A helicopter picks up a bucket of seed for the next application near Indian Creek Campground in Alpine County. (Keith Barker photo)
The Bureau of Land Management Carson City District in February aerially seeded approximately 8,000 acres of Western Nevada and Northern California’s public lands. Objectives range from restoring and maintain watershed health and improving wildlife habitat to protecting human life and property and repairing fire damage.
"In our climate, water is the ultimate resource," said Acting Fuels Assistant Fire Management Officer Ryan Elliott. "Establishing deep-rooted perennial vegetation, be it grasses or shrubs, capitalizes on this resource in a positive way and limits the amount of water available for annual grasses such as invasive cheatgrass. The net result is less flammable grass crops and a more favorable environment for suppression actions."
The district seeded 6,000 acres in Douglas and Alpine counties, near Markleeville in response to damage caused by the Tamarack fire.
This project was an Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation effort to assist with soil stabilization and establish desired grass and brush species for wildlife. The project used 60,000 pounds of native brush and grass seed.
The BLM also conducted a fuels-related seeding project encompassing 2,700 acres with 27,000 lbs of seed in the Virginia Mountains north of Reno, near Rancho Haven, in conjunction with the Nevada Department of Wildlife. This seeding was conducted in areas that had been pre-treated by herbicide or mechanical brush removal. The intent of the seeding is to re-enforce the fuels treatments by disrupting the growth of annual grasses and provide opportunities for successful suppression actions in the event of future wildfires.
The treated acres will be monitored to ensure that management objectives are met. Objectives include soil protection, forage and protective cover, and overall ecological and watershed improvement.
