Bear River, WY

Bear River is a Uinta County town incorporated in 2001, the newest incorporated community in the county. It sits in the Bear River Valley near Evanston, in a landscape shaped by ranches, irrigation, and the river that ends in the Great Salt Lake. The town grew from a residential development begun during Evanston’s 1980s boom, then incorporated as residents took on local water, sewer, roads, fire, and law-enforcement systems. Today Bear River has a mayor and council, volunteer fire service, and Uinta County School District No. 1. It is a young Wyoming town whose municipal story is built around river basin and shared services.