The need to protect habitat for greater sage grass played a key role in firefighting tactics during this summer's dodge fire in remote and rugged Lassen County, California. Resource managers are pleased with the result. Less than a tenth of the nearly 11,000 acre blaze burned priority sage grass habitat. Important islands of habitat remained intact thanks to this firefighting approach designed with sage grass in mind. Like many fires of its type, the dodge had the potential to cover tens of thousands of acres, and much of that would have been due to burning operations designed to remove fuel and stop the fires advance. Well with regards to the habitat, our objective was to stop the fires as we could so we didn't destroy any priority habitat. Which the fire did get into priority habitat, but because of the objectives that were given to us by the north of the California district, we were able to meet those objectives. Plans for the firefight recognize that protection of sage grass habitat is the Bureau of Land Management's highest priority for natural resource protection. Well right off the bat we met with the Northern California District's agency administrator, the resource staff and the fire management staff. And we knew that priority sage grass habitat was threatened. And we knew we needed to go direct on this fire and get it stopped before it got into or took out a lot of our priority sage grass habitat. Air tankers and helicopters supported fire engines and ground crews fighting the fire. Importantly, fire planners turned to bulldozers instead of torches to slow the fire spread. In previous years, you know, 20 plus years ago we used bulldozers and since the sage grass habitat has become a priority. In addition to providing cover and food for the chicken size sage grass, these green islands will play a large role in the recovery of the landscape. Where you have areas that have burnt and other areas that remain green and unburned and the priority for suppression was to maintain those and not let those burn, those unburnt areas or backfire those areas as well. With firefighting operations still ongoing, crews from the BLM's Northern California District were already at work repairing fire lines and planting native grass and shrub seeds. So what we're doing here today is spreading out seed with our UTV with a broadcast theater, up to the rear end of it. And we have some native seed in the broadcast theater and we're trying to seed ahead of the dozers which are rehabbing the dozer line from fire protection. And hopefully what we can do is the seed will be protected by the soil being covered up from the dozers and hopefully the seed will take and we'll have re-vegetation of the dozer line. Much work lies ahead in recovering from this fire but thanks to the habitat conservation focus in the firefight, expectations are high that the Dodge fires impact on the greater sage grass will be minimal. you