Coronado fire / 1st major fire of 2009

[azdesertfather]

We have a major fire in Coronado, has burned 16,000 acres. Here's the scoop off of AZcentral...

Southeastern Ariz. wildfire burns 16,000 acres

Mar. 5, 2009 05:06 PM
Associated Press

DOUGLAS - Arizona's first major wildfire of the season has charred 16,800 acres of grass, oak and juniper in the southeastern corner of the state but was 50 percent contained by Thursday afternoon.

Coronado National Forest spokeswoman Heidi Schewel says full containment is expected March 13.

The fire broke out Sunday afternoon and is believed to have been human-caused.

It's burning in Hog Canyon in the Peloncillo Mountains, 35 miles northeast of Douglas.

No structures are threatened and Schewel said the fire is being managed for "resource benefits."

Schewel says this type of fire is beneficial as a recycler of nutrients; that ash acts as a natural fertilizer, "and plants green up nicely following rains, providing favorable wildlife habitat."

Nearly 230 personnel are assigned to the fire.

[Hoffmaster]

Yeah, remember we were giving someone advice about where to hike near Show Low?

Oh yeah. But I wasn't bashing grasslands, just the area you live. I'll chat at you later.

[azbackpackr]

Ok, Matt...and have a blast!

And Jhodlof, very interesting biological stuff. I think a LOT of the grasses in our local grasslands are native--mainly the bunchgrass. The problem here has been overgrazing, causing soil erosion, and then in places you see those humps of bunchgrass with the soil eroded away around each clump. A lot of the overgrazing took place 100 years ago, but some of it still continues. Some places up here there has been an effort at restoration. If you visit the White Mountain Grasslands Wildlife Area, owned by G & F Dept., near Eagar, you can see some of these efforts. I went there yesterday, so I might get around to posting a triplog and some photos.

[Jim]

Most of northern Arizona's grasslands are still in very good shape or have recovered quite well since over grazing was rampant. We lost a lot of it under trees, but we could work to reestablish it. Our high elevation parks and prairies are in very good condition, in general from my observations. Most of what we have out there is still native.
Because we have a bimodal precipitation distribution, we are in much better shape than California since our grasses get water during the most important time of year for plant growth. According to the NRCS, California lost 99.99% of its native grasslands. I'm sure we lost a good deal as well, but nothing like CA.
Post those healthy grassland pics!

[JimmyLyding]

I believe the grasslands in southern Arizona are not in good shape. Buffelgrass is a huge problem, and many are now worried that fires starting in the Sonoran Desert (which isn't designed to burn like a ponderosa park) could spread into higher elevations.

[azbackpackr]

That bufflegrass problem is a real worry. I have been wondering how it will affect things, let's say, 20 or 30 years down the road (in other words, still in my own lifetime.) Down in Yuma it doesn't seem to be a problem, although I guess I really don't know for sure about that.

I did post the grasslands pics, as some of you may have noticed, and yes, there are a lot of pinon and juniper trees. I'm told that those, plus the ponderosa pine, when found scattered in the grasslands, are considered to be invasive species which are there only because of fire suppression.

[Jim]

I don't know much about southern AZ grasslands, I speak mostly of the grasslands on the Colorado Plateau, the real Arizona! To me, everything south of the Verde River and Salt River is the bizarre state of New Olde Mexico. I will say this though, it is my understanding that the Sonoran Desert is a shrub desert, and it didn't have much of a significant grass component. This is in large part due to its low elevation and high ET rates year round. This is different from part of the Chihuahua Desert, which had areas of desert grassland, but it was found in the upper elevation limits of the Chihuahua. Buffle grass sounds a lot like cheat grass. Those exotic grasses are almost always a big problem.
Didn't mean to lecture on the pics. I just think of a grassland as having no, or almost no woody veg.

[azbackpackr]

Oh, yeah, but as I said, those juniper trees likely weren't there back in the old days. They are an invasive species. And just a half-mile away from where I took the photos, the cinder cones and hollows are pretty much free of trees. The antelope (and the ranchers) don't much like the juniper trees. And yet we aren't allowed to cut them for firewood in most places around here.

I'm planning to go on a day-long mtn. bike ride out there as soon as it's a little warmer. I will take some photos of the real grasslands then.

[JimmyLyding]

The Sonoran Desert has large areas of grassland, but there's a catch. The Sonoran Desert has lower and upper components. Contrast the views you see driving down I-8 between Gila Bend and Yuma, in the Santa Catalina foothills, and the area around Sonoita/Elgin. The lower Sonoran Desert west of Phoenix has almost no grass, the upper type exemplified in the Catalina foothills has some grass (mainly invasive exotics) and the upper transition type around Elgin has grass as the dominant flora.