Pale, sandy-colored cheat grass lures the onset of wildfires that can quickly grow out of control and char entire landscapes.
Wildflowers and native grasses perform a different function, setting down roots — coming back year after year and remaining green.
They are not something that act as a box of matches for fire, but rather as a deterrent.
Phil Allen, a Brigham Young University professor, has made it his life’s work to study wildflowers how to grow them, where to grow them and their behavior when it comes to slowing wildfires. He has also devoted his career to looking at cheat grass behavior.
He started this back in 1985, written multiple studies and now heads a group of BYU students and volunteers to grow more resilient landscapes, and landscapes that are bright and shiny, replete with colorful wildflowers.
One project involved seven acres in Heber City, where Allen and others planted native grasses and wildflowers. That area used 75% less water than its neighbors and won a national award.
The latest project involves Rock Canyon at the mouth of Provo Canyon.
On Tuesday Allen and his crew were up gathering seeds to sort for planting this fall.
“So the one way the flowers reduce the wildfire is they stay green longer during the summer and with their green nature, they’re not going to burn the same way,” he said.
“The second way they reduce the wildfire potential is, unlike cheek grass that forms a very dense carpet of vegetation that is all ready to burn, the native plants, because of limited resources — including water and nutrients — they spread themselves out, so they are not ready to burn. That’s true of the foothills all up and down the Wasatch Front."
He added anywhere from Brigham City to Santaquin are prime candidates for this type of approach.
“The weeds love fertility. The native plants love not having a lot of water and not having a lot of fertility in the soil, nutrients.”
In contrast, Allen said in the case of cheat grass it produces up to 35,000 seeds per square meter. It germinates, grows in the fall and in the winter if it is not freezing. In the spring by May, it is producing seeds once again and by June, it is ready to burn, Allen said.
It is counter intuitive, but planting wildflowers is not a spring ritual like other plants.
“We always plant in the fall and we’re not going to succeed every single year because some winters, you don’t get a lot of snow. The wildflowers only begin growth and only succeed if there’s a certain duration of snow on the ground.”
What is a challenge for most people is that some wildflower seeds are not readily available, and if they are they are expensive.
“They’re very small subset of 130 plants that grow naturally in Rock Canyon that you can find, but in very limited quantities and very expensive.”
The work at Rock Canyon is ongoing, but rewarding, Allen said.
“If you don’t know what your missing, you simply don’t know,” he explained. “If you listen to classical music, you appreciate it.”
A paper by Allen explains why wildflowers are an important tool in these arid landscapes.
“With limited supplemental irrigation, Rocky Mountain meadow plants can also thrive at elevations lower than where they originate, i.e., where most human population centers are located.
“We propose wildflower meadows as a replacement to traditional lawns whose sole purpose is to fill an aesthetic need. In addition, meadows located at the urban wildland interface or that surround homes in fire-threatened areas of the Rocky Mountain region. In addition, meadows located at the urban wildland interface or that surround homes in fire threatened areas of the Rocky Mountain region can provide a buffer against the threat of wildfires.”
The paper details obstacles and solutions, born from decades of research and experience Allen has navigated and concludes:
“Water conservation is becoming increasingly important in the Rocky Mountain region. Dozens of indigenous plant species associated with sub-alpine meadows offer potential for reduced landscape water usage. Successful wildflower meadow establishment requires the recognition and adherence to several ecological principles that are often overlooked in traditional landscapes,” the paper reads. “Future scientific studies are needed to evaluate the interactions between meadow plants with each other and other desirable organisms in order to maximize the benefits that these plants offer.”
Again, as Allen likes to stress, if you don’t know, you don’t appreciate.