Beaver County Communities Benefit from BLM Wildfire Protection Project

Contact: Paul Briggs (435) 865-3002

Beaver, Utah—January 9, 2009—The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Color Country District is working to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire to various communities in Beaver County.  The 1,000-acre hazardous fuels reduction project is located approximately one mile south of Beaver.  The project is designed to provide rangeland health improvements by meeting natural resource management objectives in conjunction with community wildfire protection and will continue through May 2009.

This project is a partnership vegetation management effort that will improve watershed conditions, improve crucial mule deer winter range and reduce hazardous fuels within the wildland urban interface area of Beaver, the Grove, and North Creek communities.  The current project will be visible from the city of Beaver and from all major roads systems south of the community.  Vegetation will be removed in a mosaic pattern, leaving islands of treated and untreated vegetation, primarily in the flat terrain east of Interstate 15.  The mechanical thinning of pinyon and juniper trees is one of many treatment options used by the BLM and will provide similar resource benefits to that of a prescribed fire.

Vegetation will be reduced by a mechanical chipper/shredder, often referred to as a “Bullhog.”  Removal of encroaching pinyon and juniper will allow for more productive, desired grasses, forbs and shrubs to return to the site.  To facilitate this, a mix of fire resistant grasses and forbs suitable to the site will be seeded. Seeding will also reduce soil erosion, improve wildlife habitat, improve water quality and quantity, reduce the risk of invading cheatgrass, and lower the risk of wildland fire negatively impacting these communities.

This is a cooperative project between BLM and Utah Partners for Conservation and Development, a statewide consortium of local sportsmen groups, landowners and other state and federal partners.  For additional information, please contact Paul Briggs at (435) 865-3002.