Dyess to restore native grasslands on base

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joel Mease
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Observers driving along the main gate may notice a few landscape changes as the 7th Civil Engineer Squadron is in the process of restoring native grass around base to allow engineers to repair utility right of ways in areas heavily encroached by mesquite trees. 

Shops across Dyess are increasingly finding it more difficult to find and repair utility right of ways because of the trees. Due to the thickness of the mesquite, it can take the shop weeks sometimes just to find a water leak, said Mr. Kim Walton, 7th CES Environmental Flight. 

The project centers around killing the tree's roots with a root plow and then chopping up the top of the tree with a rotor chopper. While the mesquite tree is removed from the soil, the machine seeds the area with a grass mixture native to this area. 

Besides providing a benefit to base engineers, this project will also positively affect the local environment, Mr. Walton said. 

"Grasslands are among the most endangered ecosystems in North America," he said. "Deep rooted bunch grasses associated with a healthy prairie ecosystem provide a more efficient means of capturing and storing annual precipitation within the soil profile. It also reduces runoff and storm water pollution. Research has proven ungrazed native grasslands are a potentially important terrestrial sink for atmospheric CO2." 

Removing the mesquite will also bring the area to what the area is actually looked like more than a hundred years ago. Prior to European settlement, grasslands in the area were common, but not the mesquite. Over the years mesquite has found its way into the area and has dominated the landscape by out-competing other plant life from growing in the area, Mr. Walton said. 

Mr. Walton estimates it will take one year for an area to have 50 percent germination and two years for it to be in full germination. 

"It really depends on rainfall, on how fast it will take for the mixed grass to take full effect," Mr. Walton said. "It's a slow project that will take multiple years to finish, but it's a benefit to Dyess and the environment at the same time."