Project Details

Improve current health of the ponderosa pine plant community in the project area and manage it for fire resilience, sustainability and long-term health. 
Capitalize on previously treated adjacent or overlapping National Forest System lands on Boulder Mountain's North Slope and further reduce the risk of unwanted fire behavior near the communities of Teasdale, Happy Valley, Grover, Black Ridge, Fish Creek Cove, Donkey Flats, Government Creek, East Teasdale and Pine Creek.
Project area is critical mule deer winter range and substantial winter range for elk on the north slope of Boulder Mountain. There are currently depredation issues on nearby private lands. There is a need to reduce encroaching conifers to allow the understory to persist with grasses, forbs and shrubs useful for wildlife winter range. This treatment along with the surrounding future Fishlake EA pinyon/juniper and Boulder Mountain Improvement project treatments will improve vital winter range vegetation components. Additionally, one goal of these treatments is to help alleviate big-game ungulate use and pressure off of the private lands that surround Hwy 12. 
Ponderosa pine is a important habitat component for roosting and foraging wild turkeys and grouse. Improving these stands will help create optimal foraging opportunities as ruffed and blue grouse forage on insects, buds, seeds, twigs and leaves among the grass and shrubs while using the pines for roosting and cover.  
The project area provides nesting and foraging opportunities for accipiter's and hawks. Reducing high stand densities and improving small game habitat from project treatments will improve foraging opportunities for raptors and maintain adequate trees/snags for nesting. 
The project area is in-between two perennial streams (Fish Creek and Carcass Creek) which harbor non-native trout. There is a need to reduce fuel loading for fire resilience in the area. This will help protect these tributaries from larger high severity wildfires that can have detrimental impacts to these crucial water sources and fisheries.

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.

Under current conditions, if a high severity wildfire were to occur within or near the project area, limited opportunities exist for fire personnel to intervene before it directly impacts the communities of Teasdale, Happy Valley, Grover,  Fish Creek Cove, Donkey Flats, Government Creek, East Teasdale and Pine Creek.
Mule deer on the Boulder Unit have seen a steady decline in population of over 1700 animals in the last five years. Population estimate models show a decline from 8373 deer in 2014 to 6600 deer in 2019. When populations are modeled for the 2020 year the population will show another decline. This unit overall is summer range limited by conifer expansion into former aspen stands and winter range limited by encroachment of pinyon and juniper into sage and mountain brush communities. These treatment phases in pinyon and juniper pave the way for treatments with prescribed fire in the encroaching spruce/fir to encourage aspen regeneration. For over 100 years encroaching tree management has been largely "hands off". If you stand in this treatment area you are surrounded by dark green for the 360-degree vista. There is no edge, there is no diversity, there is little food. This trend must be reversed in order to re-vitalize our struggling deer herds.  Radio telemetry collars were deployed on Mule Deer in this area in December of 2019. Data from these collars is being used partially to determine if the encroaching conifers in this area also contribute to limiting factors for fawn survival and summering populations of Mule Deer. The cost of depredation issues to DWR on this unit are around $150,000 annually.  
In general upland birds, including Forest Grouse and Turkeys, require open stands of conifer and aspen with an understory of berry producing shrubs, forbs and grasses. A healthy insect component in this matrix is critical for early brood rearing. Healthy mixed forests, early successional forests, and edges of aspen forests provide these kinds of environments. Our current habitat struggles to provide these requirements.

