Completion Form

2018

This project was designed to re-establish browse species that are critical to wintering mule deer and allow us to still reap the benefits of livestock grazing in nearby areas by constructing an additional fence in the area. We used Kolob Mountain Construction to build the let down fence. The purpose of this fence is to give us the ability to manage grazing and protecting the planted species.  We can now still graze around the planted bitterbrush but not have sheep camp out on them. Then the NRO's D5 Caterpillar scalper was used to plant the bitterbrush, sagebrush and other forb species. The dozer was heavily modified by GBRC to plant bitterbrush, sagebrush, kochia and other forbs.
The fence was a let down fence with several wire gates so we can have the ability to protect the seedlings from sheep and cattle, allow deer and elk to move through in the winter and the gates let hunters travel through without feeling the need to cut the fence which has been a problem in other areas of the WMA.
Planting with the scalper was very successful and a new experience when using the 2014 D5 compared to the 1959 D4 we have used previously. The new machine allowed us to go to more areas and do so safely and effectively. The dozer was run by the habitat section from the NRO.
Ron and Jesse from GBRC did an amazing job of fabbing the scalping and broadcasting parts of the dozer up.

Monson from the Salt Lake office performed the arc clearance for both and fence and the planting area. One artifact was found. 
The fence was constructed in June and July and Kolob Mountain was a great company to work with. There ended up being a few more braces needed compared to my estimate so we had to do a change order to the contract and add some additional funds but the fence was built where we needed it and will serve its purpose of allowing us to control the grazing.
The scalping lasted through the fall, we waited until after the general season deer hunt so as to not disturb hunters in one of the few public land areas in the unit (4,5,6). Also to reduce rodent depredation on seeds and prevent early germination from planting in to warm of weather. 
There were a few issues with the scalper throughout the process. One of the corn planters, that are used to dribble bitterbrush seed down the drop tube and into the dirt fell off and got run over. Once that was repaired we were able to plant again. The depth bars behind the blade (that serve to create a trough in the dirt for the bitterbrush seeds) bent and had to be replaced. One of the broadcasters got crushed by a tree, this was simply driver error. Most of these were user error and overall I couldn't be happier with how the project went. 
We placed cages to prevent all grazing on the bitterbrush in a couple of the area's to determine how much loss there is to deer and elk grazing. These cages will be monitored for the next 2 years.

08/28/2018 15:20:53