Strawberry Fire Burned Area Rehabilitation and Restoration

This article was originally published in The Midden – Great Basin National Park: Vol. 17, No. 1, Summer 2017.

Native lupine growing after the Strawberry Fire.

Photo by Brian Flynn

By Meg Horner, Biologist

The lightning-ignited Strawberry Fire was reported on August 8, 2016 in upper Strawberry Creek in Great Basin National Park. Aided by strong winds, the fire quickly grew, burning a large portion of the canyon and pushing the fire down-canyon onto BLM and private lands. The fire was declared controlled on August 23, 2016 after 4,656 acres burned, with 2,790 acres on NPS and 1,769 acres on Bureau of Land Management lands. The fire consumed a mix of habitat types. The dominant plant communities impacted in the park were montane sagebrush steppe (1,148 acres), pinyon-juniper (667 acres), aspen (597 acres), mountain mahogany (209 acres) and montane riparian (42 acres).

After the fire, resource management staff prepared a Burned Area Rehabilitation (BAR) plan to address and mitigate natural resource issues created or exacerbated by the fire. Plan objectives were 1) prevent the establishment of non-native invasive plants to enable the restoration and establishment of a healthy, stable ecosystem 2) revegetate lands unlikely to recover naturally post-fire and 3) replace minor infrastructure destroyed by the fire.

The park selected several strategies to meet BAR plan objectives for native vegetation recovery including aerial seeding and invasive plant management. Preventing the establishment of invasive forbs and annual grasses, mainly cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), following fire is critical to protect and maintain healthy, resilient plant communities. Cheatgrass invades recently burned sites, particularly pinyon-juniper woodlands and sagebrush-steppe, and can maintain dominance for decades. Not only does this compromise native plant recovery, but it also adversely affects soil stabilization and fire return intervals. Non-native invasive forbs such as bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare), spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe), and whitetop (Cardaria draba) exploit soil and vegetation disturbances following wildfires and fire suppression activities. They can then outcompete native vegetation for limited resources, negatively affect soils and discourage use by wildlife. A total of 894 acres in the park were determined to be at-risk of invasion and recommended for aerial seeding.

Bags of seed for restoration in the Ely Seed Warehouse.

NPS Photo by Julie Long

Aerial seeding was completed on February 12 -13, 2017 with support from the Nevada Department of Wildlife, BLM, and Great Basin National Park staff. Seed was flown onto 811 acres of park lands and 1,157 acres on the BLM by Reeder Flying Service. Sourcing locally adapted seed was a priority for both the BLM and the park. Native grass, forb, and shrub species were part of the seed mix including basin wildrye (Leymus cinereus), bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), redroot buckwheat (Eriogonum racemosum), arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), and firecracker penstemon (Penstemon eatonii). Over 5,500 pounds of bulk seed were ordered and mixed for the park by the BLM’s regional seed warehouse in Ely, NV. Once on site, seed mix was loaded into large hoppers, picked up by the helicopter, and flown onto burned areas at a rate of seven bulk pounds/acre on NPSmanaged lands and 13 bulk pounds/ acre on BLM-managed lands.

Helicopter returning with empty hopper after seeding.

NPS Photo by Margaret Horner

Aerial seeding objectives supported those outlined in the BAR plan focusing on the restoration of native plant communities and minimizing the establishment of invasive forbs and annual grasses. Restoring a diverse, native plant community will benefit park- and BLM-managed lands along with private landowners by stabilizing soils, slowing runoff after precipitation events, preventing the establishment of invasive plants, and providing forage and habitat for wildlife. Establishing native species is a more cost effective strategy than trying to restore native plant communities from annual grass monocultures or sites dominated by invasive forbs.

Restoration and monitoring will continue for the next several years. Additional seeding efforts may be needed depending on establishment success and persistence of native plants seeded this winter. In arid regions, precipitation is highly variable, causing uncertainty and high failure rates in germination and seedling establishment. Recent reviews of the factors limiting seeding success have recommended a “bet hedging” strategy (Madsen et al. 2016). Rather than applying seed at high rates during a single fall seeding, seed is applied at lower rates, with multiple seedings at varying times of year. With multiple seedings, native species have more opportunity to utilize soil moisture conditions maximizing the probability of establishment.

Hopper used to distribute seed over burned area.

NPS Photo by Bryan Hamilton

Both the park and BLM will be monitoring vegetation to document post-fire recovery and the success of revegetation efforts. The BLM has partnered with the USDA Agriculture Resource Service to monitor biological soil crusts and dust flux (particles/ m2 /second). Portable weather stations have also been installed on NPS and BLM lands to measure precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, and wind. Invasive plant surveys and treatments are already underway. Restoration efforts will aid the recovery of native plant species and limit the establishment of undesirable species improving soil stability, wildlife habitat, and the stability and resilience of the Strawberry Creek watershed.

Literature Cited:
Madsen M.D., K.W. Davies, C.S. Boyd, J.D. Kerby, and T.J. Svejcar. 2016. Emerging seed enhancement technologies for overcoming barriers to restoration. Restoration Ecology, 24:S77-S84. doi:10.1111/rec.12332