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 action responds to the goals and objectives outlined in the Dixie National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (1986) (LRMP).  The desired conditions described above and the purpose and need for this project are consistent with Dixie National Forest goals and objectives found in Chapter IV of the Forest Plan.  The District has also compared the proposed action with the general direction and standards and guidelines listed in the LRMP to determine compliance, and found that the proposed action is compliant with the general direction and standards and guidelines listed in the LRMP.  This review, along with supporting rationale is found in the project record.
Some of the relevant goals and objectives are listed below:
*	Maintain structural diversity of vegetation on management areas that are dominated by forested ecosystems (Dixie LRMP, 1986, General Direction, Pg. IV-25). 
*	Ecosystems are restored and maintained, consistent with land uses and historic fire regimes, through wildland fire use and prescribed fire (Dixie LRMP (as amended by the Utah Fire Amendment), 2001, Pg. IV-13.). 
*	Reduce hazardous fuels; the full range of reduction methods is authorized, consistent with forest and management area emphasis and direction (Dixie LRMP, 1986, (as amended by the Utah Fire Amendment, 2001 pg. A-41)).
*	Vegetative modification projects should be designed to break-up continuous fuel types and serve as fuel breaks (LRMP pg. IV-13 Goal no. 48, objective (d).).  
*	Silvicultural prescriptions should be designed to maintain a visual quality objective of partial retention, enhance long term visual quality, diversity, and provide for insect and disease control (Dixie LRMP, 1986, Management Area 2A, Pg. IV-63.). 
*	Visual resources are managed so that management activities maintain or improve the quality of recreation opportunities. Management activities are not evident, remain visually subordinate, or may be dominant, but harmonize and blend with the natural setting (Dixie LRMP, 1986, Management Area 2B, Pg. IV-68.). 
*	Tree stands are managed for specific size, shape, interspersion, crown closure, age, structure, and edge contrast (Dixie LRMP, Management Area 4B, Pg. IV-82.). 
*	Treatments are applied to increase forage production of existing grass, forb, and browse species or to alter plant species composition. Prescribed burning, seeding, spraying, planting, and mechanical treatments may occur (Dixie LRMP, Management Area 5A, Pg. IV-97.).
*	The area generally will have a mosaic of fully stocked stands that follow natural patterns and avoid straight lines and geometric shapes (Dixie LRMP, 1986, Management Area 7A, Pg. IV-116.). 
*	Improve habitat capability through direct treatments of vegetation, soil and waters (Dixie LRMP, 1986, Pg.IV-35).

Utah Elk Statewide Management Plan
Habitat Management Goal: Conserve and improve elk habitat throughout the state. 
Habitat Management
Coordinate with land management agencies and private landowners to properly
manage and improve elk habitat, especially calving and wintering areas.
Watershed Restoration Initiative
Increase forage production by annually treating a minimum of 40,000 acres of elk
habitat. (pg. 16)

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Statewide Management Plan for Mule deer. Section IV Statewide management goals and objectives. This plan 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 C. Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat with emphasis on drought or fire damaged sagebrush winter ranges, ranges that are being taken over by invasive annual grass species, and ranges being diminished by encroachment of conifers into sagebrush or aspen habitats. Strategy f. Encourage land managers to manage portions of pinion-juniper woodlands and aspen/conifer forests in early successional stages.

Plateau Deer Herd Management Plan Unit #25 (2015) - Habitat Management Objectives -- Encourage vegetation manipulation projects and seeding to increase the availability, abundance, and nutritional content of browse, grass, and forb species. Strategies: Habitat Protection, Improvement and Maintenance - Reduce expansion of Pinyon-Juniper woodlands into sagebrush habitats and improve habitats dominated by Pinyon-Juniper woodlands by completing habitat restoration projects like lop & scatter, bullhog and chaining projects; maintain summer fawning areas by increasing beneficial habitat work in summer and transitional habitat areas.(p.3-4)

Wayne County Resource Management Plan 2017- By reducing density of ponderosa pine reproduction, this project is in line with the Wayne County Resource Management Plan.
13. Ponderosa Pine -- Ponderosa pine stands are maintained in an open condition which will support a good understory of perennial grasses and browse plants and periodic low intensity fire. Encroachment of shrubs or excessive density of pine reproduction that can support stand replacing crown fires is prevented.(pg 50)

National Cohesive Strategy By means of mechanical thinning at a landscape scale, the resulting mosaic of early and late successional forests will work toward the goal of restoring and maintaining resilient landscapes, one of the three goals described in the National Cohesive Strategy. 
1. Resilient Landscapes General guidance regarding vegetation and fuels management include* Use and expand fuel treatments involving mechanical, biological, or chemical methods where economically feasible and sustainable, and where they align with landowner objectives. (pg. 58)

