BLM hosts vegetation restoration workshop

ST. GEORGE — The Bureau of Land Management is hosting the “Southern Utah Vegetation Restoration Forum” Aug. 18-19 in Kanab. The public is invited to attend this free event.

Restoration is returning disturbed areas to a natural array of native plant and animal associations. This may sound easy, the BLM’s news release states, but in practice, restoration to a predisturbance condition is often difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.  Restoration is more than just returning vegetation to a site, the release said; it is also the return of the entire ecosystem, including soil characteristics, water relations, associated wildlife and nondominant plants.

The forum is broken down into two parts: a panel discussion on restoration Aug. 18, at 9 a.m. in the Kanab City Library, 374 North Main Street; and a field trip to look at restoration sites Aug. 19, 8:45 a.m. leaving from the Kanab BLM Headquarters building, 669 South Highway 89A, Kanab.

Participants in the Aug. 19 panel include:

  • Hal Gordon | Economist, Natural Resources Conservation Service
  • Shane Green | Rangeland management specialist, Natural Resources Conservation Service
  • Mary O’Brien | Utah forests program director, Grand Canyon Trust
  • Adrienne Pilmanis | Botanist, Bureau of Land Management
  • Karen Prentice | Healthy lands initiative coordinator, Bureau of Land Management
  • Bruce Roundy | Plant and wildlife sciences faculty, Brigham Young University
  • Jason Vernon | Habitat restoration coordinator, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

In four separate sessions, they will look at: “What is vegetation restoration?” “Why do vegetation restoration?” “How should restoration efforts be prioritized” and “What restoration methodologies are most suited to Southern Utah?” At the end of each session, the public will be invited to ask questions of the panelists.

The panel discussion will be recorded and available electronically shortly after the forum concludes.

The field trip Aug. 19 will take panel members and members of the public to actual restoration sites: the five-mile Sagebrush Restoration Project, restoration work along Skutumpah Road and Thompson Creek and along the Coal Road to look at five different years of restoration efforts.

Participants should bring their own transportation. High clearance, four-wheel drive vehicles are recommended. Dress for hot weather and consider the need for a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. Bring water and a brown bag lunch.

Event details

  • What: “Southern Utah Vegetation Restoration Forum”
  • When: Aug. 18-19
  • Where: Aug. 18 in the Kanab City Library, 374 North Main Street, Kanab; Aug. 19, leaving from the Kanab BLM Headquarters building, 669 South Highway 89A, Kanab
  • Cost: Free
  • Registration is available online
  • BLM website

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