News Release

For Release:  Oct. 2, 2008              
Contact:  David Christy, (916) 985-4474
CA-CC-09-01

BLM Announces Fire Rehab Work in Mariposa County

The Bureau of Land Management’s Folsom Field Office will focus rehab efforts on the Bull Creek Road (Burma Grade) area in Mariposa County for the next month to repair damage from this summer’s Telegraph Fire.

Bull Creek Road will be closed starting at the intersection with the Merced River Recreation Area Road on the north side of Briceburg and extend 4.3 miles north to the top of the ridge. The closure will run from Oct. 6 to Nov. 14. The road will be closed to through traffic weekdays from 6 a.m. Monday through 6 p.m. Friday. The road will be open on weekends from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday.

"Crews will be installing culverts on the lower portion of the road and spreading mulch in the higher areas to control erosion," said Brian Mulhollen, BLM fuels management specialist. Twenty-seven of the 40 culverts will be enlarged or replaced. Mulching using a ton of straw per acre should reduce sediment production by 75 percent.

The public needs to use caution in the steep burned areas because trees and rocks could roll down the slopes, especially with the forecast rain, he added.

In August and September, crews did rehabilitation work in the Rancheria Creek area in the wild and scenic Merced River corridor to stabilize soils and repair bulldozer tracks and other damage. Crews built water bars and covered burned ground with native vegetation and weed-free straw. Monitoring and additional work as needed is planned for the next two years.

For more information, call Mulhollen at the BLM’s Folsom Field Office at (916) 985-4474.

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