Imagine Stihl power augers drilling 5" holes that will be filled with these 1 gallon beauties.
These photos were taken last summer and the plants are even bigger now with really well developed roots. These larger seedlings should have a lot better survival rates than the small tublings or bare-root stock that the DWR has used in the past. It takes more work, but the return on investment makes it worth it.
This is a really neat project that could make a significant difference in the winter range carrying capacity of the Cache unit. The owner of the greenhouse where they were grown is the kind of sportsman we need more of, he provided all the space, and did all the watering for free.
DWR employees gathered the seed, the greenhouse germinated and planted it in small containers, Dedicated Hunters transplated them to larger pots, and now sportsmen and the DWR are going to plant them. The pots are reusable, and the greenhouse says we can keep using their facilities, if we can do 10,000 a year for the next 10 years I really feel it will make a huge difference for the Cache Deer herd, which is the Northern Regions hardest hunted deer herd. Sportsmen have been involved every step of the way, MDF came through with money for the pots, SFW has helped with transplanting and weeding, it has really been a cooperative project.
There were also quite a few sagebrush and bitterbrush seedlings planted last year on the Cache as well. This is all part of the work instigated by a Deer Recovery Committee for the Cache Unit. I can't remember how many were planted on the Murry Farm property recently acquired by the forest service (I think it was close to 10,000), but I do remember that we did 5,000 on the Richmond WMA in northern Cache Valley. Those plants were doing really well as of last fall, and should really be taking off with the great snowpack this year. Some pics of those seedlings.
This is really exciting to me! We need more great projects like these to help us grow our deer herd! To everyone involved, keep up the good work! And, to those not involved, get get out there!
Dax