Project Details

The proposed fishing pier is just one part of a larger overall plan at Fish Lake to improve public facilities, add new facilities and amenities, attract additional anglers and improve the overall recreation experience for the public.  Some improvements planned at Fish Lake have been completed; others are proceeding forward or planned for the near future. The Fish Lake Lodge Marina renovation is complete, the Lakeside Marina renovation work is about 85% completed and Bowery Haven Marina has a new, three times larger parking area and new restrooms.  Continuing renovation and improvement work at Bowery Haven Marina planned for 2022 includes a larger marina, more parking, more boat slips, and a new boat ramp.  A new boardwalk viewing area for kokanee salmon spawning along Twin Creeks is completed.  The annual perch tournament will be held again on February 22, 2020. The Forest Service plans expansion of parking areas at Pelican Point and Doctor Creek, the resorts are expanding cabin rentals and RV spaces and a hiking/biking trail along the east shoreline is being planned by Sevier County.

Fish Lake is one of the most popular and productive fisheries in southern Utah.  It supports over 157,000 angler hours annually and there are three private resorts with public boat ramps located at the lake.  The Forest Service operates several campgrounds, restrooms and parking areas along the lake shore.  All of the Fish Lake basin is a very popular recreation area.

In 2014  the Fish Lake Fishery Management Plan was written and approved, which outlined goals and objectives for the future management of the fishery and angling at Fish Lake.  Goal # 3 is: Create additional shoreline fishing areas for anglers.  Because there are dense weed beds along the shoreline surrounding all of Fish Lake, shore angling opportunities are very limited.  Only about 40 yards of shoreline are fished where Twin Creeks runs into the lake.  Specifically, the Management Plan recommends constructing a pier at Fish Lake to increase opportunities for shore angling.  The DWR Southern Region, Fishlake National Forest, resort owners and many others, all believe this would be an excellent addition to facilities at Fish Lake and would be very well used.  It is expected that on summer time weekends and holidays there would not be enough room on the pier for everybody that wants to fish there.  Several thousand shore angler hours annually could be added at Fish Lake. Because of the number of people that will use the pier, an additional pit toilet will have to be installed in the parking lot.  The parking lot will be expanded to handle the increased number of vehicles expected to utilize the pier.

In FY17, DWR Habitat Council funded the Southern Region for $22,500.00 to hire an engineering firm to complete an underwater sonar survey and a feasibility study and conceptual design for a fishing pier at Fish Lake, including an estimated cost to construct the pier.  Jones and DeMille Engineering located in Richfield, Utah was hired to complete the study, which has been delivered to the DWR, including a cost estimate for the pier.

The recommended design of the pier would be a permanent elevated structure supported by steel and concrete pilings, extending past the weed beds to about 30' water depth, 100 feet long with a 100 feet "T" on the end and ADA accessible.  It would be possible to extend the "T" on the end at a later time to increase fishing space.

In FY19, DWR Blue Ribbon Fisheries and Habitat Council funded $50,000.00 to complete engineering design for the pier.  Jones & DeMille Engineering firm has again been hired to complete the final engineering design and the design is about 80% complete, and will be completed shortly.   Jones and DeMille Engineering will provide an updated cost estimate for the pier and parking lot expansion soon.

We currently have an unnamed private donor wanting to contribute to the project and several others to be contacted. No specific amount has been determined, but $200,000.00 - $300,000.00 in donations is a reasonable estimate.

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.

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.