Topping a List & Restoring the Land

Topping a List & Restoring the Land

Topping a List & Restoring the Land. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Now that most of the fires have been managed here in the northwest the process of rebuilding and restoring kicks into high gear. The task of getting burned forests back into shape falls to the Bureau of Land Management who is putting together a rehabilitation plan. Idaho's Soda Fire devastated more than 280-thousand acres of forest and rangeland. The BLM will begin reseeding in a process that will take years to see habitats restored. Hundreds of thousand of pounds of seeds will be used to help bring back the fire ravaged landscape. Erosion is the biggest worry for these areas.

The cooler weather that helped firefighters get a handle on the wildfires has also brought some hope that the northwest might soon see some much needed rainfall but according to USDA meteorologist, Brad Rippey things still look dry.

RIPPEY: Still leading the U.S. in top-soil moisture shortage is California now up to 95% very short to short. Oregon 84% very short to short and Washington State at 71%. We're still a few weeks away from any potential rainy season events we're looking at Washington State leading the nation, 75% of the rangeland and pasture rated very poor to poor. Second on the list, Oregon at 67% and unfortunately the short-term outlook is not favorable for any additional moisture across the west. In addition, it remains very warm.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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