Nevada range may be too dry to burn in fifth year of drought

To those who fight wildfires on the vast public lands of Northern Nevada, the word "drought" is more than a warning. It's an alarm bell, and it's been ringing in Nevada for five straight years.

On the rangeland that encompasses most of the state, however, the bells are ringing more softly these days, even though the dry conditions persist.

In 1999, the first year of the current drought cycle, raging wildfires left nearly 1.9 million acres of Nevada rangeland charred and empty. As much as 1.4 million acres turned to ash in less than a week, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Fresh off the memory of the state's worst fire season ever, alarms rang again as the drought stretched into 2000.

While rangeland vegetation was suffering the cumulative effects of consecutive dry years, fire hazards turned out to be only a fraction of the year before. Lack of water had kept fire-fueling cheatgrass from establishing the kind of thick, combustible carpet that fed flames in 1999.

That drought - the bane of farmers, cities, wetlands and wildlife - has not let up. The state, like much of the West, is now suffering through its fifth straight low-water year. While the drought has left the state's scattered forests resembling matchsticks, the drought has left fire officials with less reason for concern on the ranges than they've had in years.

"Each of the last four years has been less and less intense," said BLM Fire Weather Program Manager Richard Woolley.

The 2000 fire season was the third-worst in state history behind 1999 and 1996, but it took out 63 percent less land than in 1999.

In 2001, the third straight drought year, the amount of Nevada rangleland decimated by summer fire dropped by another 45,000 acres. Drought continued to limit the reproduction of combustible grasses, and in 2002 wildfire scorched less than 78,000 acres in Nevada - a huge decrease from the previous year. In 2003, only 17,546 acres in the state burned.

This year's fire outlook is about the same as last for Nevada.

Dr. Jim Young, a rangeland researcher with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said early observations indicate drought conditions are preventing cheatgrass from producing enough seed for the thick layer that generally spreads flames to sagebrush and pinyon-juniper stands.

The BLM's only significant rangeland concern now is in Elko and White Pine Counties, where about half of last year's wildfire damage occurred.

A bit of early spring rain, combined with a near-average snowpack, has given early-maturing cheatgrass there the head start it needs to thrive, Woolley said.

A few stands of dry piñon-junipers in the Pine Nut Mountains near Carson City and some small potential problem areas elsewhere around the state have drawn the BLM's eye. But aside from the Elko-White Pine area and the timber around Lake Tahoe, Woolley said, "I'm just not overly concerned this year."

Cory McConnell can be contacted at cmcconnell@lahontanvalleynews.com