Brushy Basin Demonstration Area

Results and Current Status

Broadcast burning consumed about 80% of the canopy on about 5,000 ac over 3 yr. This burning program represented the first large-scale burning on national forest land (Moore and Warskow 1973). The burned areas were re-seeded with a mixture of grasses (Suhr 1967). Portions of Brushy Basin have been heavily grazed since this treatment, and erosion was reported to be particularly severe on some grazed areas during heavy rains in October 1972 (Ffolliott and Thorud 1974b). Follow-up maintenance with herbicides was not implemented because of the environmental concerns associated with the use of pesticides, particularly foliar herbicides.