BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Bureau of Land Management is beginning to reopen areas affected by seasonal motorized closures. But some roads, such as Slaughterhouse Gulch, remain buried under avalanche debris and will for some time.

The snow there is currently 10 feet deep.

It is important to turn around at these locations because driving around them can damage soil and vegetation, said Shoshone Field Manager Codie Martin.

Martin also stressed the need for motorized vehicles to stay on roads and trails.

“We are concerned that people may be tempted to drive cross country in the Sharps Fire burned area now that the shrubs are gone,” added Martin. This is a practice that is no longer allowed on public land managed by BLM for resource protection. It’s also one that will jeopardize the success of vegetation regrowth.

Areas that are being reopened right now include the Martin/Big Dry Canyon, Croy Creek to the south of Townsend Gulch, Big and Little Beaver drainages, south slopes above East Fork, the Elk Mountain area and portions of the Picabo hills.

During winter private landowners worked together with the BLM, Idaho Department of Lands, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Idaho Department of Fish and Game to seed more than 13,000 acres burned in the August 2018 Sharps Fire east of Bellevue and Hailey with sagebrush, grass and forbs.

By using similar native seed mixes on public, private and state land parcels, the soils can be seamlessly stabilized and the invasion of noxious weeds reduced on a landscape level, said Shoshone Fire Ecologist Danelle Nance.

For more information, including free maps, contact the BLM Shoshone field office at 208-732-7200.