With photos by Jessie Diermier
The Bureau of Land Management and its partners have completed their third year of work to restore habitat burned in the 2012 Rush Fire in northeast Lassen County, and have now hand-planted more than 15,000 shrub seedlings.
In a project completed this week, the California Deer Association provided $15,000 in grant funds to purchase 8,000 bitterbrush and 1,300 mountain mahogany seedlings. Crews from the Great Basin Institute planted the shrubs. The California Deer Association covered GBI’s labor and equipment costs with a $46,000 grant.
“With more than 8,000 seedlings in the ground, 2014 has been our most productive year in planting seedlings to improve wildlife habitat in the Rush Fire area,” said Ken Collum, manager of the BLM Eagle Lake Field Office in Susanville. “Improving habitat generally improves wildlife populations, which in turn, can increase opportunities for wildlife viewing and hunting. In addition, these projects can provide opportunities for scientific study to determine how plants affected by wildfire respond to habitat rehabilitation efforts.”
Habitat restoration got underway soon after the 315,000-acre Rush Fire was extinguished. Aerial seeding was completed on about 22,000 acres, and drill seeding covered another 5,000 acres. Crews from the BLM, GBI and volunteers planted 4,000 bitterbrush seedlings in 2012, an additional 2,100 plants in 2013 and another 8,000 in 2014, Collum said.
“It’s rewarding to see these plants taking root and outgrowing their protective mesh tubes,” Collum said. “Shrub species are slow growing, and planting seedlings gives the habitat a little head start on recovery.”
A team of seven people, plus four hours equals 400 bitterbrush seedlings planted!
Local youth and volunteers from the Lassen County Environmental Education Collaborative along with staff members from the BLM’s Eagle Lake Field Office planted the seedlings on public lands, Saturday, November 15th, at Rodeo Flat along the Buckhorn Back Country Byway east of Ravendale.
Valda Lockie, an ecologist with the BLM’s Eagle Lake Field Office, led the group in a brief discussion of the importance of habitat restoration, specifically in areas burned by the Rush Fire in the summer of 2012.
Though snowy weather presented challenges, the trip was described by volunteer Devin Winchester, a student at Mt. Lassen Charter School, as, “fun and time went by like nothing because we were all having a good time.”
The planting was one of many youth projects coordinated by the Lassen County Environmental Education Collaborative, a partnership among the BLM Eagle Lake Field Office, Lassen National Forest, Lassen County Office of Education and the Trust.
Youth, and youth groups interested in participating in future projects may contact Jessie Diermier, coordinator for the collaborative, at (530) 257-3252 or email [email protected].
For more information on opportunities to assist with Rush Fire projects, contact Valda Lockie at the BLM Eagle Lake Field Office, (530) 257-0456.
