Many ranchers propose intensive livestock grazing as a strategy to reduce fuels in fire-prone areas, while other advocacy groups are concerned about the impacts from this proposed strategy on native vegetation and wildlife. The use of prescribed fire is currently an area of public concern due to recent publicity over escaped burns in Los Alamos and California. The Elko District could benefit from prescribed fire use in high fuel load areas to reduce the potential impacts from severe wildland fire and to improve habitat. Local residents need to be involved with all prescribed fire planning and support any proposed prescribed fire projects. Wildlife managers throughout the Great Basin are concerned over the precipitous decline in sage grouse numbers in recent years, thus causing an increased demand for the protection of sagebrush habitat throughout Elko District.
Wildfire can both improve and devastate sage grouse habitat.
Managing this habitat in view of competing resource uses and the spread of invasive, nonnative weeds throughout the district is a challenge for local land managers. Fencing burned areas in wild horse Herd Management Areas can disrupt movement of wild horses and are not popular with wild horse advocacy groups. Livestock owners are also concerned about the economic impacts of some EFR projects on their livelihood. Declining forest resources throughout the district put remaining stands at risk. Some stands need fire to insure forest ecosystem health.