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ENVIRONMENT Burn on Lower Table Rock will give native species a chance to return Comment By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 22, 2015 at 6:23 PM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 22, 2015 at 6:23 PM » Social News SAMS VALLEY — Thick mats of medusahead rye grass may run roughshod over native June grass and little blue-eyed Mary flowers on the top of Lower Table Rock, but it was no match for botanist Bridgette Cuffe and her drip torch. A pull on the torch's trigger dropped more than a menacing splash of flames and, within moments, reduced to black ash a patch of thick, spindly, non-native medusahead that's choked off one of the Rogue Valley's signature mesas for decades. For wildflower fans such as Cuffe, it's a clear case of justifiable herbicide. "We need to open this area up so the native species, hopefully, can re-establish themselves," says Cuffe, of the Bureau of Land Management. "We could come up here and hand-pull it to get rid of the grass. But fire is a natural process, and it's easier." BLM introduced fire Thursday atop Lower Table Rock for the first time in the agency's history, flaming away 20 acres of medusahead and other non-native grasses in preparation for reintroduction of native grasses and wildflowers here when the next rains come. Medusahead in the United States has been traced to Roseburg as far back as the 1880s, likely used as bedding for imported cattle, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. It grows quickly and can out-duel natives, in part by growing well in cooler weather in places that should be dominated by blue-eyed Mary and the dwarf wooly meadowfoam, which grows only on the Table Rocks. "That's the way it's supposed to be," BLM spokeswoman Jeanne Klein says. "Right now, it's the opposite." No one is sure exactly how the medusahead found its way to the top of Lower Table Rock, but it could be anything from past grazing practices to seeds on the boots of hikers. The prescribed burn that closed the Lower Table Rock Trail for the day Thursday and sent wisps of gray smoke off the top all afternoon was decidedly a low-key show. A single drip torch touched off chunks of grass managed by a BLM crew armed with an industrial-sized leaf blower and portable water packs. Other crew members carried "flappers," or whippy pieces of rubber the size of small floor mats on sticks, to snuff out overreaching flames. The crew's march across the mesa certainly was not Shermanesque. "We need the flames to be 4 feet (high) or less, for safety reasons," says Al Mason, the BLM crew's fire boss. "With hand tools, it's a slow go." The crew first burned what amounted to its own containment line around three sides of the rectangular burn area, using a well-worn path and the old airplane landing strip as its fourth wall. The leaf blower helped push flames in desired directions when the light winds didn't, and the crew babysat its fire through the grid for much of the afternoon. "This is going to be a pretty hard-earned 20 acres," Mason says. It was a rather standard operation in a rather spectacular venue. "This is pretty special to be able to burn up here," Cuffe says. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman . By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 22, 2015 at 6:23 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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