There goes some good hunting grounds.

Tell · Post by **Tell** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:16 pm

An over 313,000 acre fire is destroying some good hunting land in Southern Utah. It is also closing down the freeway for over 100 miles, and has killed some people. If you have any plans to use I 15 south bound, you better check to see if it is passable. This ought to affect all kinds of wild life and fhunting for years to come. Can't blame anyone on this one, dry lightning caused it.

marmot · Post by **marmot** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:04 pm

Did that area contain a large population of mule deer?

Tell · Post by **Tell** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:53 pm

Yes it is a mule deer area. The Eola fire which was much smaller 40,000 acres destroyed great Elk habitat. Though a smaller fire, it will affect a lot of hunters too.

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:01 pm

Here in East Carolina, some habitats are actually conditioned and improved by burning ... foresters and refuge managers do a lot of controlled burning around here.

Does the cover not regenerate quickly there?

Don't know much about western habitat. Is your area desert?

Tell · Post by **Tell** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:16 pm

Actually you are right there are some advantages as it killed of the cheat grass which was the cause of the fire in the first place. The state wants to re-seed with something that is less flamable. The rest is sage and pinion pine. The problem was that the fire was spreading at 70 miles an hour which did not give the wild life a chance to escape. Heck, the humans in cars had a hard time getting away from it. It was also a lot of BLM land that was used for grazing by the local rangers They are going to feel this pretty hard too.