Project Details

This project is a continuation of the previous WRI-funded project number 3342 'Restoration of Riparian Lands and Wetlands in Courthouse Wash' submitted last year by Ann Marie Aubry from the Bureau of Land Management. As stated in this previous project proposal, Courthouse Wash has been identified by the Southeast Utah Riparian Partnership as a priority watershed for restoration due to the encroaching invasive species and associated ecological problems related to Tamarisk and Russian Olive. The geomorphic setting of Courthouse Wash along with climate and a multitude of other factors makes the watershed particularly susceptible to tamarisk and Russian olive encroachment, as evident by the number of invasive trees that have grown within the watershed.

Tamarisk continues to channelize Courthouse Wash, disrupting the natural planform of the river throughout the watershed. This has consequences for native plant communities and wildlife alike, as certain wetland areas dry up and the threat of wildfire continues to grow. Tamarisk has limited the human and wildlife uses along the waterways and now dominates the riparian areas within this watershed.

The Tamarisk beetle (Diohabda sp.) has had an essential role controlling Tamarisk in the area since 2004, but it's now time to consider ways to further watershed restoration through continued action. The release of the beetle almost 11 years ago was a great first step that necessitates continued treatment of invasive tree species in the watershed to remove dead and stressed tamarisk as well as Russian olive trees.  The dieback of tamarisk throughout the watershed has now given opportunity to Russian olive to become the next big concern in terms of riparian restoration. We believe that the Courthouse Wash watershed can be 80% tamarisk free in 8 years through a collaborative approach to restoration with a partnership between FFSL, BLM, SITLA, NPS, Grand County and multiple private landowners.

The NPS has been working in lower Courthouse Wash to control non-native woody species since 2003, which increases the urgency for removal of tamarisk higher in the watershed, to stop the spread of tamarisk into these areas that the NPS has invested in for nearly 12 years.

Provide evidence about the nature of the problem and the need to address it. Identify the significance of the problem using a variety of data sources. For example, if a habitat restoration project is being proposed to benefit greater sage-grouse, describe the existing plant community characteristics that limit habitat value for greater sage-grouse and identify the changes needed for habitat improvement.

This project will continue to treat tamarisk and Russian olive trees throughout Courthouse Wash. Last year, project number 3342 treated approximately 100 acres of BLM lands in addition to monitoring and treating Tamarisk and Russian Olive on 140 previously-treated acres of NPS lands. This year, we plan to monitor and treat any re-sprouts on these lands in addition to treating 170 acres of land in the watershed on State Sovereign Lands, School and Institutional Trust Lands and BLM lands. The areas chosen this year were strategically chosen to be higher in the watershed in order to stop the spread of tamarisk and Russian Olive at the source.

The goal of the project is to remove nearly 80% of the tamarisk in the watershed over the next 8 years, continually monitoring and retreating previously treated areas throughout the lifetime of this project. This year, the project will concentrate on the upper reaches of the watershed, moving downstream in the subsequent years. We anticipate on hiring Canyon Country Youth Corps crews to treat the areas as well as assist in monitoring and retreatment on other lands.
 
Treatments this year will be focused first on the reducing the percentage  of Russian olive and Tamarisk trees within the watershed. Crews will  use the frill cut method to treat all single or isolated Russian olive trees.  Trees in dense stands would be manually or  mechanically removed, leaving some trees and slash as shade for native vegetation to re-establish.

With the removal of these non-native trees, we anticipate reduced erosion and sedimentation caused by bank stabilization. This will eventually allow for the re-establishment of native xeric vegetation allowing native wildlife species to once again flourish, and for water resources to be better distributed throughout the wash. This in turn will promote more sloping, gentle banks on the wash and will help improve water quality throughout the Colorado River Basin.

Provide an overall goal for the project and then provide clear, specific and measurable objectives (outcomes) to be accomplished by the proposed actions. If possible, tie to one or more of the public benefits UWRI is providing.

Essentially this project is working to both promote native vegetation establishment while helping to encourage a more natural planform of the river which will in turn benefit wildlife and recreational resources throughout the watershed. An added benefit of this project is removing truly massive amount of fuels in the watershed, greatly reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire in the future. By reducing the fuel availability throughout the watershed, we are helping to protect infrastructure on surrounding private and public lands.

These non-native trees also use an incredible amount of water affecting the natural distribution of water resources throughout the watershed. Without their removal, we could expect to see further diminishing of the small and infinitely important springs and pools throughout the watershed.

Possibly most importantly, this project demonstrates restoration at the watershed or landscape-scale and builds off of nearly 20 years of restoration work in the area. This work will ensure that money invested in previously funded projects (some of which received WRI funding) was well-spent. In essence, this project reinforces the effectiveness of previous projects and maximizes the overall benefit of all these past projects by continuing the work and benefits they brought to the watershed.

LOCATION: Justify the proposed location of this project over other areas, include publicly scrutinized planning/recovery documents that list this area as a priority, remote sensing modeling that show this area is a good candidate for restoration, wildlife migration information and other data that help justify this project's location.

TIMING: Justify why this project should be implemented at this time. For example, Is the project area at risk of crossing an ecological or other threshold wherein future restoration would become more difficult, cost prohibitive, or even impossible.

This project is supported by the management plan for all of the agencies involved including:

The National Park Service

The NPS conducted an Environmental Assessment in 2009 with full compliance before it was approved. In particular, pages 4-5 in chapter 2 outline specific herbicides and management goals which are supported through this WRI proposal. The NPS management plan documents can be found in the documents section of this proposal.

