|
Only Ewes Can Prevent Wildfire!
They did their job. What they didn’t eat, they trampled. A herd of
350 sheep in urbanized Carson City, Nevada brought national
attention to a Great Basin fuel-reduction project. The ewes reduced
the wildfire fuel by 700 to 2,000 pounds per acre. They removed 70 to
85 percent of easy-burning fine fuels, to the relief of nearby
homeowners. The sheep’s next job was to cut the high cost of mowing
fire-prone cheatgrass from Great Basin rangelands. In nearby Douglas
County, Nevada specialists recycled 560 tons of excess
vegetation from Sierra homes, resulting in a dramatic reduction in
burn-permit requests. Colorado State researchers are studying
the payoffs of fire-mitigation treatments, such as prescribed burns.
|
