| Show 1000 Acres of Sage Land Receives Deceives Spray An aerial spray project on 1000 acres of public land was completed Monday on Cherry Springs Mesa in the Book Cliff CHU Mountains report report- reported ed cd Odell A Frandsen dis- dis disi dis i manager of the Bureau of Land Management The company receiving the flying contract was Mountain Moun- Moun Mountain tain West of Provo A helicopter was chosen for this job in order to better insure that only the sagebrush in the area would be treated and the more valuable browse species would be left for wildlife use The h helicopter with spray spray- spraying spraying ing attachments was flown from Provo to the Book Cliffs where a landing area was prepared on the me mega 3 At this landing area the spray material D 4 and Diesel was loaded loa ted into the copter by ground crews of both the Bureau of Land Management and the flying company The operation took place under the dirEction of District Range Conservationist Ger- Ger Gerald Geraid aid ald A Huff The purpose of this project was twofold 1 To prevent further soil erosion through the establishment of new grasses with finely branched root systems which hold soil particles firmly in place and 2 To increase tile the grazing capacity of the range At pre pre- present present sent it takes about eight to ten acres of this range to support one cow for one month As the sagebrush dies out and is replaced by desir able grasses the range will improve until only two or three acres will provide a cows cow's forage for one month This Improvement of approximately matl ly four times the pres- pres present present ent carrying capacity wilt will occur over a three or four year period This project was made possible through the cooper cooper- cooperation cooperation of the livestock oper- oper operator operator ator in that area The oper- oper operator operator ator agreed to take a reduction reduction tion in the number of live live- livestock livestock stock he runs in the area and to hold all animals off the sprayed portion for three years or until the new grass becomes established A similar project conducted conducted ted by the Vernal District on Snowshoe Ridge in 1960 pro pro- proved ved extremely successful and served as a guide for the Cherry Springs Mesa opera opera- operation operation tion The t total tal spraying opera opera- operation tion on Cherry Springs Mesa was completed in six hours flying time |
