Recent monsoonal showers have us not thinking about the F-word so much. I don’t like to talk about the F-word during F-word season. Of course, I’m referring to fire, wildland fire specifically. If you’re a rancher in Northern Nevada, you’re probably a volunteer firefighter almost by default, it’s become that prevalent on our rangelands. This year in Northeastern Nevada there’s been over 50 fires by the end of July. Our fire services have done an incredible job of keeping them small so far. Fire’s been thought of as a natural part of our ecosystem, but I don’t think it is anymore. Cheatgrass has made fires unmanageable and therefore bigger, and cheatgrass makes it more difficult for native plants to return post-fire. The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association has spent an awful lot of time working the issues around fire, and I’m happy to report there’s some positive developments.
Before fire happens, our Agency partners are figuring out how to streamline the process for targeted and prescribed grazing to reduce fine-fuel loads. Historically the process involved in these kinds of grazing projects has taken so much time that they couldn’t be put to ground in a timely fashion, but we look for that to change in the coming months.
When fire occurs, the NCA has partnered with fire managers to provide a Rancher Liaison to share knowledge during the event. Fire bosses gain critical information like access points to the fire, water locations, typical weather patterns and fire behaviors, and any threats to look out for such as structures or livestock in the way. Ranchers gain an understanding of what resources are on the fire and how it’s being fought, and can plan strategically to move cattle if they’re in the path of the blaze. This has proved to be a very successful program and has been modeled in some fashion all over the west.
After a fire’s out, our Agency partners including the folks at the Nevada Department of Wildlife have made great strides in restoration work. There’s some exciting new herbicides that suppress cheatgrass while allowing desirable plants to grow. We’ve had good success in demonstrating first season rest isn’t always needed and a grazing regime can be beneficial post fire; this has led to a reduction in automatic, years-long closures of allotments we’ve seen in the past.
I think Nevada is ahead of the West in managing around fire. It’s possible we may get back to a time when we don’t live in fear of the dreaded F-word and it becomes a natural and often welcome occurrence again.
Jon Griggs | President, NCA