WASHINGTON CITY — Looking north to the black rock hills and red cliffs just above the Green Springs subdivision, keen-eyed observers may have seen a small airplane flying low over the desert landscape for the past two days.

Like a homeowner mowing a lawn, the aircraft flew its course back and forth with minor adjustments in each banking turn to adjust its path – in the case of this project, less than 100 feet separated each pass.

Only close inspection would reveal why the pilot and plane were flying so low and in such a controlled pattern: a fine dusting of golden-brown seeds trailed behind the plane and settled on the uncharacteristically open land beneath them.

Organized through the Watershed Restoration Initiative, the aerial reseeding was part of an effort to restore over 1,600 acres of land in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve to a healthy state in its ongoing recovery from the Turkey Farm Road Fire of 2020. 

Curtis Roundy, habitat restoration biologist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, oversaw the seed application from the ground level. He said that each part of the project, from the seed mix to the delivery method to the timing, was planned in advance to maximize the benefits to native wildlife.

“Desert tortoise is the big species, but we also have quail, mule deer and other wildlife that call this place home,” Roundy said. “The general goal is to rehabilitate the area so the plant community is resilient and we don’t have cheatgrass come back and then a fire to burn it all again.”

Invasive species like cheatgrass crowd out native plants while giving little back to land or the wildlife that would have otherwise dined on native species. They also increase the intensity and frequency of wildfires, especially in the ongoing drought experienced by Utah and the West.

“When this type of Mojave Desert ecosystem burns, the things that grow back are oftentimes the invasive species like cheatgrass, tumbleweeds and various species of mustard,” said Lura Snow, outreach coordinator for the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. “Replanting native seeds is trying to get ahead of invasive species moving in, and that’s going to be beneficial to the tortoises because they’re better able to metabolize native species versus those invasives.”

Opting for aerial delivery over on-the-ground seeding is a matter of minimizing disturbance while maximizing coverage, Roundy said. The division contracted with a local pilot to fly the single-engine aircraft to and from the Hurricane Airport, stopping every so often to refuel and reload the seed dispenser.

The plane used for this project normally has the capacity to carry up to 1,200 pounds of seed in its hopper, but the unique qualities of the mix chosen meant the mix was far less dense. As a result, the pilot could only carry about 500 pounds of mix at a time, meaning he took over 20 trips back and forth from the seeding area to the airport.

As the agency carrying out the project, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources formulated, ordered and arranged for the application of the unique seed mix used in the project. The state wildlife agency purchased 11,000 pounds of seed for a total cost of approximately $220,000. 

The mix consists of five species of grass and forbs: sideoats grama, galleta, sand dropseed, desert globemallow and forage kochia. While some of the plants occur naturally in the reserve – like globemallow and sideoats grama – the restoration effort also used non-native species like the kochia.

“Putting together the seed mix for this desert community was more difficult than we originally thought,” Roundy said. “The native species that were here before is what we’re trying to put back here, as well as introduced species that will outcompete the invasive species. It’s about a healthy balance that won’t harm native species, will be good at establishing and will provide a good forage product for wildlife.”

The project area had previously been treated with an herbicide in the immediate aftermath of the Turkey Farm Road Fire, which ignited around 12,000 acres of land. Along with the Cottonwood Trail Fire that burned in another part of the reserve, 2020 wildfires were believed to directly cause the death of at least 14 tortoises found in surveys of the burn zones.

The reseeding was timed to coincide with the effective expiration of the herbicide and in anticipation of much-needed spring rainstorms. Ultimately, the decision to reseed a part of the burned area at this time came down to making the most of limited resources, Roundy said. 

After busy fire years – which are becoming increasingly common – multiple states and even agencies within each state have to compete for a limited supply of seed for their fire-damaged acreage. Multiple factors are evaluated for each fire, and careful consideration goes to areas with wildlife needs.

The best thing members of the public can do is prevent wildfires in the first place, Snow said. 

“All of the fires that we’ve had in the last few years have been really specifically human-caused from fireworks and abandoned campfires,” she said. “The Cottonwood Fire was started because somebody blew a tire on the interstate and then the sparks ignited, so that one wasn’t reckless, but the others were absolutely caused by negligent activities on the part of people.”

Walking across parts of the reserve that burned most intensely, the fire’s effects are still plainly visible where charred stems of creosote and cacti poke out of the ground. The char on the soil has faded, but the green and growing plants reemerging are still small.

Pointing out nearby housing developments and the city landscape below the reserve, Roundy said the efforts to rehabilitate the land in the fire’s aftermath means people who don’t even visit the reserve will benefit – for one thing, the threat of another serious burn will be reduced and potential flooding events can be avoided altogether.

“We are trying to restore these areas to the very best that they can be for wildlife and for the public,” Roundy said. “Our goal is to make this area the very best that it can be for all interested parties: the people that hike here, ride their mountain bikes here, walk their dogs here, that live adjacent to here and that come to this reserve specifically to see and interact with the desert tortoise – we tried to do our best for all of those things.”

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