Seven Mile

Seven Mile Site

Location:	Eureka and Nye Counties, ~40 miles from Eureka, NV
Land Management Agency:	USDA Forest Service, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Austin-Tonopah Ranger District (burn and control plots); Bureau of Land Management, Battle Mountain District Field Office (mechanical plot)
SageSTEP Site Manager:	Maggie Gray
Plots:	Three 40-acre core plots (Control, Burn, Mechanical); two 1050-acre extensive plots (Control and Burn)
Elevation:	7200-7900 ft
Topography:	6-15% slopes and varying aspect
Common Vegetation:	Utah juniper, singleleaf pinyon pine, Wyoming big sagebrush, green rabbitbrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, Indian ricegrass, needleandthread, Nevada needlegrass, long-leaf phlox, mat buckwheat, cushion buckwheat
Soils:	Loamy-skeletal, loamy, and clayey-skeletal, mixed, frigid
Fire Regime:	Historical fire return interval of 30-40 years. Woodland invasion and canopy closure have significantly increased the risk of less frequent, catastrophic fire in these communities.
Representative Land Base:	Vast acreages in both the High Central and High Calcareous Provinces
Grazing:	Mechanical and prescribed fire plots are located within active grazing allottments and will be fenced for duration of the study; Control plot is not grazed and is unfenced.
Treatments Implemented:	Fall 2007 except for extensive plots, which are planned for fall 2008. For more information about treatments, click here.

Updated 2009

Download Seven Mile Site Fact Sheet

Seven Mile subplot progress images

Pinyon-Juniper Woodland Prescribed Burn Subplot

Seven Mile Site Yearly Photo Sequence

Prescribed burns were implemented at all of the SateSTEP woodland study sites. This treatment was used to help increase understanding of the relationship between plant communities, invasive species and fires. The Seven Mile burn took place in the fall of 2007 after baseline data were collected.The images below show one of the prescribed burn subplots at the Seven Mile site from 2007 to 2010.

2007 – Pre-treatment

2008 – 1 Year Post-treatment

2009 – 2 Years Post-treatment

2010 – 3 Years Post-treatment

Pinyon-Juniper Woodland Chainsaw Cut Subplot

Seven Mile Site Yearly Photo Sequence

The chainsaw cut treatment was implemented at all SageSTEP woodland sites. All trees over 1/2-meter tall were cut with a chainsaw and left where they fell. The images below show one of the chainsaw subplots at the Seven Mile site from 2007 to 2010. The chainsaw cut took place at Seven Mile in the fall of 2007 after baseline data were collected.

2007 – Pre-treatment

2008 – 1 Year Post-treatment

2009 – 2 Years Post-treatment

2010 – 3 Years Post-treatment

Pinyon-Juniper Woodland Control Subplot

Seven Mile Site Yearly Photo Sequence

All of the SageSTEP study sites have a control plot to account for variations that are not related to treatment, such as yearly climatic variation. The images below show one of the subplots in the Seven Mile control plot from 2006 to 2011.