Blue Mountain Site
| Location: | Modoc County, near Tulelake CA |
| Land Management Agency: | USDA Forest Service, Modoc National Forest, Doublehead Ranger District |
| SageSTEP Site Manager: | Scott Shaff |
| Plots: | Three 38-acre core plots (Control, Burn, Mechanical) and two extensive plots (a 536 acre burn plot and a 685 acre control plot) |
| Elevation: | 4800-5400 ft |
| Topography: | N aspect |
| Common Vegetation: | Western Juniper, mountain big sagebrush, Idaho fescue, Sandberg bluegrass, bluebunch wheatgrass |
| Soils: | Fine-loamy to loamy, mixed, mesic, Lithic to Pachic Argixerolls |
| Fire Regime: | Historically frequent to moderately frequent (10-70 years), low intensity to mixed severity fires. Woodland invasion suggests that the majority of these communities have not burned since the late 1800’s. As woodlands gain dominance, the fire regime shifts to infrequent, high-intensity fires. |
| Representative Land Base: | Several million acres in eastern OR, northeastern CA, southwestern ID, and northwestern NV |
| Grazing: | This site is located on an active grazing allotment, and plots have been fenced for the duration of the study to exclude livestock. |
| Treatments Implemented: | Fall 2007. For more information about treatments, click here. |
| Wildfire Activity | 50% of Mechanical Plot burned in wildfire 2016. |
Blue Mountain subplot progress images
Western Juniper Woodland Prescribed Burn Subplot
Blue Mountain Site Yearly Photo Sequence
Prescribed burns were implemented at all of the SateSTEP woodland study sites. This treatment was used to help increase understanding of the relationship between plant communities, invasive species and fires. The Blue Mountain burn took place in the fall of 2007 after baseline data were collected. The images below show one of the prescribed burn subplots at the Blue Mountain site from 2007 to 2010.
2007 – Pre-treatment
2008 – 1 Year Post-treatment
2009 – 2 Years Post-Treatment
2010 – 3 Years Post-treatment
Western Juniper Woodland Chainsaw Subplot
Blue Mountain Site Yearly Photo Sequence
The chainsaw cut treatment was implemented at all SageSTEP woodland sites. All trees over 1/2-meter tall were cut with a chainsaw and left where they fell. The images below show one of the chainsaw subplots at the Blue Mountain site from 2007 to 2010. The chainsaw cut took place at Blue Mountain in the fall of 2007 after baseline data were collected.
2007 – Pre-treatment
2008 – 1 Year Post-treatment
2009 – 2 Years Post-Treatment
2010 – 3 Years Post-treatment
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