|
|
Adaptive Management and Monitoring Project Category: Invasive Weeds and Native Seed Application/Effectiveness Project Title: Fire Effects Monitoring in the Clear Creek and Fenster Fires Project Leader: Diane Schuldt Participating Research Contacts: Steve Sutherland Participating Forests/Grassland Contacts: Diane Schuldt, Pat Hurt, Dick Wenger and Terry Hershey
Funds - Total Project Cost and Timeframe (1-5 years):
$473,000
* Force account work will be funded by Forest monies. Adaptive Management monies will be concentrated on the contract.
Progress in 2001: This fire, ignited by lightening on July 14, 2000, occurred primarily in sagebrush/grasslands below 6,000 feet in elevation. The entire burn is located in the Diamond-Moose cattle allotment. It is also winter and spring range for elk and mule deer. A number of noxious weed species are present, including spotted knapweed, leafy spurge, henbane, sulphur cinquefoil, and various thistles. Cheatgrass is also pervasive. Burned Area Emergency Recovery (BAER) funding was provided in fall 2000 to aerially seed almost 900 acres with bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue and Wyoming big sagebrush in an effort to give native species a competitive edge over non-native species during the recovery phase. In addition, Region Four was interested in learning more about the potential for bone meal to improve seedling survival. Therefore, bone meal was added to the seed mix as a test on all but 50 acres. The results of this monitoring effort will be used to determine the practicality of seeding and using bone meal as part of post-fire rehabilitation on similar sites. Sixty permanent transects and accompanying photo points were established in the burn area to track native plant and soils recovery, effectiveness of the seeding treatment and spread of noxious weeds and cheatgrass. The transects will be re-read over a period of five years. (2) Also, in 2001, a contract was initiated to conduct Invasive Weeds and Native Seed Application and Effectiveness monitoring in the Clear Creek Fire. The Clear Creek fire was ignited by lightening on July 10, 2000, and grew to approximately 200,000 acres. The fire covered 65 percent of the Panther Creek watershed, which lies south of the Salmon River and west of Salmon, Idaho, encompassing wilderness, roadless areas, and roaded areas in predominately steep mountainous terrain. A substantial amount of high severity fire occurred in drainages in the northern portion of the burned area, which is where the fire originated. Soils in this area are largely derived from granitic parent materials, are droughty and have high inherent erosion potential. Moreover, the area lies within a high intensity summer storm track that generally follows the Salmon River Canyon. Debris flows after these summer storms were common in the area before the fire. Accelerated erosion episodes have occurred since the fire. The lower portions of these drainages are comprised primarily of steep, dissected canyon lands with sagebrush/grassland on the lower and southerly slopes. Xeric Douglas-fir/ponderosa pine forest occurs higher upslope or on northerly and easterly aspects. Much of this area provides key big game winter range for elk, mule deer, and bighorn sheep. While these drainages were grazed extensively by domestic livestock for many decades, they are no longer part of active allotments. However, the impacts of the grazing are still apparent. Cheatgrass cells are scattered throughout the sagebrush/grassland communities. The predominate noxious weed is spotted knapweed, occurring primarily as small clustered infestations or else distributed thinly within native plant communities close to roads (i.e. approximately 0.25 mile or less). Spotted knapweed infestations in the area are treated for control. Other weeds, including rush skeletonweed, yellow toadflax, and leafy spurge, occur only as very small, spot infestations alongside roads and trails. Weed management objectives call for eradication of all new invaders and of new infestations of existing invaders. The combination of droughty, erosive soils and potential widespread establishment of a number of aggressive non-native species in the Clear Creek Fire area is of special concern to the Forest. Therefore, monitoring in the northern portion of the project area has been identified as a high priority. In addition, Burned Area Restoration funding was provided to plant mountain mahogany seedlings in areas of high fire severity. Planting was accomplished in 2001. The Forest and Region Four are interested in determining the survival of these plantings. The results of the Native Seed Application and Effectiveness monitoring will be used by Region Four to determine the practicality of planting native shrub species as part of post-fire rehabilitation on similar sites.
Plans for 2002: (2) Beginning in spring 2002, the five-year Clear Creek monitoring project will be implemented. The monitoring protocol used on the Fenster Fire will also be used to monitor Invasive Weeds and Native Seed Application and Effectiveness on the Clear Creek Fire. The objective of monitoring is to determine if native plant communities and soil productivity have recovered or, conversely, if accelerated soil erosion and the widespread establishment and spread of noxious weeds have occurred. Concurrent with the Invasive Weeds monitoring, the survival of mountain mahogany planted in the Clear Creek Fire area will be tracked to determine the effectiveness of artificial regeneration of shrub species. Products and/or tech transfer expected in 2002:
|
|
HOME •
FIRES •
CONTACTS •
FENCES •
LINKS •
STATE UPDATES
|
