Project Details

All of the Wildlife Management Areas in the northern region have the capacity to have winter range restored or improved on them. This project will continue the effort of improving them. This is not only beneficial for wintering wildlife but helps to reduce damages caused on nearby private lands.

Henefer WMA 
On the WMA there is a lack of water sources any where besides a few of the canyon bottoms. This concentrates grazing pressure in the bottoms leading to some habitat degradation and a failure to target grasses on the ridges to give a competitive advantage to browse species, either existing or planted by DWR.
Two pipelines with troughs will be installed on the top of ridges that will provide a water source for cattle during the grazing season on the WMA. This will provide for a better grazing plan that will reduce pressure on the bottoms and help browse species on the windblown ridges where wintering wildlife forage.  In an effort to keep the cows out of the bottom for the past two years the permittee has hauled water to multiple 350 gallon rubbermaid troughs that were purchased by the DWR.

Brigham Face and Millville Face have lost browse species to past fires. This has created areas that are not providing as much winter habitat as they have the potential to. Both properties border agricultural and urban areas. Have more "food" on the mountain for wildlife will potentially reduce wildlife conflicts in those areas.

Woodruff WMA lost it's sagebrush when a previous landowner converted it to crested wheatgrass. The WMA also had a windmill pump that was converted to a solar pump to fill a pond but it is no longer functioning. During a previous WRI project #423 that inter-seeded forbs into adjacent stands of crested there were 300 antelope that wintered near the planting area. In an effort to discourage the antelope from camping on the seeding and potentially damaging it the pump was shut off and eventually fell into disrepair. Since then the antelope numbers have dwindled on the WMA.
Many of the drainage ditches on the property have downcut and installing small earthern check dams will slow the flow of spring run off and prevent further downcutting. 
Also while the dozer is on site we will change the blade and clean up and re-contour the catchment ponds.

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.

To install the 14.4 miles of pipeline and twenty one 1300 gallon tire troughs on the Henefer WMA to provide water sources for improved cattle grazing and water sources for deer and elk.
We will have the ability to turn on and off each tank to move cattle around. This will allow the DWR/permittee to improve grazing management with better livestock distribution, timing and intensity.

To operate the scalper on the Brigham Face, Millville Face and Woodruff WMA's to create valuable winter range browse for mule deer, elk and antelope. Bitterbrush, sage brush and forbs will be seeded in the scalps.
On the Woodruff WMA install small earthern check dams to slow the flow of spring run off and deliver more water to the large pond in section 32.
At the large pond in section 32 dig a smaller area to be deeper with the hope that with having some depth to the pond it will not evaporate as quickly as it is only gets a couple inches deep in the spring. Clean out other ponds on the WMA as well.
Improving and increasing the available water on the WMA should help bring more antelope back to the area.

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.

Deer Unit Management Plans 2,3,4 and 5.
Cache, Ogden, Morgan - South Rich and East Canyon
-Address loss of critical winter range to wildfires and other land management practices

Statewide Deer Management Plan
-Loss of critical winter range habitat
-Involve Sportsmen and groups in volunteer projects.

Elk Herd Unit Management Plan #2 Cache
Habitat - Maintain and/or enhance forage production through direct range
improvements throughout the unit on winter range to achieve population
management objectives. Pay special attention to WMA's and areas were
holding elk could alleviate pressure on private landowners experiencing
damage by wintering elk.

Utah Statewide Elk Management Plan
-Increase forage production by annually treating a minimum of 40,000 acres of elk
habitat.

Utah Pronghorn Statewide Management Plan
III. Issues and Concerns
Habitat Degradation and loss
Water Development

State of Utah - Resource Management Plan pg 236
Expand Wildlife Populations
Protect existing habitat and improve 500,000 acres of habitat
Produce and maintain the desired vegetation for wildlife and livestock.

Summit CRMP
Work with jurisdictional agencies to provide for and enhance the health of wildlife habitats in Summit County.

Rich CRMP
Support efforts that restore degraded habitats and connectivity between fragmented
habitats.

Cache CRMP
Support agency coordination to provide adequate big game winter range habitat to reduce urban conflicts.

Utah Wildlife Action Plan
Utah Sage Grouse Management Plan
Utah DWR strategic Plan

Brigham Face WMA Habitat Management Plan 2010
-Primary purpose: provide crucial big game winter range.
-Habitat Conditions/Problems: Loss of winter range from frequent fires.
-Habitat Improvements:increase browse on the property.

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.