Phil Allen is a plant and wildlife sciences professor at Brigham Young University. He has been studying wildflowers with his students on a seven-acre plot in Heber City.
Through that work, Allen found wildflower meadows require 75% to 90% less water than grass fields, which is why they’re more resistant to fires. They are also perennials, meaning they bloom year after year.
“So they're trying to stay alive, and they don't use all the water and suck it all out of the ground, but they partition that water use and stay greener longer,” Allen said. “They're a lot less dense, they're a lot less flammable.”
The Heber project won an award from the National Association of Landscape Professionals.
Through his research, Allen also found that many natural wildflower areas in Utah have been overrun with invasive annual weeds, like cheatgrass.
“Cheatgrass came from Eurasia, initially in wheat shipments, and the farmers that planted the wheat called it cheatgrass because they didn't know what it was, but it cheated them out of some of their harvest,” Allen said.
Cheatgrass is now the dominant plant throughout the Mountain West. It’s found at foothill elevations and on range land. Allen said the grasses grow densely, like a carpet, with up to 35,000 seeds per square yard.
The grass matures in June and becomes dry and brittle, making it perfect wildfire fuel.
“It can spread from the lower elevations into the dry timber above, and that's the risk with what we call forest fires,” Allen said.
Allen and his students are also continuing work to restore natural wildflowers and grasses at Rock Canyon Trailhead in Provo City. The project has been ongoing for 25 years.
