Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ES&R)
Background
Following wildland fire, Ely District Office resource managers may determine that ES&R actions are needed to protect valuable resources such as soils, riparian areas, cultural resources, and/or to reduce the potential for invasive species spread.
The Ely District Office is responsible for the design and implementation of an ES&R treatment plan as well as for maintenance treatments and monitoring following ES&R activities. Specific actions taken following fire can include soil erosion prevention measures, seeding and planting of native and/or non-native species, herbicide treatment, fence construction, and many other restoration measures.
The Ely District ESR Program is one of the most active ES&R programs in the Great Basin Region. Between 1981-2004, 315,292 acres were burned by wildfire within the Ely District. The largest fire that the Ely District had experienced was 22,591 acres (1999). Fires within the district were relatively small, averaging 1,561 acres. 2005 and 2006 proved to be the most destructive fire years that the Ely District has experienced to date. In 2005, there were 28 wildland fires that burned 618,293 acres. In 2006, there were 73 wildland fires totaling 119,213 acres burned. Out of the 328 fires that have burned since 1981, the Ely District ES&R program has performed ES&R related treatments on 221,478 acres.
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