Murphy Complex Rehabilitation

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

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Jarbidge Field Office

Murphy Complex Emergency Stabilization & Rehabilitation (ES&R)

The 653,000-acre Murphy Complex Fire started on July 16-17, 2007 as a combination of six lightning-caused wildfires in south-central Idaho and north-central Nevada. Fanned by high winds in dry, hot conditions, the fire spread quickly through brush, grass and juniper. It burned on public, private and state land, threatening residences, commercial properties, businesses, and critical training resources at the Mountain Home Air Force Base. It affected grazing allotments; habitat for bull trout, bighorn sheep and sage-grouse; deer and elk winter range; riparian and watershed areas; sensitive plant species; and numerous cultural sites.

The fire was contained on August 2nd after burning 483,000 acres in Idaho and 170,000 acres in Nevada. It was the largest wildfire in Idaho since 1910. The BLM undertook a massive Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ES&R) project immediately following the fires. ES&R plans were implemented with assistance from many partners and contractors. The BLM is committed to meeting the tremendous challenge of achieving rehabilitation goals while also meeting the most critical needs of Tribes, the public, permittees, and state and other federal agencies.

In August 2008, a team of scientists, habitat specialists and land managers completed an assessment of interactions among livestock grazing, vegetation types and fire behavior in the fires. Information from the assessment report will be incorporated into the Jarbidge Resource Management Plan, which is currently being revised.

Jarbidge Field Office

Scope of the Rehabilitation Effort

An inter-disciplinary team developed ES&R plans for areas burned by the Murphy fires. BLM staff from the Jarbidge Field Office, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho Department of Lands, Idaho State Department of Agriculture, and the Nevada Division of Wildlife assessed about 425,000 acres, to establish ES&R needs over a huge surface area. Several public meetings were held, and grazing permittee requests were also considered. The team concluded that 366,220 acres needed stabilization and rehabilitation.

Under the ES&R plans more than 500,000 acres will remain closed to grazing and other uses until certain restoration criteria are met (Rehabilitation Plan, p.26). A similar number of acres will remain closed to off-road vehicle traffic until certain soil stabilization and revegetation conditions are met.

Treatments

Burned areas were treated using drill and aerial seeding as well as seedling plantings. At the height of activity, 99 drills were actively seeding about 3,000 acres per day. More then 1.2 million pounds of seed were purchased in FY 2007. Seed mixes included native and non-native species such as Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, bottlebrush, squirreltail, sandberg bluegrass, sherman big bluegrass, western yarrow, small burnet, alfalfa, sanfoin and lewis flax. At the same time, noxious weeds were treated and soil stabilization projects implemented. Treatment began in October 2007, with the majority of projects completed by spring 2008. Seedling planting and fuels projects are ongoing and are scheduled for completion in 2009. Sagebrush reseeding on the Murphy Complex is the largest effort of that kind the BLM has undertaken anywhere to date.

Under the stabilization plan, 32 miles of temporary fences will be placed. These will be removed when they are no longer needed. The plan for longer-term rehabilitation calls for repair of 463 miles of permanent fences to wildlife-friendly standards: replacing mesh fences that can catch low-flying sage-grouse, and barbed top- and bottom-strands — which also snag birds and other wildlife — with smooth wire.

Drill Seeding

Total acres treated by drill seeders: 82,779 acres, including seven state sections
Favorable weather in the fall of 2008 allowed for completion in December.

Cultural Inventory

To ensure that they were not disturbed by drill seeding, 600 archaeological sites were inventoried, including four Native American petroglyph and pictograph sites. A crew mapped and recorded each site, and took enhanced digital photos to form baseline documentation that will be of further use in future planning activities.

Aerial Seeding

Total acres treated by aerial seeding: 294,098 acres (sagebrush, grasses and forbs)

Soil Stabilization Structures

48 erosion-control strawbale structures placed along 4.3 miles of drainages (completed 11/5/2007)

Seedling Planting (bitterbrush and sagebrush)

Total acres hand-planted with seedlings: 10,677 acres
10,600 sagebrush seedlings were purchased from the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes in November 2008. The seedlings were raised in the Tribes' greenhouse on the Duck Valley Reservation.

Shrub Planting (willows)
4,850 plants, including 3,250 willows cut on the Duck Valley Reservation and planted in two days in November 2008 along Dorsey Creek by a Shoshone-Paiute Fire Department crew.

Noxious Weed Treatment
425,815 acres

Monitoring

Total acres planned for monitoring: 425,815 acres

The BLM Jarbidge Field Office continues to monitor treatment success and natural recovery rates. Monitoring is critical to the success of efforts on this project, and information gathered from the Murhpy Complex Rehabilitation will also be applied to future fire rehabilitation efforts.