BLM to begin sagebrush treatments in San Juan, Rio Arriba, and Sandoval counties

FARMINGTON, N.M. — The Bureau of Land Management, in partnership with the San Juan Soil and Water Conservation District, will treat approximately 17,200 acres of sagebrush to improve watershed health in the San Juan and Colorado watersheds. The treatments, spread over BLM, state, and private lands within San Juan, Rio Arriba, and Sandoval counties in northwest New Mexico, will reduce sagebrush densities in areas surpassing historic and naturally occurring levels.

“Sagebrush treatments improve plant species diversity, which will benefit wildlife, rangeland, and watershed health by reducing the density of sagebrush,” said Farmington Field Office Rangeland Management Specialist Barbara Witmore. “This will improve available water in the root zone to plants, which results in an increase of native grasses, forbs, and other herbaceous vegetation.”

When sagebrush densities increase, this results in competition for space and water, which results in less grass and forb species that provide ground cover and aid in precipitation infiltration.  Reducing sagebrush densities and increasing herbaceous ground cover will slow water run-off, increase infiltration, and reduce sediment and salinity loading to the San Juan River and Colorado River system. The sagebrush reduction treatments in the Farmington Field Office are supported by funding from the Congressional Colorado Basin River Salinity Control Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This funding also supports BLM Fire Program landscape projects to reduce wildfire fuels and improve watershed health.

Treatments will take place across multiple sites, beginning Oct. 9, 2024, and continuing through approximately Oct. 16, 2024. To apply the treatment, a low-flying aircraft will drop Tebuthiuron pellets, a soil-activated herbicide that inhibits photosynthesis, on the sagebrush. The herbicide will have minimal impact on desirable grasses and forbs and will not drift away from treated areas.

When the pellets dissolve, they are absorbed into the ground to a depth of approximately two feet, and into the target plants’ root system, eventually reducing the sagebrush plant cover. The pellets will not be dropped near waterways or on slopes greater than ten percent.

For more information, please contact Farmington Field Office Rangeland Management Specialist Barbara Witmore at 505-490-2073 or Gary Hathorn with the San Juan Soil and Water Conservation District at 505-320-5056.