Fire Rehabilitation Program

Myths vs Facts
About BLM's Emergency Fire Rehab Program in Utah

Myth #1: Fire rehabilitation is not necessary. Nature will take care of the problem as it has in the past.

Fact #1: How ecosystems respond to fire depends on many factors, including: when the fire occurs (spring, mid-summer, fall); the size of the fire; the intensity of the fire (how hot did it burn?); and the composition of the existing plant community, including weeds, at the time of the fire.

In many areas, periodical fire is a natural part of the ecosystem and natural recovery might be assumed. However, through years of fire suppression, pinyon-juniper expansion, grazing and the introduction of exotic annual weeds, this idealistic view of nature is no longer realistic.

In many areas sufficient perennial understory vegetation no longer exists in amounts great enough to protect the site. In these situations, recovery is dependant on reseeding with desirable species. In such areas fire can be used as an opportunity to reestablish natural diversity by rehabilitating the area using a seed mixture containing perennial grasses, forbs, and shrubs. This is done for the long term health of the range. Without reseeding, large areas are quickly taken over by cheatgrass and other non-native weedy species that are highly competitive, and burn readily, causing a fire cycle.

Myth #2: BLM is using Emergency Fire Rehabilitation as an excuse to convert natural vegetation to livestock forage.

Fact #2: The goal of the Fire Rehabilitation plans is to restore and maintain the stability, productivity, diversity, and integrity of public lands following wildfire. Our number one concern is soil loss due to wind and water erosion. A 1996 report completed by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) states that many of the soil sites found in Utah, if left untreated, could lose 70-80 tons of soil per acre from wind erosion. In addition, soil loss due to water erosion, on untreated sites in Juab county in the past, were estimated to be as high as 6.3 tons per acre.

Seed mixtures used to reseed burned areas consist of perennial grasses, shrubs, and forbs suitable for the site. Local varieties of native plant species of vegetation is used in the mixtures when they can be obtained in large enough quantities and cost is not prohibitive.

Myth #3: Chaining, the uprooting of living trees, is used as a fire rehabilitation tool in Utah.

Fact #3: Uprooting of living trees is NOT a fire management tool in Utah. There seems to be a general misunderstanding on the use of a chain for fire rehabilitation. There are three commonly used methods of reseeding areas destroyed by fire:

1. Drilling seed with a rangeland drill. This is the preferred method as it has the best results. Seeds are placed in the ground at the proper depth for the particular species. Drilling is used on flat open areas where soil, slope, and obstacles are not limiting.

2. Broadcast seeding, without covering the seed. This method is used on steep slopes and rocky inaccessible areas, often flown on by airplane. This method has the poorest results in Utah’s arid environment, as few plant species can establish if placed and left uncovered on arid or semi-arid soils that dry quickly and do not remain moist for extended periods.

3. Broadcast seed, followed by covering the seed. This is an improvement over method 2, above, as the seed can be flown on but then is covered with soil. Research has shown that seeds of most species must be covered in order to assure establishment. This is where a chain can be used as an effective tool in fire rehabilitation. A chain can be dragged over burned and seeded areas on rocky soils, harsh or steep slopes, and where obstacles, such as burned tree skeletons, remain after a wildfire. The action of the chain rolling over the soil covers the seed (much like a rotor tiller in your garden), and breaks up the dead wood depositing it on the soil as litter, which helps hold the soil in place. This should not be confused with uprooting live trees. The same tool is used, a chain, but for an entirely different purpose. In fire rehabilitation, the chain is used to cover seed and restore the area that was destroyed by fire.

Myth #4: There is little public involvement in the Fire Rehabilitation process.

Fact #4: Two types of plans and environmental review are part of BLM’s planning and NEPA compliance process when considering Fire Rehabilitation: 1) Normal Fire Rehabilitation Plans (NFRP); and 2) Emergency Fire Rehabilitation Plans (EFRP).

The NFRP is a programmatic fire rehabilitation plan and environmental assessment (EA) developed at a landscape level prior to wildland fire occurrence and in those areas which burn frequently. It is prepared by an interdisciplinary team with public input. The NFRP contains information on those areas where wildland fires are the most likely to occur, where and type of rehabilitation treatments needed (not all sites need treatment), and it contains an EA of the impacts of rehabilitation practices and taking no action.

A site specific EFRP is developed by an interdisciplinary team for wildland fires requiring rehabilitation in those areas not covered by a NFRP. The EFRP contains a site specific EA with opportunity for public input.

Myth #5: BLM’s rehabilitation efforts often ignore archaeological sites and structures.

Fact #5: BLM takes into account the potential impacts to all cultural resources, including archaeology, history, and traditional cultural properties, prior to making a decision that authorizes ground disturbing rehabilitation efforts. Field inventories, library research, oral history and tribal consultation are all used to identify and evaluate cultural resources during this process.

Introduction / Fire Rehab Primer / Photo Story / Myths vs Facts / RAC Recommendations
Subgroup Report / State Director's Policy / News Releases / Fire Rehab Handbook

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