Conifer Encroachment Project 

EarthBalance was contracted by Challis Field Office of the Idaho Falls District, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to provide all equipment, personnel, and supplies to reduce conifer encroachment from within sagebrush steppe landscapes. The thinning was intended to reduce douglas-fir from mountain big sagebrush stands and to help keep wildfire on the ground where they are more easily managed by wild land firefighting resources. EarthBalance used a lop and scatter method on all live and dead specified conifers less than or equal to 8 inches DBH. All felled conifers greater than 3 inches DBH were limbed and scattered. 

EarthBalance utilized a six 6-man crew, including an Assistant Project Manager (APM) to complete this work. Hauling chainsaws and fire tools, crew members traversed the 125-acre area on foot. Slash produced from the lop and scatter treatment did not exceed the height of the surrounding mountain big sagebrush vegetation.