Project Details

Huff Creek is a small stream which drains into the Chalk Creek drainage.  The drainage has been a focus for many years for improving water quality, riparian health and cutthroat trout populations.  The project is to include fencing on both sides of Huff Creek for approximately 4.75 miles.  It will divide a large 5,500 acre pasture into two separate pastures used by approximately 1,300 cows for grazing purposes.  Huff Creek already divides the pasture east to west.  A large water project was started by the landowner to place troughs on the north side of Huff Creek in 2015 and 2016.  This gives livestock additional water sources besides Huff Creek to water.  Another project is going forward with the landowner and Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) to construct and install additional water troughs and water lines on the south side of Huff Creek to benefit livestock and wildlife.  Bonneville Cutthroat Trout are found upstream of this large pasture as well as beaver.  By protecting this riparian area, trout and beaver will start to fill in downstream as habitat improves.  This will be a great project and should see results quickly due to fencing.

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.

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.

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 directly fulfills and follows those strategies and objectives in the Rangewide Conservation Agreement and Strategy for Bonneville Cutthroat Trout, State of Utah Conservation Agreement and Strategy for Bonneville Cutthroat Trout and the Weber River restoration plan of 2014 with strategies listed below.  All attached in the documents sections is a designation of 5 priority areas on the Weber River where we want to restore or enhance habitat in these areas.  This project falls within the Chalk Creek Area.

Habitat Restoration Strategy 1- Riparian Management: Fence riparian areas to protect
aquatic resource and terrestrial wildlife values from intense grazing practices.
Habitat Restoration Task 1.1- Riparian exclusions or pastures : Identify and prioritize
appropriate locations or opportunities to install grazing exclusions or riparian pasture
areas.* Find opportunities to improve and secure river flows that improve aquatic and terrestrial
wildlife habitats while also achieving broader water storage and delivery goals
* Identify and prioritize locations and opportunities for grazing exclusions or riparian
pasture areas to improve fish and terrestrial wildlife habitats, reduce stream-bank
erosion and related risks to landowners, and improve water quality
* Enhance partnerships amongst private landowners, city, county and state governments
and non-governmental organizations to develop larger-scale restoration, protection and
water conservation projects

The DWR WMA management plan calls for rest from cattle grazing to facilitate riparian vegetation recovery.

The Huff Creek subwatershed was identified as a significant source of nonpoint agricultural nitrate and phosphorus pollution in the Echo-Rockport TMDL.  Management of nonpoint sources through watershed improvement projects was highlighted as a critical component to the implementation of the TMDL.

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.

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.