Pine Donkey Report post Posted July 25, 2011 We made another trip to Nutrioso this past weekend. The monsoons have begun to heal the forests, and they look very different then just a few weeks back. Three weeks ago everything was black, and now much of the grass has returned. This picture along highway 180 near the AZ/NM border shows the vivid green "new" growth. We were very fortunate to have front row seats to one of the BAER teams, who are using helicopters to spread straw on the severely burned hillsides. They have set up one of their operations about 50 yards off my parent's back deck. This morning, we were educated on the project by one of the very friendly pilots. Not only did he discuss the operation over a cup of coffee, he took my friend's (MJE1) young son over to his helicopter, let him sit in the pilot's seat, and made a memory that will last his lifetime. During our discussion, he gave us a lot of information: There are several arial straw projects in the burn area. After fixed-wing planes reseed the area, his team covers it with straw. They place straw on all the severe burned areas with slopes between 15 and 50% grades. The project will take about 7 weeks total, staying at each staging area for 2-5 days. In the short time in this staging area they plan to spread 40 semi-trucks of straw (800 tons) on the ridges around Gobbler Peak, and Rodger's Reservior. Prior to setting up at this location, they were in Auger Canyon where they spread 80 trucks (1600 tons) of straw on the hillsides of Auger Canyon and Noble Mountain. The entire project will require over 2000 trucks of straw (40,000 tons). The straw is coming from Yuma, CO, UT, NE, OK, KS, and TX. In the pictures below, the darker straw is hail and tornado damaged straw from the wheat fields in Kansas. At the site, semi's line up to be unloaded, while one crew cuts the bail cord, stacks, and breaks up the bails. Another crew spreads out the nets and uses large John Deere tractors to pile straw on them. As a helicopter arrives with an empty net, a third crew disconnects that net and reconnects a full net. This is done in two different areas about 75 yards apart. In one area they use Hueys that lift about 3000lbs per load, in the other they use large workhorse helicopters that lift 5600lbs (at 8000 ft elevation). As you can see from the video, the exchange of nets takes under thirty seconds in this efficient operation. They entire operation was very interesting and well coordinated with 4 helicopters in the air at a time. Here is a video I took today. Sorry it is sideways, there was a collision between my limited video and technologic knowledge. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted July 25, 2011 That's some interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing. Glad things are looking up. TJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pine Donkey Report post Posted July 25, 2011 Dang TJ, do you sleep with you laptop? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted July 25, 2011 Dang TJ, do you sleep with you laptop? lol... I work second shift and just got home a little while ago. A cold beer and my winding down time before another 12 hr day tomorrow. TJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted July 25, 2011 Thanks for all the pics and info! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Couzer Report post Posted July 25, 2011 I was up there yesterday as well, pretty cool to see those helicopters go to work. TONS OF COW ELK IN THE MEADOWS as well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
200"mulie Report post Posted July 25, 2011 wow nice to see the forest coming back around. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
have2bhuntn Report post Posted July 26, 2011 Very interesting story. Seems like desasters always creat jobs. There some very happy hay haulers in AZ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billrquimby Report post Posted July 26, 2011 They've completed dropping straw along the east fork of the Little Colorado River through Greer, but while it was going on my wife and I and a few friends enjoyed a great lunch last week while watching the operation from the patio at the Peaks. Next up is a project to scatter seed along that ridge from fixed-wing aircraft, we've been told. Bill Quimby Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Traveler Report post Posted August 1, 2011 Thanks for sharing this info! It makes me more optimistic for the stream recovery in the area. Dan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coues7 Report post Posted August 1, 2011 Don't you normally put seed down and then put the cover on top? I've heard that the USFC was unable to get the seed in the time frame they needed so they just proceeded with the straw.....seems like another waste of money to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pine Donkey Report post Posted August 1, 2011 In the Nutrioso area the seed was down before the straw. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
