Pine Strawberry Seeding Project
In early March, members of the Pine Strawberry Fuel Reduction Committee, along with other volunteers from the two communities, began the re-seeding of the fuel break (sometimes called the fire break) around the perimeter of Pine and Strawberry. 
The fuel break is a 380 foot wide, multi-mile long strip, and involves a total of 753 acres which has been cleared of the low brush which could produce highly volatile fuels for a wildland fire. The purpose of the fuel break is to slow or divert a major fire. Any raging “crown fire” (which burns intensely across the top of trees) will also be forced to ground level where firefighters can better control the fire. Research has also shown a truly healthy forest ecosystem consists of less brush and fewer trees. The ultimate purpose of an effective fuel break is to prevent a major wildland fire from burning into Pine or Strawberry, potentially destroy many homes in the process. Fuel breaks have proven to be successful in slowing and or turning fires at community boundaries.
The objective of the re-seeding project is to return natural grass vegetation to the now open area that was previously choked out by thick low brush and small trees. The grass will bring beauty to the forest, prevent erosion, and provide abundant natural grazing for deer, elk, small mammals and birds. Once the initial re-seeding takes hold, expansion of the grasses will naturally continue with each spring’s growth, thus, further returning the fuel break and cleared areas back into a healthy ecosystem.
Using the grass as a low intensity fuel will allow fire crews to safely burn off the fire break every few years to clear it of new chaparral growth to keep us safe. This will eliminate the need for the expensive hand crews to do the laborious mechanical clearing. This use of fire also allows for the natural re-growth of grasses and maintains a healthy ecosystem. This $35,000 project was completely funded by the communities of Pine and Strawberry through donated funds to the Pine Strawberry Fuel Reduction Committee. This is a project that both our communities can be very proud of and creates a far safer community. Additional funding is presently being used to clear remaining areas and that work is the direct result of our commitment to maintaining our own fire breaks.
Approximately half of the strip has now been re-seeded. The last seeding for this spring took place on April 4-5. The re-seeding of the remainder of the strip will continue during the fall.
The majority of the seeds involve three types of grass vegetation. The larger mix of seed is the Slender Wheatgrass (32 %) which is a bunch grass that grows to a height of one to two feet. It is typically found at the 6,000 – 13,500 foot levels in western states. It is considered excellent forage grass for cattle, sheep, elk, and deer. It is also valuable to many forms of smaller mammals and upland game birds as well as song birds. It starts growth in mid-spring and seeds mature by August or September.
Next is Western Wheatgrass (25%), which has similar qualities as the Slender Wheatgrass. It’s a fairly nutrious grass and is good for spring grazing for several weeks. In addition to good forage for elk and deer, Western Wheatgrass also has excellent qualities in erosion control. It can grow to a height of two feet. It greens up in March or early April and seeds mature in August. It is naturally found between the 3,500 – 10,500 foot levels.
Also included is Mountain Brome (22%) which is also in the bunch grass family and has proven to be an excellent plant for re-vegetation in foothill and mountain locations. It normally ranges between the 5,000 – 13,000 foot levels. It is also an excellent grazing plant for livestock, elk and deer. It has good erosion control qualities. Its seeds provide food for smaller mammals and birds.
The next larger group of seed mix includes Sideoats Grama and Blue Grama. Combined, they represent to total of 11 percent of the mix. They are important range grasses and are found in mountain ranges up to 10,000 feet and thrive in sparse woodlands and forest openings.
The remainder of the seed mix in smaller percentages contains White Prairie Clover, Yellow Prairie Coneflower, and Lewis Blue Flax. All are naturally found in woodlands similar to the Pine-Strawberry area.
Given a few years, our two communities will benefit from a broad scattering of these grasses bringing beauty to the forest floor and wildlife will have an additional food source.
Volunteer Extraordinaire
Part of the glue that holds a community together is the dedicated spirit of those who volunteer in various organizations. In our town we have a large number of these public minded citizens and we all owe a great debt of gratitude to each of them.
When the subject of public service is brought up, the person who comes to mind first for so many of us in Pine and Strawberry is Sheri Earp.
Sheri has only been a full-time Pine resident since 2005 but she has made a tremendous impact on the community. Her husband Dave’s parents bought their cabin in Cool Pines in 1970 and then sold it to Dave and Sheri in the mid 80’s. When Sheri retired she made the decision to spend more time up here and Dave enjoyed longer weekends here as a result. But once she started staying in Pine, she just couldn’t stand the thought of going back to Phoenix to live. Know anybody like that?
After being here a short while she heard someone say the local blood drive was canceled due to lack of a Coordinator, so she got on the phone, called United Blood Services and offered her expertise as a blood drive coordinator. They immediately accepted her as she had plenty of experience doing just that in the Valley for Desert Samaritan Hospital and Sonora Labs. She had also been very involved with Girl Scouts and the St. Vincent de Paul Society while she was employed at Desert Sam.
Sheri is a natural volunteer, which is to say, it is in her blood. Her father was an immigrant from Norway who always believed in helping his fellow man in anyway he could. They lived in a small town in Wisconsin and he taught his six children to help out where needed and also to learn to do anything put upon them. He also felt that if you live in a community, you should shop and support that community in every way possible. So Sheri just can’t help herself, whenever some person or group says, “I need,” Sheri invariably says, “I will.”
In addition to organizing the blood drives several times a year, she is very busy around the Senior Center helping out most Saturdays in the Thrift Store and cooking Navajo Tacos during the major summer holiday weekends. She also is part of the moving force for the Strawberry festival, Chair-person for the Pine-Strawberry Business group, helps out with the Food bank, Vice-President of the Strawberry Elite, President of Take Pride of Pine and Strawberry, a member of CERCA and active in the Fuel Reduction Committee. In her ‘free’ time she works for real money cleaning houses and is always in high demand, but since her time is also, she really has to juggle her time to make it all fall into place.
But she is a woman of Faith and knows that God works things out for His glory, such as just the other day when a paying job was canceled. She consequently was available to assist a person who had some medical problems and not enough money to get done what he required nor the transportation to get into Payson. It was arranged for some of the organizations to help with expenses and she and others helped the person to and from the doctor’s office.
As with all true volunteers, she does not do these things for recognition, certainly not for money but because she sees the need and has a wonderful time working with others like herself, doing unto others with the talent God has bestowed on her.
The groups she belongs to plus numerous others in our town are all run by people like Sheri, people who have some time that they can dedicate to making our community a wonderful place to live, people that we are proud to have as neighbors and friends.
If you are not currently involved in any of the local volunteer organizations, why not consider attending one of their meetings, get acquainted and get involved. You’ll be glad you did, the rewards are great as are the new friends you’ll meet.