Volunteers give Mother Nature a hand replanting shrub-steppe

YAKIMA, Wash. — Last year's Cowiche Mill Road Fire blackened more than 6,000 acres of Central Washington's valuable shrub-steppe environment.

Within months, vegetation began returning to the area, which includes Cowiche Canyon Conservancy's Snow Mountain Ranch and key elk grazing lands.

That's theoretically good but pragmatically bad, because weeds are the first to take over.

The conquest of cheatgrass and Scotch thistle could shift the ecological balance away from the benefits of the shrub-steppe -- which provides a home for rare butterflies, among others -- and makes the land more prone to sweeping fires.

Now the conservancy and state, local and federal agencies are working to address both issues. Replanting of native sagebrush and grass started soon after the July 2010 fire, and a draft of a community wildfire protection plan may be ready for review early next year.

"We're helping nature reassert itself," said Betsy Bloomfield, executive director of the conservancy.

The fire is believed to have been started by human activity on the conservancy's Snow Mountain Ranch, about 15 miles west of Yakima. Investigators said at the time it was unclear whether the fire was accidental or intentionally started.

It quickly tore over most of the conservancy's 1,800 acres, as well as land owned by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and private farmland. A vacant residence, four outbuildings and a fire engine were destroyed.

Among the vegetation that perished was old-growth sage taller than the average person -- prime food for deer and elk. By last fall, sage sprouts were already emerging from seeds in the soil.

Substantial regrowth should be visible within a decade, but it may take 100 years for the area to return to prior conditions, if no major fires sweep through.

Soon after the fire, replanting began on Snow Mountain Ranch and surrounding government land.

Through grants from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and state legislative funding, the state and the conservancy were able to bring in a helicopter to help spread seed in inaccessible areas. The Legislature pitched in about $25,000, the private foundation about $20,000.

Volunteer crews continued that work by hand on the conservancy this past weekend, and the federal Bureau of Land Management is looking into more reseeding as well.

Close to 200 acres of state Fish and Wildlife land was reseeded, probably all that will be done due to financial limitations, said Ross Huffman, manager of the state's Oak Creek Wildlife Area. The area includes the Cowiche Unit, next to Snow Mountain Ranch.

Protecting the shrub-steppe is key to both humans and wild species.

For elk, which draw as many as 30,000 hunters to Yakima and Kittitas counties each year, the shrub-steppe provides a bridge between populated areas and the forestland. For cattle, it allows grazing. And the Cowiche Unit is designated as a recovery zone for the sage grouse to strengthen its population.

"If you eliminate shrub-steppe, you're on the trajectory of ever-increasing restriction on the remaining sageland," said Jeff Tayer, the Yakima-based regional director for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Besides the need to replant land, the Cowiche Mill Road Fire showed the importance of reducing the risk of future massive fires. Even though fire is a part of nature, officials say they want to protect homes and other development, particularly on the eastern edge of the envisioned area that would be covered by the community wildfire protection plan.

The terrain, coupled with typical winds from the west, would push another major fire toward the homes.

Bloomfield said the wildfire protection plan will seek to identify how to improve fire protection. Options include providing more equipment or other resources for the West Valley Fire Department and showing homeowners how they can improve their property to cut the chances of losing homes.

The multiagency group working on the plan expects to schedule opportunities for public input, Bloomfield said.

Wildfire protection plans are based on a national model that has been used successfully in the Nile area and elsewhere across the state.

Once the plan is completed, grants may be available to help with fire prevention efforts for residents. For example, a wood chipper was purchased for residents in the Nile area to clear their land of trees too close to homes.

West Valley fire Chief Dave Leitch said the fire plan could put the fire department in better position for funding, too.

"There's only so much money to go around, so every grant I get really helps," he said.

* Mark Morey can be reached at 509-577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.