Completion Form

2021

This project is part of a multiyear effort to establish valuable browse for wintering wildlife on NRO Wildlife Management Areas (WMA).  Browse has been lost on these properties due to fire and past grazing or agricultural practices. This is accomplished by seeding bitterbrush, sagebrush and other species using the scalper, a heavily modified D5 bulldozer to incorporate the seed into the ground. This is the most effective method we have found, mainly due to the ability of the scalper to remove competition from annual grasses and weeds and operate on steep hillsides. 
All areas to be planted in this phase had been farmed previously so an archaeological clearance was not required this year. 
Scalping was performed on the Oxkiller and Cherry Creek WMAs, Smithfield SFW property and the FS Murray Farms property, all in Cache County. Operation of the scalper was performed by habitat staff. 
Transport of the scalper was coordinated through GBRC in Ephraim or done by habitat staff.

We were not able to scalp on the Brigham Face WMA due to multiple lost days from mechanical issues.

The pipeline portion of this project for the Henefer Echo WMA was not funded so no work was done.

The scalping commenced on the Oxkiller WMA in Richmond where a local farmer had disked and sprayed the area to create a fallow for us to plant in. This provided for even more reduction in competition for the seeded species. After Oxkiller was completed we switched dozers with Ephraim due to the issues with blowing fuses.
The other dozer was delivered to the Cherry Creek WMA and we scalped there but continued to have issues with the fuses. After getting the Chery Creek WMA scalped we transported it to the SFW Smithfield property with the NRO truck and trailer. At this location we had to replace one of the broadcaster motors along with the D10 cutting edges on the blade. 
Once Smithfield was completed we switched dozers again with Ephraim to scalp at the FS Murray Farms property. A couple blown fuses were the only mechanical issues here but due to snow and the resulting wet ground the scalper caused deep ruts with the tracks that we were trying to avoid on the FS property.

Due to multiple mechanical issues and required repairs having the ability to switch between two dozers saved us a ton of time and increased the amount we were able to get scalped. Most of the issues were with blown fuses from the broadcasters. The crew at the GBRC provided significant assistance in keeping the scalping project up and running this year.

We were going to have the same farmer disk and spray another two plots in the Cherry Creek WMA that we would plant with grain and peas similar to the Mendon project but unfortunately he suffered a stroke and was unable to do the work.

08/29/2021 09:57:42