Big Muddy rancher said:
Empty pockets showed a picture of their fresh worked fire guards last week. It prompted me to get some of mine worked but was wondering if it is a place for invasive species to get started or does the fire protection outweigh that possibility?
That a good question BMR. We've been doing fireguards since before I was born around here. I notice every year that something different is growing when we go over the last years guard. This year was mainly cheat grass, but it was all over already. Sometimes we change an area and do a new guard. When we do the native grass takes over within a year and is usually better. Our area is predominantly Western Wheat grass and buffalo grass.
This year I mowed and baled the fireguard in our winter country before going over it with a disk. It sure worked up nicer doing this. Even got a few bales.
It's a no brainer for us to fireguard but your angle is something to think about. Our fireguards are also a road that shows where firetrucks can cross the creeks and big draws, and roads for hunters to stay on.
I like the idea Mike had about spraying. Don't have a sprayer but sounds like it would work. We'd never plant anything in them as it'd get's drove on year around and sometime we don't get wet seasons. These fireguards still come in handy during a dry winter and spring.
