Forest Service seeds Fly Canyon Fire area

FERRON, Utah, Nov. 20, 2017-The Manti-La Sal National Forest seeded 300 acres of the Fly Canyon Fire area from the air Monday. Forest Service employees worked with the Reeder Flying helicopter crew to apply 3300 pounds of perennial seed mix on the burn area.
The Fly Canyon Fire left several hundred acres blackened and ripe for weed invasion, which the Forest hopes to prevent. In October2016 about 400 acres were seeded with a perennial seed mix and another 350 acres were seeded with winter wheat. The resulting seedlings were analyzed by the Ferron Ranger District range staff and the District Ranger. They found where winter wheat had been applied in steep remote areas there had been little regrowth of native species and spotty success with the winter wheat.
“This is a concern since there is musk thistle on the edge of the burn scar in several places,” explained Mark Chamberlain, Forest Range Management Specialist. Because of the remoteness and proximity of weeds, it was determined that a second seeding should be undertaken to assure that these areas had desirable perennial plant cover to compete with the musk thistle.
At the conclusion of the seeding, the District Ranger and other employees completed an aerial reconnaissance of the Trail Mountain Prescribed Burn. “We look forward to implementing the Trail Canyon Prescribed fire this coming spring and this flight gave us a good view of any details we needed to see in order to implement this burn this spring,” said Darren Olsen, District Ranger.