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South Manti Big Game Summer Range Restoration
Region: Central
ID: 5658
Project Status: Current
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Project Start Date
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Project End Date
Fiscal Year Completed
2023
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Final Methods
This project is still ongoing. Funds will be carried over into fiscal year 2024. In the summer of 2021 we did our first round of Goshawk surveys on approximately 3,000 acres in the headwaters of 12-mile canyon, on the Manti-La Sal National Forest. In June of 2022, we did the second goshawk survey. We surveyed at over 300 call stations and found only one possible goshawk sighting, but no nests were found. So there will be no areas that we need to avoid for goshawks within the project area. We began cultural surveys in June of 2022 and continued through the entire next fiscal year and will even continue into FY 24. The large acreage and high elevation make it hard to survey large areas.
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Project Narrative
The South Manti Big Game Summer Range Improvement project is extremely important for the future health of big game populations as well as many other wildlife species. The UDWR wildlife biologist for this district, Rusty Robinson, has identified this area as his highest priority for need to benefit big game populations. Mule Deer populations in particular have struggled on the south end of the Manti in part because the summer range has been encroached by conifer species. This has happened as a result of fire suppression for the last 100 years. As the conifer trees continue to grow and are not removed by occasional forest fires, they outcompete aspen and other understory vegetation. This results in continuous conifer stands across the entire landscape that have very little vegetation growing under the canopy that big game animals and many other wildlife need for food. It also destroys the health of the tree stand as old trees become more susceptible to disease. When this happens, we can also lose the entire conifer stand which is not good for the wildlife that use the conifer. The goal is to have maximum diversity of plant communities which will in turn create a maximum diversity of animal species in the ecosystem. Because these forest systems have been changed and will continue to be changed by humans, it is necessary for humans to proactively manage the systems through restoration techniques to achieve the highest diversity possible. By reducing the conifer stands, we also reduce the risk of catastrophic fires, disease, flooding and mudslides postfire that can contaminate water quality. Lastly, we protect a multitude of sustainable uses for this land. For this project, we received funds to conduct cultural surveys and to help with the NEPA process to identify the best techniques to restore this area. Techniques involved prescribed fire and mechanical methods of removing conifer trees. We covered a massive area of about 90,000 acres. After the surveys and NEPA were completed, the last phases were implemented to do the work on the ground.
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Future Management
We will continue to monitor effectiveness of treatments after and follow up where needed. There will be no seeding done and areas of aspen regen will be large enough that cattle grazing should not be an issue. However, we will monitor aspen regeneration, and if herbivory from livestock or wildlife is detrimental, we will do what we can to address the issue.
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