State Sovereign Lands

The Comprehensive Management Plan completed in year 2015 identifies the management of invasive species as a priority in section 2.4 on page 39 of the final plan. Specifically the document states: "Since 2009 the southeast area fire wardens removed 17 acres of tamarisk using the cut, pile and burn method" and further states that "The Utah Noxious Weed Act (Subsection R68-9) dictates weed control on sovereign lands, where all state listed weeds are put in to categories based on the threat of spread and the priority of removal." This indicates that State Sovereign Lands are to be managed for the removal of such noxious weeds. This management plan is once again attached in the documents section of this proposal.

Bureau of Land Management Lands

The attached document at the end of the proposal outlines a list of management plans and objectives which the BLM compiled for project number 3342 for the Courthouse Wash Watershed, as well as another attached document outlining the BLM's management plan compliance for this current WRI project proposal. The BLM has completed the NEPA document and Pesticide Use Plans (PUP) to fully cover this work on BLM lands.

List management plans where this project will address an objective or strategy in the plan. Describe how the project area overlaps the objective or strategy in the plan and the relevance of the project to the successful implementation of those plans. It is best to provide this information in a list format with the description immediately following the plan objective or strategy.

If applicable, detail how the proposed project will significantly reduce the risk of fuel loading and/or continuity of hazardous fuels including the use of fire-wise species in re-seeding operations. Describe the value of any features being protected by reducing the risk of fire. Values may include; communities at risk, permanent infrastructure, municipal watersheds, campgrounds, critical wildlife habitat, etc. Include the size of the area where fuels are being reduced and the distance from the feature(s) at risk.

Describe how the project has the potential to improve water quality and/or increase water quantity, both over the short and long term. Address run-off, erosion, soil infiltration, and flooding, if applicable.

Description of efforts, both completed and planned, to bring the proposed action into compliance with any and all cultural resource, NEPA, ESA, etc. requirements. If compliance is not required enter "not applicable" and explain why not it is not required.

The Canyon Country Youth Corps (CCYC) or a similar work crew would treat  Tamarisk and Russian Olive trees by chainsaw cutting or frill cuts, scattering slash or piling the debris to be burned by a FFSL crew or NPS crew in the winter. The crews cutting Tamarisk and Russian Olive will also have licensed herbicide applicators to treat tree stumps immediately after cutting. Photo points will be taken before treatments start, and after the treatment is completed in each area. Photo points will be marked with a GPS point, and will be re-photographed each year throughout the project lifespan.

The top priority this year is to reduce Russian olive from the watershed. Crews will first target areas of known infestations of Russian olives throughout the project area. Single or isolated Russian Olive Trees will be treated using the frill cut method to allow for wildlife habitat as the tree slowly dies. A phased approach is planned for denser stands of tamarisk, removing no more than 30% of the non-native trees during this phase, leaving at least 60% of the existing vegetation and associated multi-storied canopy intact. This phased approach allows for better shading and cooler surface temperatures to promote passive restoration of native vegetation as well as habitat benefits for bird species.

After treating Russian olives throughout the watershed, crews will focus on the removal of tamarisk in high use areas, and areas with cottonwoods and willows. These areas are being targeted to reduce fire risk, and promote the expansion of native vegetation and wildlife habitat. The removal of tamarisk from underneath cottonwood groves will promote the expansion of cottonwoods, and reduce the fire risk. Areas of high recreational use are at risk of human caused fire, which will damage native vegetation habitat areas; therefore these areas will also be targeted.

A small amount of private lands will also be treated through tamarisk removal and Russian olive treatments. This area is upstream of a prior FFSL treatment area, and provides a seed source for tamarisk and Russian olive. By completing treatments in this area, we can reduce the amount of re-sprouts and establishment of nonnative species on State Sovereign Lands in the area.

Tamarisk and Russian Olive will be cut into pieces no longer than four feet and piled in compact piles to ensure pile combustion. This will be done under supervision from staff affiliated with FFSL, BLM or NPS to ensure quality work is completed.

Because of existing patches of native vegetation, there is no plan for active vegetation restoration throughout the project area. Grand County Weed will assist the project in the coming years by providing personnel and equipment to treat noxious weed species as well as re-treatments of Russian Olive frill cuts and re-sprouts from Tamarisk.

Due to the remote nature of the watershed, most of the work will be completed by crews hiking in to the areas using leave-no-trace principles carrying all equipment in to each site from the nearest road. Likely, 4x4 vehicles will be needed to access the roads throughout the watershed.

Herbicides will be used according to label and compliant with NEPA and other regulations which the BLM and NPS abide by. All herbicides used will have a label indicating suitability for aquatic use.

Describe the actions, activities, tasks to be implemented as part of the proposed project; how these activities will be carried out, equipment to be used, when, and by whom.

Describe plans to monitor for project success and achievement of stated objectives. Include details on type of monitoring (vegetation, wildlife, etc.), schedule, assignments and how the results of these monitoring efforts will be reported and/or uploaded to this project page. If needed, upload detailed plans in the "attachments" section.

List any and all partners (agencies, organizations, NGO's, private landowners) that support the proposal and/or have been contacted and included in the planning and design of the proposed project. Describe efforts to gather input and include these agencies, landowners, permitees, sportsman groups, researchers, etc. that may be interested/affected by the proposed project. Partners do not have to provide funding or in-kind services to a project to be listed.

Detail future methods or techniques (including administrative actions) that will be implemented to help in accomplishing the stated objectives and to insure the long term success/stability of the proposed project. This may include: post-treatment grazing rest and/or management plans/changes, wildlife herd/species management plan changes, ranch plans, conservation easements or other permanent protection plans, resource management plans, forest plans, etc.

Potential for the proposed action to improve quality or quantity of sustainable uses such as grazing, timber harvest, biomass utilization, recreation, etc. Grazing improvements may include actions to improve forage availability and/or distribution of livestock.