Reseeding begins on Carson City burn scar

Thursday, Jan. 6, 2000 | 2:42 a.m.

A rented helicopter towing a huge hopper made repeated passes Wednesday over the hill between Carson City and Washoe Lake, dumping 7,000 pounds of seed in the effort coordinated by the federal Bureau of Land Management.

Some of the seed won't work its way into the soil or will be eaten by mice and birds. The seed and helicopter rental costs for the project totaled about $44,800.

"If everything goes right, we're looking at two growing seasons before this area can recover. But there are so many variables involved. It's a crapshoot," said Rick Brigham, wildlife biologist and emergency fire rehabilitation officer for BLM's Carson City District.

The 1,500-acre fire swept up the hillside at the north end of Carson City on Aug. 26 and and down to Washoe Lake State Park before being halted.

While highly visible in the state capital, it was one of the smallest fires of the summer in Nevada.

On a statewide level, unusually dry weather is permitting major progress in replanting a total burned area bigger than the state of Delaware.

"We've had an opportunity to get a lot done," said Pat Murphy, deputy state forester who heads a special BLM-formed emergency fire rehabilitation team.

Murphy said the effort to reseed the 1.7 million acres of northern Nevada rangeland is 40-45 percent complete because weather has been warmer and drier than anticipated. He expects on-the-ground "drill seeding" to be done by late January or early February less steep areas that suffered extensive damage from lightning-sparked fires.

Plans are being finalized for 25 large contracts for aerial reseeding throughout the state's burned areas. About 4.3 million pounds of seed were purchased.

Wednesday's seeding covered 800 acres of BLM land and 140 acres of state park land. Some of the charred BLM land was too steep or rocky to be targeted.

Along with the cosmetic improvement, the reseeding was aimed at stabilizing the hillside before spring thunderstorms arrive and at encouraging healthy grass instead of cheatgrass and other noxious weeds.

"We're hitting the south-facing slopes very heavy," Brigham said from the helicopter staging area at the park. Erosion and runoff from the south-facing slopes would flow toward the capital, threatening a subdivision at the foot of the hill.

Brigham said the fire is the smallest among five in the district that have been reseeded since last summer.