>Alan, The ALE maybe "very well preserved," but that includes a fire about
>9 years ago that took out nearly all the sagebrush, just a remnant patch.

"well preerved" and "burnt" aren't mutually exclusive terms, as fire
is a natural part of the sage-steppe system. Interestingly, as you
note sage doesn't survive fire well, unlike many dry-country plants.
Nor is it a quick invader of newly burnt areas.

On the other hand, bunchgrass is much more likely to survive a burn.

This is one reason that the ratio of sage/bunchgrass so much favors
sage in modern times (fire supression), another being of course the
fact that cattle preferentially graze bunchgrass, which doesn't
survive frequent munching.

At the base of the ridge in Nevada where I band hawk a fire burned
about ten years ago. Took out juniper on the slopes and sage on
the flats. The flats came back as a huge field of indian ricegrass,
which was kind of cool all in itself. But after ten years there
is little indication of sage in the burned areas.

-Don Baccus-