Bitter Creek Fire ESR Project

Between June and July of 1994 a wildland fire started from a recently drilled natural gas well and, fueled by wind and hot temperatures, burned over 3,000 acres of BLM-managed public lands.  The Bitter Creek area is north of the I-70 corridor adjacent to the Utah/Colorado border and soils are particularly susceptible to wind erosion with accompanying dust storms across the I-70 corridor.  In addition, previous burns in this area were followed by the establishment of cheatgrass, which re-sprouts quickly following a fire and can easily spread.  Cheatgrass also burns more frequently than other grasses and fires can spread quickly and burn at hotter temperatures than other grasses and forbs.  Because of the loss of vegetative cover, ESR actions were authorized to aerially seed the burned area in an effort to re-establish as quickly as possible a diverse plant community composed of grasses, shrubs and forbs.