HighDesert
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The Trout Creeks are burning up real real bad. 125,000 acres with no end insight. It is a horrible burn. So Hope they can get a handle on this. It is just horrible.
Trout Creeks TORCHED
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baltz526
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http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3113/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------support your local guzzlers. OHA life member,lapine oregon
huntindad4
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Question, how does fire effect habitat in open sage brush type country and aspen groves up high such as in the Trouts?
I know in the blacktail country it is a wonderful thing for the deer habitat as long as it doesnt scorch the soil so bad there is no nutrients. I feel they put fires out too quickly in many of the places I hunt (unless there are dwellings and lives at risk).
Does high desert burnt country not recover to a better than before state like most other?
Bill
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of
ignorance, and the gospel of envy.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've
stood up for something, sometime in your life.
- Winston Churchill
I know in the blacktail country it is a wonderful thing for the deer habitat as long as it doesnt scorch the soil so bad there is no nutrients. I feel they put fires out too quickly in many of the places I hunt (unless there are dwellings and lives at risk).
Does high desert burnt country not recover to a better than before state like most other?
Bill
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of
ignorance, and the gospel of envy.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've
stood up for something, sometime in your life.
- Winston Churchill
Banger
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Bill,
I am a westside forester, so certainly not an expert on those high desert ecosystems, but the aspen will certainly benefit long term from the fire, which will in turn benefit big game. Aspen needs fire to regenerate/sucker. Those big old aspen trees in the Trouts don't provide much forage, but young, regenerating aspen certainly does.
I once had the opportunity to assess a private property on Steens Mtn. The private had been purposefully burned, while the adjacent BLM had not. The difference in forage production, and quality of forage was substantially higher on the burned private. This was of course several years after the burn.
While I feel for the private landowners who will have to burden the cost of lost fences, etc., I generally favor these burns on public land. The long term benefits in terms of improved forage production and quality might be just what the Trout Creeks deer herd needs to stop its downward spiral.
Tony
I am a westside forester, so certainly not an expert on those high desert ecosystems, but the aspen will certainly benefit long term from the fire, which will in turn benefit big game. Aspen needs fire to regenerate/sucker. Those big old aspen trees in the Trouts don't provide much forage, but young, regenerating aspen certainly does.
I once had the opportunity to assess a private property on Steens Mtn. The private had been purposefully burned, while the adjacent BLM had not. The difference in forage production, and quality of forage was substantially higher on the burned private. This was of course several years after the burn.
While I feel for the private landowners who will have to burden the cost of lost fences, etc., I generally favor these burns on public land. The long term benefits in terms of improved forage production and quality might be just what the Trout Creeks deer herd needs to stop its downward spiral.
Tony
huntindad4
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Thanks Banger.
Kinda what I expected, but wasn't sure.
I too feel for any affected by the damage to private property but I think fire suppression is one of the biggest negative influences on habitat that man inflicts.
Bill
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of
ignorance, and the gospel of envy.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've
stood up for something, sometime in your life.
- Winston Churchill
Kinda what I expected, but wasn't sure.
I too feel for any affected by the damage to private property but I think fire suppression is one of the biggest negative influences on habitat that man inflicts.
Bill
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of
ignorance, and the gospel of envy.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've
stood up for something, sometime in your life.
- Winston Churchill
baltz526
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The main problem with these burns is it destroys areas with the only good summer range for the muledeer. The most important areas in the troutcreeks is in areas they will let burn. Wilderness study areas. Once it burns the cheatgrass takes over in large swaths. It might be 20yrs plus before the large areas come back as prime summer range. With the muledeer populations already at historic lows it will push more of them onto the agriculture. Once the muledeer are trained as non-migrating agriculture deer, all hope of recovery of the natural migrating herds is gone. Yes the burn is good for the aspen but may not prove helpful to the muledeer.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------support your local guzzlers. OHA life member,lapine oregon
Hunting_Oregon
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Give it a few years and you will be saying it was the best thing to ever happen to that country.
"Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid."
- John Wayne
"Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid."
- John Wayne
baltz526
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Go spend some time in the sheepsheads then tell me what you find. A few years in the high desert is 15-20years. If it dosn't burn off again because of the cheatgrass ecosystem.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------support your local guzzlers. OHA life member,lapine oregon
baltz526
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Incident: Holloway Wildfire
Released: 14 hrs. ago
Aug. 10, 8 p.m., Denio, Nev.: Aerial mapping of the Holloway fire shows the fire has burned 259,599 acres since Aug. 6.
"It may have grown about 40,000 acres in the last 24 hours, but it didn't double in size," Chris Ourada, Holloway's incident commander pointed out. The fire was mapped Friday from the air using global-positioning equipment.
The fire has burned 101,607 acres in Nevada and 157,992 acres in Oregon.
The Holloway fire was active Friday near Trident Peak, southeast of Denio, in Nevada. On its north flank, the fire has now reached Whitehorse Creek, in Oregon.
One fire observer reported the fire was burning on its north side in dozens of "fingers," rather than as a solid wall of fire. Firefighters plan to continue using bulldozers on the north side on Saturday.
