In a move that illustrates the landscape’s slow but steady recovery from major wildfires, about 54,200 acres of public land north of Mountain Home has been reopened to non-motorized public use, the BLM says, after restrictions that followed the 2013 Pony and Elk fires. After the fires, the BLM closed the areas to protect wintering big game animals and to allow for plant and habitat restoration; it’ll remain closed to motorized use until 2016.

“We are opening the area to human use in stages: first, to non-motorized entry, then to motorized entry after giving existing plants time to continue recovering from the effects of the fire,” said Tate Fischer, Four Rivers field office manager for the BLM. “This approach will enable seeded shrub, forb and grass species to continue to grow; help to slow the spread of noxious weeds; and allow burned areas to continue to re-establish a vegetative cover which protects the soil from erosion and provides for moisture retention, while providing opportunities for non-motorized access to the area.” There’s more info online here.