Published in the High Desert Advocate January 22, 2021 Edition.
Brown Fire ESR plan one of eight in eastern Nevada
(Photo credit Ely BLM’s office)
The Bureau of Land Management Ely District in January finished aerially seeding nearly all of the 8,268 acres of the public and private lands burned in last June’s Brown Fire, south and east of Lund, Nev.
A member of the contract crew connects a seed-filled hopper to the helicopter. The seed mixer can be partly seen in the foreground. Seed mixes vary depending on which portion of a fire is seeded. Factors that can determine a seed mix include burn severity, soil type, elevation, slope, annual precipitation, and pre-existing vegetation. (Jan. 16, 2021 Photo credit Ely BLM office)
The 8,000-acre seeding, which took three days to complete, is part of the district’s Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ESR) plan. Other plan components are a 3,000-acre drill seeding with fire-resistant strips along 12 miles of roadway, fence repair, temporary fence construction and a temporary grazing closure. The treatments will be monitored for three years to determine their effectiveness.
The District has developed ESR plans for eight of last season’s wildfires, the Bishop, Meadow Valley, Miller, Stewart Canyon and Twin fires in Lincoln County, and Baldy, Brown and Flat fires in White Pine County.