The terrain near Trident Peak doesn't lend itself to bulldozers, so crews will build line by hand on Saturday.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------support your local guzzlers. OHA life member,lapine oregon
Released: 14 hrs. ago
Aug. 10, 8 p.m., Denio, Nev.: Aerial mapping of the Holloway fire shows the fire has burned 259,599 acres since Aug. 6.
"It may have grown about 40,000 acres in the last 24 hours, but it didn't double in size," Chris Ourada, Holloway's incident commander pointed out. The fire was mapped Friday from the air using global-positioning equipment.
The fire has burned 101,607 acres in Nevada and 157,992 acres in Oregon.
The Holloway fire was active Friday near Trident Peak, southeast of Denio, in Nevada. On its north flank, the fire has now reached Whitehorse Creek, in Oregon.
One fire observer reported the fire was burning on its north side in dozens of "fingers," rather than as a solid wall of fire. Firefighters plan to continue using bulldozers on the north side on Saturday.
The terrain near Trident Peak doesn't lend itself to bulldozers, so crews will build line by hand on Saturday.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------support your local guzzlers. OHA life member,lapine oregon
Those deer are no more than a nights walk to agriculture in any direction they choose, the majority migrate to Summer range every year and this fire will not change that. A million acres of green-up in the next month will not keep them on the Whitehorse or any other ranch.
About 7 years ago BLM did a controlled burn on the top of the Trouts; roughly 1-1,500 acres. At times it looks like the Serengetti......ever seen a predator try to approach open-country mule deer in shin-deep bunch grass?
The Trout Creeks have changed, but they are going to be as magnificent as ever. What are deer numbers going to do? There is hardly room for decline.
Ras
About 7 years ago BLM did a controlled burn on the top of the Trouts; roughly 1-1,500 acres. At times it looks like the Serengetti......ever seen a predator try to approach open-country mule deer in shin-deep bunch grass?
The Trout Creeks have changed, but they are going to be as magnificent as ever. What are deer numbers going to do? There is hardly room for decline.
Ras
J
JB148
Guest
Years ago on one of the big coast fires I was involved in some assements. I know the Forest Service heli seeded a small portion of the burn. They got in trouble for seeding non-native blue grass. The grass grew and the deer and their horns did as well. Some of the biggest blacktail bucks I have ever seen came off that area. It was not just the grass as you know but all the nutients burned into the ground. I hope BLM and FS take an active roll in helping the mule deer succeed in these burned areas. JB my 2cents
bonepicker
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That is what I have seen as well. Fires are quite often beneficial to wildlife and the land in general. Some of the biggest bucks and bulls we've ever taken have been from areas burned 2-3 years before. And the fattest and healthiest does/cows and fawns/calves are often in those areas. The exception is when there are invasive or noxious weeds that come in and get established before the native plants, cheatgrass and foxtail in particular. But if the natural bunchgrasses can bounce back and if they can seed much of the area, the habitat will be better than it was before.
baltz526
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With over 1 million acre burnt in the northern nevada S/E oregon area this season. I have my doubts the BLM has any budget for reseeding, rebuilding guzzlers. BLM is repairing fence and doing some repair on fire line areas. But 1 million acre reseeding is very unlikely. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------support your local guzzlers. OHA life member,lapine oregon
4
440sixpack
Guest
There are fires, then there are FIRES, what's happened this year in the SE part of the state is major. it will have positive effects later on but not before serious negative effects are felt.
Every living thing including the feral horses will be after whats left this winter, how tough this winter is will determine how long the negative effects last.
Stay thirsty my friends
Every living thing including the feral horses will be after whats left this winter, how tough this winter is will determine how long the negative effects last.
Stay thirsty my friends
CAelknuts
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I drove the road from Burns to Winnemucca yesterday, and I was astounded at how extensive and thorough the fire had burned EVERYTHING! I'm guessing that I drove for about 1/2 hour, and as far as I could see to the east and west, it was total devastation, everything burned right down to the scorched earth, not a plant to be seen anywhere. There was about as much vegetation left as you'd find on the moon.
I do believe in the positive benefits of many fires, but this one was so huge, and so hot, that I can't fathom anything positive coming out of it for a great many years.
I do believe in the positive benefits of many fires, but this one was so huge, and so hot, that I can't fathom anything positive coming out of it for a great many years.
K
KILLBUX
Guest
I have a co-worker that was out around the Long Draw fire a few weeks ago and said you could see where the fire got so hot that there are holes in the ground where the sagebrush burned right down through the roots and left nothing but a scorched hole! I think that the "specialists" will tell you the wildlife could get away, but there are pictures floating around of some nice bucks that laid in a creek bottom and burned to death.
When you take over 1 million acres in one black swath there is no amount of agricultural land nearby to sustain the wildlife. They will die on the winter range if they aren't shot/run out of the hay fields.
The only short-term positive is that the cougar populations have probably dwindled as well (only because they've followed what's left out).
When you take over 1 million acres in one black swath there is no amount of agricultural land nearby to sustain the wildlife. They will die on the winter range if they aren't shot/run out of the hay fields.
The only short-term positive is that the cougar populations have probably dwindled as well (only because they've followed what's left out).
baltz526
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No it won't. It will now be on the cheat grass fire cycle. If 20-30 years is a few? I guess some high moisture areas will come back. But some tall sage takes 50-70years to come back. If you keep the cows out.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------support your local guzzlers. OHA life member,lapine oregon
