Vernal (Utah) Field Office

'Greenstripping' restores sagebrush in oil and gas field

Land managers in the Uintah Basin in northeastern Utah had become concerned about recent large-scale sagebrush die-offs. Loss of 50 to 90 percent of sagebrush in the area made wintering difficult for sage-grouse and mule deer. BLM and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) began working together to identify places where sagebrush habitat might be restored.

Sagebrush on Deadman Bench - a 19,000-acre oil and gas field in the Red Wash portion of the basin - was in decadent or nearly-decadent condition, with very little understory. Revegetation would create improved habitat and remove potential fuels for wildfires.

“Greenstrips” approximately 100 feet in width were created along access roads leading to oil and gas wells in the area. An aerator removed old sagebrush along the roadways, with a seeder following immediately behind to spread a mix of vegetation, including sagebrush. New vegetation competes with the cheatgrass invading the area and establishes a new age-class of sagebrush. The treated area also forms a natural firebreaks with increased forage value.

Approximately 500 acres underwent greenstripping in fall 2004. Several untreated plots have been maintained and will be compared with the greenstrips after the revegetated areas have become fully established. One measure of success will be changes in various counts associated with sage-grouse activity, i.e. numbers of leks and levels of associated breeding activity.

A 500-acre area on Red Wash was treated
using a Lawson aerator to remove overgrown
sagebrush and understory in strips 100 feet wide. 
 

A land imprinter followed the aerator to create
a firmer seedbed. Strips are mulched, seeded
and imprinted all at one time.

New plantings in greenstrips generally mature in one to two years. Additional areas would be treated in future fall seasons.

Federal funding for the Red Wash project came from the Department of Interior’s Cooperative Conservation Initiative (CCI). State funding and other resources, including the necessary seed mix, were secured through Utah DWR and Utah’s School Institutional and Trust Lands Administration (SITLA). In addition, Questar Corporation, which holds the oil and gas leases in the area, contributed the $10,000 to finance the necessary archaeological clearance study for the project.

Greenstripping is an emerging best management practice (BMP) in oil and gas operations.

Local BLM Contact: Steve Strong, Natural Resource Specialist, Vernal Field Office – (435) 781-4472