State of Utah Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy The Teasdale Front Project aligns with the mission of the State of Utah's Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy. The project has developed a comprehensive and systematic approach toward reducing the size, intensity and frequency of catastrophic wildland fires near Teasdale. The project reduces the risk of a catastrophic wildfire occurrence negatively affecting property, air quality and water systems. The Mission: Develop a collaborative process to protect the health and welfare of Utahns, and our lands by reducing the size and frequency of catastrophic fires. (pg. 4) 
5. Adopt Key Recommendations from the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. (pg. 15) 
* Encourage federal land management agencies to expedite fuels treatments. (pg. 15) 
* Prioritize landscapes for treatment (irrespective of jurisdictional boundaries). (pg. 15)

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.

The ponderosa pine forest type is now dominated by mid to mature aged classes and an even-aged understory of younger ponderosa pine with pinyon/juniper expanding into the ponderosa pine areas.  Some of the younger ponderosa pine trees have formed tight groupings, or jackpot clumps, throughout the project area. These young ponderosa are growing next to or under the crowns of the mature trees creating a ladder fuel hazard.  The exclusion of fire within this ecosystem has created an unhealthy amount of younger ponderosa and pinyon/juniper. The younger ponderosa pines and pinyon/juniper are now more dense and continuous across the project area.  Approximately 58% of the tree cover is ponderosa pine with the other 42% primarily consisting of pinyon/juniper in the understory.  Ladder fuels are well developed that can create an avenue for wildfire to transport into the crowns of the mature ponderosa pine trees thus causing a high severity, high mortality fire.  These historic, frequent fire forests are now susceptible to high severity, large scale wildfires like the Lost Lake Fire of 2012 also on the north slope of Boulder. The Lost Lake Fire exposed the fire danger that exist and impacts the communities of Teasdale, Happy Valley, Grover, Fish Creek Cove, Donkey Flats, Government Creek, East Teasdale and Pine Creek.    In addition to ladder fuels, there is an increase of forest litter leading to a hotter and more easily spreading fire and increasing the lethal effects of fires on vegetation by concentrating heat on the upper soil layers and around the stems of trees and shrubs. 
The project area is located in the transition zone from pinyon/juniper to ponderosa pine and is fire regime group I , 0 - 35 year frequency with low/mixed severity. There have been some historical treatments in the area such as timber harvesting . The current FRCC over the project area is 70% FRCC 3 high departure with 30% FRCC 2 moderate departure. With the proposed treatments the project area would move to the FRCC 1 low departure .

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.

The project area is located primarily within areas geologically described as being tertiary volcanic rocks underlain by sedimentary formations with much of the soils being derived from landslide debris composed of this volcanic rock. The predominant soil types are very deep and well drained with high runoff potential with the hazard of water erosion being low to moderate (no soils found in the project area are listed as being highly erosive or unstable). The topography is varied, having some localized steep locations (as high as 65 percent), but most of the area has a moderately low gradient with the arithmetic mean within the project boundary being approximately 22 percent (based on slope being calculated from 30 meter digital elevation data). Most of the precipitation in the project area falls in the wintertime and is stored as snow, summer monsoonal events occur in the project area and can lead to a rapid increase in overland flow and stream discharge.

Completing phase I of the Teasdale Front Fuels Reduction Project will benefit water quality and quantity within and downstream of the project area. The proposed planning would seek to design projects that would regenerate improved understory conditions, grass, forbs, and shrubs. Improving understory conditions would improve water quality by leading to less generation of sediment during overland flow events and thereby delivering less sediment to riparian areas and streams within and downstream of the project area. The three perennial fish bearing streams in the project area are Spring Creek, Fish Creek and Carcass Creek. These streams are tributaries of the Fremont River which is a 303d impaired waterbody for total dissolved solids (UDWQ). Seven springs also occur within the project area, they are 2481, 1801, 882, 2244, 2245, 2102 and 2027. Flows in perennial streams on Boulder Mountain would experience an increase as pinion-juniper presence and associated water consumption is reduced. Restoring uplands will reduce the impacts of future wildfires and reduce the risk of future watershed degradation. Treatments will considerably lessen the risk of catastrophic, large-scale, high severity wildfires that could result in long-term watershed degradation

