BLM director says sage grouse habitat will be reseeded

BOISE - The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has the ability to reseed and rehabilitate a giant burned area on the Idaho-Oregon border where a wildfire scorched primary sage grouse habitat and grasslands needed by ranchers, the agency's director said.

"We're going to stay after it and make sure we have a success in Idaho," Neil Kornze said Wednesday in Boise, noting the effort could take years.

The fire earlier this month charred a 443-square-mile area, often fueled by invasive cheatgrass and burning as much as 125 square miles in a day. It easily leapt fire lines put down by retardant bombers, officials have said.

Kornze's visit to Idaho comes about a month before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is scheduled to decide whether sage grouse require federal protections under the Endangered Species Act.

Showing that rangeland fires can be stopped and that burned areas can be rehabilitated to keep out invasive species such as cheatgrass will likely factor into a listing decision. Kornze said his trip to Idaho was partly to show the BLM's seriousness in tackling those problems.

"This is a national priority for us," he said, speaking at the agency's Boise District Greater Sage-Grouse Native Plant Garden. "Our strong preference is to keep the sage grouse off the Endangered Species List."

John Freemuth, a Boise State University professor and public lands expert, said the agency director making a trip to Idaho to discuss the fire and rehabilitation raised the level of awareness.

Giant rangeland fires have in general been an increasing problem in the last decade. Experts blame hotter and dryer summers combined with fire-prone cheatgrass that outcompetes native species. Local ire is often directed at federal land managers after the fires.

Kornze's visit follows a visit last week by Steve Ellis, the BLM's deputy director.