Show alton man restores burned area KANAB august 2 28 restoring 20 acres of oe burned over sagebrush land to a profitable grazing area and at the same time checking severe erosion on a tract through use ol of soil and water conservation practices lias has been the experience of lorin S roundy of alton this sagebrush area on a steep hill slope averaging 15 16 per cent was swept by a rana fire in 1944 during the following year the denuded 20 acres became subject to severe sheet and gully erosion eros loni so mr roundy realized that he must do something it if he was to save any or of the productive soil on the tract he then made app licati 0 r to the kane county soil conservation district for technical assistance in solving his problem boyd A murray soil conservation representative warning with the district accompanied mr roundy over the area together they worked out a com complete soil and water conservation program for the ranch this plan which was completed in october 1945 called for brush check dams dama ln in all ot the active gullies and the re seeding of 0 the entire area to prevent further runoff run off and loss ot of soil mr roundy built the brush dams in the worst gullies immediately and then prepared to plant the area to a mixture or of forested crested and western es ea however he soon realized that the seeding ot of range land on a 16 15 per cent slope siope wb would uld be a difficult problem the area was covered with h perennial weed and sunflowers sun flowers 1 i realizing the danger of plowing such lani land to kill weeks mr roundy broadcast the grass mixture and then covered it by using a cultivator on the contour ho he figured that the contours would hold enough moisture to establish the grass regardless gard less of the heavy weed infestation fe the area was planted on november 20 1946 1945 and although precipitation for 1946 and 1946 was below normal the seed germinated early in april 1946 most of the created wheat headed out last year and now an excellent stand of grass covers the 20 acres although the area was read ready y tor for grazing just a year after being seeded mr roundy has not overlooked the need for protecting against overgrazing and leaves an average stubble height of three inches over the old sagebrush land |