continues to build up year after year, adding “I don’t know if there’s enough cattle in the United States to eat the feed that we have now.” Commissioner Cerri echoed that sentiment. “This fire really wasn’t a surprise to a lot of us,” he told the group at the burn site. “We’ve seen the fuel build up out here we knew it was coming but there was nothing we could do about it.” Cerri said that agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) don’t look at fires in areas like where the Martin fire occurred because no one lives out in these remote locations. the perception is it’s sparsely populated and so who cares if it burns. “Well, livelihoods are dependent on this,” he said. “Endangered species are dependent on this … and it’s all gone in the blink of an eye.”
Ranchers Shane Hall (left), Steve Lucas (middle) and Pete Marvel (right) discuss the hard-
ships they faced after last year’s Martin Fire swept through their area northeast of Paradise One of the results that came out of the catastrophic Valley. 2018 fire season was President Trump signing ExecuAttendees of the “Living with Wildfire” listen to a presentation at one of five stops during tive Order 13855 – Promoting Active Management of the Martin Fire tour. Employees from the BLM, NDOW, the Nevada Conservation District and America’s Forests, Rangelands, and Other Federal Lands to Improve Condiresearch scientists talk about rehabilitation efforts. tions and Reduce Wildfire Risk, as well as Secretary’s Order 3372 – Reducing Wildfire Risks on Department of the Interior Land through Active Management. The two orders direct Department of the Interior ((DOI) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) agencies to apply policies to improve forest and rangeland management practices by reducing hazardous fuel loads, mitigating fire risk and ensuring the safety and stability of local communities through active management on forests and rangelands.
DOI’s preferred alternative treatment would create up to 11,000 miles of new fuel breaks within a 223 million-acre area that includes portions of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Utah. Fuel breaks would be reseeded, using both native and non-native plant species throughout the project area. Ranchers like Hall, Lucas and Cerri say any approach should be backed not just by science but by common sense and flexibility. “I think we have to have a multifaceted approach to be effective here,” Hall said. “There’s not one silver bullet.”
Melany Aten (right), a Conservation Specialist with the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources engages in a discussion with a participant.
Members of the group inspect a burned piece of sagebrush. The burn area contained a variety of habitat types that require different rehabilitation strategies. Efforts include reseeding and transplanting native and non-native species.