Fire Science and Wild Sheep
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jdf
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Thanks for article.
I see turkeys all the time walk right back in our burn units while still smoking the same day as we burn them.
I see turkeys all the time walk right back in our burn units while still smoking the same day as we burn them.
Salmonchaser
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Love it when I get to read something that supports my understanding as a lay person. Spent two weeks hunting this year near Thompson falls. There have been some dramatic fires in there but the most interesting areas are where recent fires overlapped ten or twenty year old burns. That is where we really saw critters, including sheep.
That's a great article on selective and precise use and benefits of small scale, low intensity burns. Well planned burns can benefit critical wildlife habitat.
As mentioned several times in the article, not all fire is good. A prime example of this is high intensity and large-scale devastation of native browse fueled by dense, cheatgrass fed wildfires. Historically wildfires occurred every 30 to 100 years, however, cheatgrass infested areas across the West have increased the wildfire frequency to now burning 5 to 15 years. Larger-scale, higher intensity fires have thinned and even eliminated sagebrush, mountain mahogany, antelope bitterbrush and other browse species that are critical cover and food for mule deer and other game animals' survival.
iwjv.org
Here are a few inserts from the thin horned sheep article:
'Across the West, one thing is clear: when it’s done right, fire brings habitat back to life. For bighorns, prescribed burning opens slopes and renews the grasses they depend on through long winters. For thinhorns, the same is true, but fire must be used carefully, since the alpine range recovers more slowly, and too much heat can do lasting damage.
That balance of knowing where and when to use fire is central to WSF’s conservation work. From Idaho to Wyoming to northern British Columbia, the focus is on combining field experience with solid science to manage habitat that keeps wild sheep healthy and on the mountain.
“For thinhorns, your Stone’s and Dall’s sheep, you’re looking at natural fire return intervals of roughly one hundred fifty to three hundred years,” Jex said. “Fire just doesn’t play the same role there. The plant communities recover more slowly, and many species of thinhorn rely on them and don’t come back quickly. They feed on more than a hundred different plants. After a massive burn, you might get a quarter of those back. So, in some areas, fire can do more harm than good.”
Large wildfires in recent years have also changed the equation.
“When you get these broad-scale fires, you create a flush of forage that draws in elk and bison,” Jex said. “And where those go, wolves, bears, and cougars follow. You end up with more predators in sheep country.”
Yet Jex stresses that fire, when handled carefully, remains one of the most valuable tools available. “Prescribed fire has a place, even in thinhorn country,” he said. “If you do it on a small scale and in the right locations, like lambing areas or key winter ranges, you can really improve visibility and forage for Stone’s sheep.”
As mentioned several times in the article, not all fire is good. A prime example of this is high intensity and large-scale devastation of native browse fueled by dense, cheatgrass fed wildfires. Historically wildfires occurred every 30 to 100 years, however, cheatgrass infested areas across the West have increased the wildfire frequency to now burning 5 to 15 years. Larger-scale, higher intensity fires have thinned and even eliminated sagebrush, mountain mahogany, antelope bitterbrush and other browse species that are critical cover and food for mule deer and other game animals' survival.
Cheating Mule Deer in the Sage - IWJV
“There are excellent wildlife managers out there and we can do our part in supporting their efforts by advocating for sufficient funding and policy measures to keep conservation happening. The Mule Deer Foundation is proud to partner with them across the West."
iwjv.org
Here are a few inserts from the thin horned sheep article:
'Across the West, one thing is clear: when it’s done right, fire brings habitat back to life. For bighorns, prescribed burning opens slopes and renews the grasses they depend on through long winters. For thinhorns, the same is true, but fire must be used carefully, since the alpine range recovers more slowly, and too much heat can do lasting damage.
That balance of knowing where and when to use fire is central to WSF’s conservation work. From Idaho to Wyoming to northern British Columbia, the focus is on combining field experience with solid science to manage habitat that keeps wild sheep healthy and on the mountain.
“For thinhorns, your Stone’s and Dall’s sheep, you’re looking at natural fire return intervals of roughly one hundred fifty to three hundred years,” Jex said. “Fire just doesn’t play the same role there. The plant communities recover more slowly, and many species of thinhorn rely on them and don’t come back quickly. They feed on more than a hundred different plants. After a massive burn, you might get a quarter of those back. So, in some areas, fire can do more harm than good.”
Large wildfires in recent years have also changed the equation.
“When you get these broad-scale fires, you create a flush of forage that draws in elk and bison,” Jex said. “And where those go, wolves, bears, and cougars follow. You end up with more predators in sheep country.”
Yet Jex stresses that fire, when handled carefully, remains one of the most valuable tools available. “Prescribed fire has a place, even in thinhorn country,” he said. “If you do it on a small scale and in the right locations, like lambing areas or key winter ranges, you can really improve visibility and forage for Stone’s sheep.”
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Gerald Martin
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Timely article. The unit I had my tag in a few years ago burned this summer. I was passing through the area on my way to Thanksgiving and a significant portion of the unit’s sheep population was on the new grass in the burn.
One was a cranker of a ram. It would have been a good year for the tag…
One was a cranker of a ram. It would have been a good year for the tag…
BigHornRam
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Seems like that place burns every other year, and it has a heavy crop of cheat grass. Sheep sure do like it, and do well there.
Sheep may eat cheatgrass when it's green but the thing about cheatgrass is that the nutrition value is extremely low even when it's green. By June, cheatgrass is dried up, dead, and has 0 nutrition value. It displaces a lot of other native species that are higher in nutrition through the entire growing season. If there have been several wildfires in that area that have been fueled by cheatgrass there likely are very few desirable native species remaining. The sheep may eat cheatgrass because they have no other option and there is nothing else available this time of year? Overall, I bet the sheep would be in a lot better shape if there were natives rather than cheatgrass in that site.
I see the total opposite in the spring in our winter ranges here in Colorado where we've controlled cheatgrass. The deer, elk, sheep, and other big game species are concentrated in areas where cheatgrass has been controlled. Spring is a critical time of year and they are keying in on high quality, nutritious natives that are greening up and have dramatically increased where there previously was dense cheatgrass.
I see the total opposite in the spring in our winter ranges here in Colorado where we've controlled cheatgrass. The deer, elk, sheep, and other big game species are concentrated in areas where cheatgrass has been controlled. Spring is a critical time of year and they are keying in on high quality, nutritious natives that are greening up and have dramatically increased where there previously was dense cheatgrass.
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Here is an interesting article about mule deer and cheatgrass.
wyofile.com
Mule deer could lose half their northeast Wyoming habitat to cheatgrass without help - WyoFile
New study shows deer avoid cheatgrass-covered areas, but authors also provide hope.
wyofile.com
Flynarrow
Well-known member
As comments here suggest, there is a variety of landscapes that respond differently to fire. Some elevations containing sage with cheat grass can respond with only cheatgrass, eliminating sage for long periods or longer. Here in western Montana we have far more mature forest acres now than in the past due to fire suppression. While some can/has been set back in seral vegetation due to logging, much of many landscapes are infeasible to log but fire suppression continues. Prescribed fire is an option on a limited number of acres due to forest over story, elevation, etc plus limited resources and limited time frames. We need to recognize that many wildfires benefit a host of species, including most ungulates. Repeat burns in burned over acres reduces the heavy downfall that clogs otherwise beneficial conditions, but currently burned areas are used as control boundaries for any subsequent fires in the area. We need to loosen the constraints in allowing wildfire over many more landscapes if we are to encourage big game to utilize public lands over the long term.
