Portion of Sterling Wildlife Management Area will be closed for prescribed burn to improve wetlands

Idaho Fish and Game's Southeast Region is working with the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation to implement prescribed burns across a portion of the Sterling Wildlife Management Area (WMA) located in southeastern Idaho north of Aberdeen.  

Depending on weather and fuel conditions, the prescribed burns will take place over a few days sometime between Feb. 12 and March 30, and a portion of the WMA will be closed to public access during the burn period. For everyone’s safety, the public is asked to please obey all area closure signs. 

Fish and Game is working to address the buildup of decadent wetland vegetation on the WMA. Burning of the marshlands creates open spaces and eliminates the excess vegetation across the wetland cells.

"Without disturbance, wetlands will continue to close in with cattails and other dominant vegetation, choking out new growth and limiting benefits to waterfowl as well as sportsmen’s access," says Fish and Game Regional Habitat Biologist Maria Pacioretty.  

To maintain the preferred 50/50 split of cattail and bulrush to open water, fires set the wetland back to early successional stages that are more productive.  These early successional stages have more openings for waterfowl and water birds and provide them with access to annual wetland plants, submerged vegetation, and aquatic invertebrates for foraging.  

Waterfowl hunters will also benefit from improved access into areas that were previously inaccessible prior to the burn. 

For more information about the prescribed burn planned for Sterling WMA, please contact Regional Habitat Biologist Maria Pacioretty at 208-236-1254.