Bitterbrush rehabilitation: Squaw Butte fire complex

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The Squaw Butte Fire Complex resulted from an unprecedented amount of lightning activity during a 10 day period from August 2 to August 12, 1986. During this period, more than 30 separate wildfires were ignited and burned in a rough triangle between Boise, Payette and Weiser, Idaho. The fires burned approximately 220,000 acres which included 90,000 acres of public land, 12,000 acres of State of Idaho lands and 118,000 acres of private lands. The purpose of this document is to provide information on techniques for rehabilitation and restoration efforts of bitterbrush and sagebrush stands through contract seedling planting. The planting projects proceeded for five years, beginning in the fall of 1987 and ending in the spring of 1992. We used one year old bare root seedlings (except for Fall 1987) obtained from various nurseries in the region. The bitterbrush seed source was the Boise Foothills, north and adjacent to the city of Boise, Idaho. This area is comparable in soils, elevation and vegetation to the area impacted by the fires. The seed source for the sagebrush was Hobble Creek, Utah. This form of low elevation Mountain Big sagebrush, known as Hobble Creak Sage, is a selection valued for its palatability and nutritive value for wintering mule deer. Literature indicated that this selection would be adapted to the area.

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Reference Code: U94MAT01IDUS

Full Citation: Mattise, S. N. and C. Fritz. 1994. Bitterbrush rehabilitation: Squaw Butte fire complex. Idaho Bureau of Land Management Tech. Bull. No. 94-8. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Boise District Office, Boise, ID. 56 pp.

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