BLM Nevada News
ELY DISTRICT OFFICE NO. 2009-003
FOR RELEASE:  Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008
CONTACT:  Chris Hanefeld, (775) 289-1842; chris_hanefeld@nv.blm.gov

BLM Constructs Fencing to Protect Barnes Canyon Fire Seeding

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ely District is scheduled in early November to complete a fence around 840-plus recently-seeded acres of the Barnes Canyon Fire.  The nearly eight-mile fence will protect the seeded acreage from damage caused by foraging wild horses while providing for public access.

The Barnes Canyon Fire burned 950 acres of the public lands about 10 miles east of Caliente before being contained on July 7, 2007.  That same day the district’s emergency stabilization and rehabilitation team began assessing the damage and preparing a plan to stabilize the soils and rehabilitate the burn area.  The fence and seeding are two components of the resulting Barnes Canyon Fire Emergency Stabilization Project.  Last December the BLM seeded and placed woodstraw mulch on 50-plus acres, and placed soil erosion-control barriers constructed of logs on 31 acres of the burn area’s west side.

To provide for wild horse safety and to protect the seeding, the BLM encourages anyone entering or exiting the burn area to close the gate securely behind their vehicle and to stay on existing roads.  The BLM has installed finger gates to provide for the animals, but asks anyone seeing a wild horse inside the fence to immediately contact the BLM Caliente Field Office at (775) 726-8100.

To learn more about this and other emergency stabilization and rehabilitation projects district-wide, contact Karen Prentice, BLM Ely District fire rehabilitation coordinator, at (775) 289-1800 or karen_prentice@nv.blm.gov.

CAPTION: Employees of L&I Fence Construction, of Winnemucca, Nev., are pictured Wednesday constructing an exclosure fence at the site of the Barnes Canyon Fire, about 10 miles east of Caliente.  The nearly eight-mile fence will protect a recent BLM seeding and provide for the safety of wild horses.

-BLM-