Record wildland fire season leaves Delaware-sized replanting job

Tom Gardner

Thursday, Oct. 7, 1999 | 9:53 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Nevada's most widespread wildland fire season on record has left a legacy of devastation the size of Delaware that threatens the lives of surviving animals and the livelihood of scores of ranchers.

The job of recovering the grassland by planting new seeds is daunting.

"This is the most extensive rangeland reseeding effort ever undertaken in Nevada - and maybe anywhere," said Gene Kolkman, a federal Bureau of Land Management district manager coordinating the reseeding around Ely.

"The difficulties we face from this disaster are enormous."

A rash of thunderstorms in August sparked fires that burned a total of 2,468 square miles of grass, brush and trees, primarily in the northeastern part of the state.

The 50 major fires accounted for one-third of the total acreage burned in the nation. Wildlife division statistics show this to be the worst fire year for Nevada in more than 50 years.

The fires gravely affected ranching families.

"Those range fires have not only destroyed the grazing lands that are privately owned, but also those federal lands that are grazing allotments. There's going to have to be a significant shift for many of those people in how they do their business on the ground," said Nevada Division of Forestry spokesman Steve Frady.

Also hurting are the wildland critters that escaped the flames.

"Once the fire is over, life doesn't go on," said Jim Jeffress, a biologist with the Nevada Division of Wildlife. "For decades and decades to come, the manifestations and impacts of those fires will be felt in the wildlife communities, from the mice on up to the big-game species."

San Stiver, also a state wildlife biologist, said animals that lived through the largest fires are likely die as they trek 15 to 20 miles across charred land in search of food and water.

Gov. Kenny Guinn has named Frank Siracusa, chief of the state Division of Emergency Management, to head a task force charged with getting help to the agencies and the people who need it, focusing on eliminating bureaucratic barriers.

The agencies pretty much agree that the first priority is to reseed the barren ground with stuff that's better than what burned.

Cheat grass found its way into Nevada around the turn of the century as inexpensive filler in packing crates. Its seed scattered into the air and thrived in the arid ground of the high desert.

It provides sparse pasture for spring grazing, then quickly turns brown and lifeless in early summer - tinder for the first bolt of lightning or careless camper. It also robs beneficial ground cover of water - a scarce commodity in Nevada's high desert.

"Over time, cheat grass can dominate a landscape," said Sherman Swanson, extension range specialist for the University of Nevada College of Agriculture.

More than 3 million pounds of seed are on order for fall planting. Sagebrush and other shrubs will have to wait for spring. It's expected to take at least three years to complete the reseeding.

All that bare ground worries Frady.

"If you look back, 1996, that big (fire) year, what did we have in January of '97? We went right into the floods. We don't want to be a forecaster of doom and gloom, but we must be prepared for the possibility of a wet winter and some flood and erosion control problems," he said.

Five counties have been declared disaster areas, making low-interest loans of up to $500,000 available to farmers and ranchers in Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander and Pershing counties who have lost fences, wells, grazing land and even livestock.

"These people deserve relief as fast as we can provide it to them," said Guinn, who sought the designation. "Unfortunately, the trauma of the fires didn't end when the smoke cleared."