State and federal land managers have launched an aerial reseeding effort to stabilize and rehabilitate more than 10,000 acres of public land burned by wildfires in eastern Nevada last year.
The work by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Nevada Department of Wildlife started last week and is expected to benefit threatened sage grouse and other wildlife.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the biggest focus is reseeding nearly all the 7,695 acres that burned in August south of the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge. More than 1,000 acres will be treated in a burned area at Great Basin National Park along the Utah line.
BLM resource specialist Chris McVicars says workers will apply a mixture of grasses and shrubs to stabilize the soil and fend off invasive plants like cheatgrass.