U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT NEWS RELEASE
Winnemucca District Office
Winnemucca District Office
| Contacts: | Mark Turney | , 775-623-1541 | , mturney@blm.gov |
Herbicide Application Planned to Maintain Fuel Breaks in the Winnemucca to McDermitt Area
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Winnemucca District will be applying herbicide to several existing fuel breaks within the District as part of normal maintenance. The treatments are scheduled to begin in late November and will continue through January.
The planned treatments will occur in the Winnemucca Wildland Urban Interface fuel breaks located to the east and west of Winnemucca; the Paradise Valley green strips located to the west and north of Paradise Valley; the Santa Rosa fuel break, which runs along the western side of the Santa Rosa Mountains from McDermitt to Paradise Hill Summit; and the Highway 95 fuel break which is located on both sides of Highway 95 from Sand Pass Road north to McDermitt.
The herbicide will be applied to the soil as a pre-emergent treatment which provides residual control of annual species, such as cheat grass and tumble mustard, for two to three years. Reducing the fine fuels within the fuel breaks makes them a more effective tool to slow or stop fire spread and reduce fire intensity.
“Maintaining effective fuel breaks is an important part of the BLM’s fire management program,” says Mark Williams, BLM district fire ecologist. “These fuel breaks protect homes in our communities, important wildlife habitat, and grazing allotments.”
For more information, call Derek Messmer at the BLM Winnemucca District at 775-623-1500
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.