Fire
Fire is amazing while it lives and it's influence is felt long after it has died. We welcome it in brush country, where the regrowth it stimulates is highly palatable and nutritious. USFS did several controlled burns on this ranch in the 80's and the results were really good. They burned areas where the brush had taken over everything. It was taller than a person horseback and nothing used it, no deer, cattle, javelina ... nada.
After the burns the oak brush comes right back and the new growth is really tender for 3 or 4 years. Trails open up and springs start running again. We would find 70% of the cattle in those pastures over in the burns, in areas they never used to use. I think fire is a good thing here for everything but houses.
I mentioned a fire we had here late in June in my summer '06 post. I didn't have a camera then but I went up there last week and took these pictures. The grass is coming right back and so is the brush.
Rincon fire 1 week later
