Soda Rehab 1

The Soda Fire in Owyhee County consumed over 260,000 acres on the Idaho / Oregon border and now intense efforts are being made to bring it back.

 

“Right now because of the spring and winter we had, it looks fantastic”.

 

That’s Dave Bunker a contractor for the BLM who says cheat grass infestations are common but not native to the area and quickly becomes a fire hazard. Cindy Fritz of the BLM says the area is a big research project on how to control cheat grass.

 

“Nothing eliminates cheat grass. All it is is giving you an opportunity to release what's there and if you don't have adequate plants on-site, it gives you an opportunity to put in what's missing. That's what we are looking at. It was a national request that we do these tests.”

 

Bunker Says that human intervention is mandatory to make the Owyhee desert livable.

 

“If we were to leave this alone, you wouldn't see green out here right now. Let's not get into the mindset that says, oh we'll just let nature take care of itself and it will come back and be picture-perfect paradise because that's not going to happen. This country is designed to get you hot and sweaty and kill you if you just leave it alone.”

 

Cattle grazing may be allowed back on the BLM allotments after grass seed ripens in the second year. It's a delicate balance according to rancher Ed Wilse.

 

"The reason this country burned so hot was the last 40 to 50 years, just keep taking cattle off the range, no sheep and all of this organic overburden, there's nothing but fuel out there. And then a strong wind behind it and you can see the places that didn't burn and see the proof of it.”

 

The one thing that never changes in the Owyhees, the resilience and determination of the desert cowboys who call the place home.