 If you travel much of Wyoming, you'll notice those big wooden fences that start nowhere and go nowhere. Now those snow fences are the product of Wyoming research and design. Those snow fences are there to direct and concentrate snow. They create a snow drift and reduce the amount of snow that's available to blow across the road, and they're used worldwide. Well-planned snow fence can be used to augment the water available for ponds and reservoirs too. Snow fences are designed to deposit snow, and they are porous. Wind and snow slips through them, but the wind and snow are slow enough that the snow falls out in very predictable patterns. Changing the design of a snow fence, making it solid for instance, changes the physics of the wind and snow movement and deposition. A properly designed solid snow fence will leave a zone behind it which remains clear. Stockmen often take advantage of this phenomenon on the windy plains of Wyoming with windbreaks. Their design directs wind and snow away from that area that we want to remain clear. If you are sometimes challenged with a pile of wind-driven snow, know that you too can manage your snow problem using this good Wyoming research. From the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, I'm Eric Peterson.