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Contacts: Beth Hodder, Flathead National Forest (406)387-3810 bhodder@fs.fed.us Line officer: Deb Mucklow, Spotted Bear District Ranger (406)387-3851 in winter, (406)758-5376 in summer. bmanley@fs.fed.us What are the critical management questions to answer: Were initial efforts to seed heavily burned wilderness trail sections with native plants successful? Were initial efforts to seed mechanically created firelines in the non-wilderness area effective? Do we need to seed more? Were the native plant species used appropriate to the area? What early colonizers have returned on their own in heavily burned areas? Should we consider adding other native plant species in post-fire rehabilitation efforts? Did we need to seed or would enough natives have colonized the first year without seeding? Have we successfully prevented noxious weed infestations and introduced plant species where post-fire seeding took place? Have the sown native grasses successfully prevented erosion to sloughing trails and firelines? Description of Proposal: The USDA and USDI "Report to the President - Managing Impacts of Wildfires on Communities and the Environment" (September 8, 2000) expects that losses in resource values from the 2000 fires will total billions of dollars. This includes possible losses of native plant communities resulting from the use of non-native plant species in many BAER projects. We know the long-term effects non-native plants have on the environment, including their ability to outcompete natives. But we continue to use non-natives because of their widespread availability and the knowledge that they revegetate disturbed areas quickly and effectively. However, we know very little about the success of using native plants for post-fire rehab and we have limited quantities of native plant materials available. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex (BMWC) consists of the Bob Marshall, Great Bear, and Scapegoat Wildernesses and is managed cooperatively by the Flathead, Lolo, Helena, and Lewis & Clark National Forests. As described in the Natural Resource Agenda, the Northern Region Overview, BMWC Plan, and the Recreation Management Plan, it is very important to provide for ecosystem restoration and recreation opportunities in the wilderness. In 2000, three of the fires within the BMWC burned over 18,000 acres. Two trails – one a main artery into the wilderness and the other a heavily used trail – required post-fire rehab. The Flathead used the first of the native grass seed collected through its own native plant revegetation program to rehab trails on these fires. Enough seed was available to also rehab an excavator fireline in a previously undisturbed area on one 3,100-acre non-wilderness fire. No funding exists to monitor the success of the seeding. Through this proposal, the forest will be able to monitor the success of using native grasses for post-fire rehab to prevent noxious weed invasions and erosion in heavily burned areas. This will help determine the effectiveness of native plants as an instrument to restore landscapes that are unlikely to recover naturally from severe fire, a priority of the National Fire Plan. The monitoring will also allow managers to see how native grasses respond to very different fire suppression tools (excavators to build fireline vs. hand tools to rehab trails). This will also help us learn more about which early successional plant species best respond to fire. This will in turn assist in deciding which species to use for future rehab and restoration projects. The Report to the President outlined "the need for additional research on the relationship between invasive species and fires – and the effectiveness of various treatment efforts." This proposal would meet this need. Forest Botanist Maria Mantas, who has many years of experience designing monitoring plans and analyzing data, will provide the expertise for this project. Timing: Products expected: Monitoring report with five years of analyzed data with recommendations for management regarding the use of native plant materials in post-fire rehab. Potential Partners: Glacier National Park, Bob Marshall Foundation (a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring and preserving the trail system and promoting wilderness values in the BMWC), Montana Native Plant Society, Backcountry Horsemen, Swan Ecosystem Center, Montana Wilderness Association. Current Work: This proposal complements existing RMRS proposals related to the National Fire Plan: RMRS-MSO-9 and RMRS-FLG-5. Another project related to this proposal is the ongoing monitoring work of Glacier National Park's project with the Federal Highway Administration to revegetate the Going-to-the-Sun Road with native plants.
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