Project Details

Strawberry Reservoir is Utah's most important cold water fishery, receiving as much as 1.4 million angler hours on an annual basis.  Typically 65% of this pressure is from boat and small watercraft.  65% of all anglers in Utah fish Strawberry on an annual basis.  Crowding at access points is often an issue.  The entire North end of the reservoir along Hwy 40 is only accessible to small boats and hand-launched water craft at a couple of undeveloped (and risky) launch sites along the old highway roadbed which may be inaccessible under certain water levels.  The relatively protected bay at Chicken Creek East provides a great area for small watercraft to fish without having to traverse the often dangerous open water of the main Strawberry Bay.  By providing a developed launch in Chicken Creek East, we will provide small craft access to this area, and provide more parking and opportunities during the winter ice fishing season as well.  Many angler groups have been asking for improved small craft launch areas to avoid crowding issues at the larger ramps.  The current Chicken Creek East parking area does not provide any boat access, and is so far from the water that is often unused by anglers.

In addition for the need for more and improved access, there have been many issues with resource damage in critical sage grouse areas near the proposed parking area and boat launch site.  Vehicles are often seen continuing along the old highway road bed, and then along the shorelines of the reservoir into areas closed to motor vehicle traffic, and into critical sage grouse habitat.  The construction of the new parking area would eliminate the potential for people to access these areas that area already off-limits to motor vehicles.

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.

The current Strawberry Management plan (UDWR Publication) calls for the support of 1.2 million angler hours of pressure on the reservoir, which we have not met in recent years.  Angler perception of crowding has been shown to often limit the desire to fish  body of water.  By dispersing pressure to a new parking area and small water craft launch site, we can effectively reduce this potential crowding.

The current management plan also calls specifically for improvement and development of areas for small water craft launching.  The impetus for this comes from the conflicts that often occur between people launching small craft (such as personal inflatable craft, and other small vessels) that require more time to set up and launch than larger boats.

The Forest Plan calls for protection of areas for sage grouse, and allows for closure of non-motorized areas to vehicle traffic.  Uinta Forest Plan - 2003 Land and Resource Management Plan, Uinta National Forest: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/uwcnf/landmanagement/planning/?cid=stelprdb5076960&width=full
-Plan sites management of riparian areas (pg 2.2), management of aquatic species (pg 2.3), wildlife (pg 2.5), and vegetation (pg 2.5).

Rehabilitation Plan for Strawberry Valley Streams 1988 UDWR publication. Identifies the need to rehabilitate valley streams to: 1 increase natural reproduction and 2 enhance water quality.

Strawberry reservoir TMDL study 2005. Utah Division of Water Quality publication.

Strawberry Watershed Action Plan 2004. USFS publication. Identifies the following for Strawberry River Segment 2A, 2B (SRR Phase IV). This segment needs work to: 1. raise the water table; 2. stabilize stream banks through use of heavy equipment, 3. instream structures, and 4. willow/carex planting. Fish passage is a concern and the segment would be managed as "beaver free" (beaver fencing, relocation etc...).

-Utah Mule Deer Statewide Management Plan 2014
The project is designated crucial summer range for Mule Deer.  Section IV Statewide management goals and objectives. This project will address Habitat Objective 2: Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 500,000 acres of crucial range by 2013 (p11-12). Strategy F. Encourage land managers to manage portions of pinion-juniper woodlands and aspen/conifer forests in early successional stages. https://wildlife.utah.gov/hunting/biggame/pdf/mule_deer_plan.pdf

-Greater Sage-grouse ROD- Attachment C: Utah Plan Amendment
GRSG-GEN-DC001-Desired Condition: The landscape for the greater sage-grouse encompasses large contiguous areas of native vegetation, approximately 6-to-62 square miles in an area, to provide for multiple aspects of species life requirements.  Within these landscapes, a variety of sagebrush-community compositions exist without invasive species, which have variations in subspecies composition, co-dominant vegetation, shrub cover, herbaceous cover, and stand structure to meet seasonal requirements for food, cover, and nesting for the greater sage-grouse.

GRSG-R-GL-064-Guideline: In priority habitat management areas, sagebrush focal areas, and Anthro mtn., new recreational facilities or expansion of existing recreational facilities, including special-use authorizations for facilities and activities, should not be approved unless the development results in a net conservation gain to the greater sage-grouse or its habitat or the development is required for visitor safety.

Wasatch County Resource Management Plan encourages land managers to "Maintain, enhance, and expand sport fishing opportunities...".  This proposal for the new Chicken Creek East parking area and boat ramp was put before the Wasatch County Council and Public Lands Committee, and they were fully supportive of this effort.

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.

Strawberry Reservoir is currently under a TMDL, published and approved in 2005. Reduction of sediment born phosphorus and reductions in oxygen were identified as the loading issues. As part of this project two small perennial streams will be improved to reduce sedimentation. Chicken Creek West flows immediately adjacent to one of the "to be removed" parking areas and access roads. By removing this hardened area sediment currently flowing from the road and parking area will be removed. Another stream, Chicken Creek East flows near the new location of the boat ramp. At sometime in the past this stream was channelized for ~0.4 miles, portions of the stream flow along the Jakes Bay access road, gathering sediment and delivering it to the reservoir. During construction this stream will be moved to a new location where it can function properly. Stream sinuosity will be added and distance from human disturbances will reduce sediment from entering the system and reduce P loading to the reservoir.

Overall project design will further reduce loading to Strawberry. By replacing gravel and earthen roads, lots and boat loading areas with asphalt and concrete overland movement of sediment will be removed and dust will not become airborne. Again reducing sediment loading to the reservoir.

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.

The USFS, being the land manager, completed the NEPA for this proposed project during the fall of 2018, and it is critical that we show a good faith effort to uphold our end of the bargain by initiating the construction phase.  The USFS is also contributing much of the costs of the engineering by doing the engineering work in-house (with a supplement of $6,000 from the UDWR ), which by so using, greatly reduces the potential for conflicts in engineering designs holding up the process (which can happen with outside engineering).  Once the Forest Service engineers complete the work, subsequent phases should be good to go.

State Parks may also help contribute in future phases with the 25% match for the Motor Boat Access funds which we are applying for.  State Parks also oversee winter plowing efforts to keep these lots open to anglers during the winter months.

The Friends of Strawberry Valley have offered $1,000 towards the project. Trout Unlimited has given preliminary pledges for money for the actual boat ramp construction, as well as applying for grants for stream work on the stream that will be moved and restored. And though no money has officially been donated to the project to date, other angler groups have also pledged their support for this project including Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife, Strawberry Anglers Association.

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.