Idaho Falls (Idaho) Field Office

Opportunity for restoration following catastrophic wildfire

The Mule Butte Rehabilitation Project was designed to restore an area that had been affected by multiple wildfires. Prior to the 1999 wildfire that burned nearly 139,000 acres, the area featured a decadent canopy of sagebrush infested with cheatgrass and noxious weeds. The wildfire gave the BLM a brief window of opportunity to step in and restore 108,000 acres by removing remaining cheatgrass and replacing it with native grasses, forbs and sagebrush.

Herbicides were aerially applied 4,600 acres; 8,000 acres were drill-seeded with grasses and forbs; and 73,800 acres of sagebrush were aerially seeded. An inventory of the restored area showed great success in restoring a diverse, native plant community that now provides habitat for Greater sage-grouse and other wildlife.

Sage-grouse strut on a lek adjacent to the Mule Creek rehabilitation area.