermann will be rehabing the
door and building new shutters patterned after one
surviving shutter to be installed next summer when the
windows are reinstalled.
Bridger-Teton National Forest has approved this project
and provided supplies and administrative support.
Special thanks to Jamie Schoen, JP Schubert and Mary
Greenwood for their help.
If anyone has any information or
old photos related to this lookout, please contact any of
the board members or email info@sublette.com.
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