On June 28th around 2:30pm the Charlotte fire moved swiftly through the Mink Creek and Gibson Jack drainages burning 1,029 total acres, 803 acres (78%) of which was private land, the remaining was Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ground. The habitat burned in the Charlotte fire has served as mule deer habitat for many years, both as winter range for migratory deer, and yearlong habitat to the resident mule deer. IDFG’s MDI program contributed $10,000 to assist in the hydro-seeding effort that took place last summer. Additionally, IDFG and BLM partnered to plant 10,000 shrubs (sagebrush and bitterbrush) on the BLM ground within the fire this past fall. This past week MDI staff, volunteers, and interested landowners hand planted an additional 5,200 shrubs within the Charlotte fire area. Kaitlin Loukides with Local News 8 did a story on one of the volunteer planting efforts, see the link and some pictures below.
