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Show Forest Service Powell District Wildlife Biologist Jake Schoppe, Fire Management Officer Kim Soper, and Aero Eagle Pilot Mike Thornton of Parowan, prepare the morning's reseeding of a critical site on the PANGUITCH - Local Powell District Forest Service Biologist Jake Schoppe and Fire Management Officer Kim Soper are continuing to monitor the 2002 Sanford burn, some 11 miles northeast of Panguitch, for vegetation response and through a cooperative effort they are working on seeding the areas where vegetation is either slow to respond or where high burn intensity has slowed response. The snow on the ground at the area selected was not a problem, prob-lem, instead it was an asset said Schoppe. Seeding is done deliberately delib-erately in late fall after frost starts when hopefully there is some snow already on the ground. The seeds lie dormant until Spring when they will germinate ger-minate with expected results. A little snow on top of the seeds only aids in their goal, hiding the precious and expensive seeds from hungry birds. Ignition on the Sanford and Adams Head prescribed burns started on two separate days in 2002, Apr. 22-23, two months earlier than normal. No fire activity was observed for more than a month, but on May 31, the fire became more active due, Forest Service personnel theorized, theo-rized, to fuels being drier that anticipated. Then, three days of unprecedented 40-mile-per-hour winds whipped the two fires which joined on June 8 as temperatures tem-peratures increased, ultimately blackening an estimated 50,000 2002 Sanford Fire area. The Rocky Mountain Moun-tain Elk Foundation which helped financially finan-cially on this project has funded more than $100,000 in projects on Mt. Dutton and the Paunsaugunt during the last five years. FS, RMEF Combine Efforts To Seed Sanford Fire Areas In Need Of Special Help acres and requiring the combined com-bined effort of more than 500 firefighters at a cost of several million dollars. Complaints from area tourism business owners and agriculturists brought quick response from the Forest Service as town meetings were held in Antimony and Tropic. In the 20 months since, Dixie National Forest Service personnel person-nel have focused on reseeding and restoring life to the most intensely burned 6,000 acres needing help and in reviewing prescribed burn policies. Seed for this latest restoration effort was paid for by the U.S. Forest Service and the flight time was paid for with cooperative coopera-tive dollars from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) which has funded over $100,000 in projects on Mt. Dutton and the Paunsaugunt during the last five years. Schoppe and fire management manage-ment officers are continuing to monitor the Sanford burn for vegetation response and through a cooperative effort are working on seeding the areas where vegetation veg-etation is either slow to respond or high burn intensity has slowed response. During this last seeding, over $30,000 was spent to spread seed into the East and West Hunt Creek drainages and across Flat Top mountain in critical elk and deer ranges. Schoppe explains that not only will the vegetation from the seed provide a good forage base for wildlife and livestock, it will also help to stabilize the soil and enhance the water quality qual-ity in the watersheds. He and fire crews were on hand to help load seed and coordinate the efforts during late December. Each year projects like this seeding are submitted to local conservation organizations from the Forest Service and as a result RMEF has been very active in the local area. Thanks to their funding efforts and committed biologists at local Forest Service offices, a large portion of the RMEF's budget is spent on the Dixie National Forest annually. Sportsmenwomen who have ideas for worthy projects on public land are encouraged to contact Jake Schoppe at the Powell Ranger District in Panguitch to get their ideas submitted sub-mitted to the conservation organizations. |