Reducing PJ density in the project area will decrease consumptive water use by the trees and lead to increased groundwater charging (resulting in an increase in baseflows within the project area). It has been shown that variations in groundwater discharge (which would increase as a result of the proposed actions) generally increase variations in streamflow but reduce variations in stream temperature [e.g., Silliman and Booth, 1993]. Meaning the proposed actions would be expected to benefit stream temperature in the streams by reducing the maximum temperatures currently being observed. The increase in understory cover/function, reduced overland flows, and resulting reduced sediment loading into surface waters, would result in a benefit to water quality (pH, DO, nutrient loading). Benefits to water quality and quantity may not be substantial in the first year after treatment but are expected to be significant with time. Upland treatments will benefit downstream water quality and quantity. Communities and downstream water users will also benefit from the reduced risk for catastrophic wildfire, increased base flows, and decrease of sediment loading resulting from the proposed project activities.

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.

Project area monitoring would occur after project implementation is complete.  Invasive and noxious weeds are not known to occur in the project area; however, treatment areas would be monitored post implementation.  If noxious and/or invasive weeds are detected, the District would take the appropriate actions to control spread and eliminate the noxious and/or invasive weeds from the treatment areas. Wildlife monitoring would continue post implementation. Ponderosa pine and pinyon/juniper responses following treatments would also be monitored.

Repeat photo points and range site survey locations consisting of nested frequency sites recording vegetation and percent cover already exist within the proposed project area. Vegetation surveys consisting of macro-plots or transects will occur following treatment and five years after treatment. Vegetation plots will either be established in the project area or re-read for monitoring locations already established within the treatment area.

The UDWR conducts annual mule deer classification routes in this area. In addition, deer populations on this unit are modeled annually using classification data obtained in conjunction with migration initiative studies. Elk surveys are conducted aerially every three years. This monitoring will continue as currently scheduled. 
Fisheries biologists have quantitative fish monitoring stations on all three of these streams that are monitored at ~ 5 year intervals. 
Forest botonists also has a Riparian Level III Inventory on Carcass Creek and a couple of upland sites near Fish Creek that are part of a long term vegetation trend studies on the Dixie National Forest.

Monitoring reports and photos will be uploaded a they become available.

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.

The area has 5 miles of road that will be maintained following implementation. Hunting for small and big game will continue to occur and should be improved with greater visibility of game within the project area.

Hand cutting will promote increased grass, forb, and shrub communities when all phases are complete. With the removal of conifer, the amount of usable grasses and forbs in the understories is also expected to increase significantly. With increased forage, livestock distribution and management is expected to improve. Many areas are currently unproductive due to extensive conifer shading.

Traditional timber sales are occurring on Boulder Mountain south of the project area, where commercial Engelmann spruce stands exist. The Fishlake NF has started NFMA analysis adjacent to the project area for a project involving prescribed fire and mechanical treatments for the entire ponderosa pine, mixed conifer, seral aspen, and Engelmann spruce vegetation types on Boulder Mountain.

District Timber staff have been promoting commercial biomass sales of normally non-merchantable timber such as white fir, sub-alpine fir, pinyon, and juniper to local private companies to be processed into wood chips, Christmas trees, or essential oils.  Some interest is starting to be shown and hopefully a market niche will be developed and more of the biomass produced from the mechanical portions of this project will be able to be utilized.

Fishing (a variety of fish species) is a popular activity at Coleman Reservoir and Pine Creek. Restoration will improve transition and summer ranges that will benefit wildlife along with improving water quality and reducing risk to fish habitat and watersheds from uncharacteristic wildfire. This project will promote sustainability for a variety of sportsmen and sportswomen by assuring hunting and fishing opportunities for future generations.

Vegetation treatments that encourage grass, forb, and shrub community vegetation will continue to provide quality deer fawning and elk calving habitat.  A productive understory combined with some dead and down trees is optimal habitat for big game birthing.

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.