Project Details

The purpose of the BLM proposed project is to reduce and maintain hazardous fuels to limit destructive wildfire impacts to the communities of Cedar Highlands, Kolob Terrace and to the smaller communities located in the Shurtz Canyon area of Iron County, Utah.

The need is due to these communities being amongst the highest wildfire risk within Color Country District's management area as defined by the state of Utah's Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal data.

The project site is dominated by stands of pinyon and juniper trees with a high percentage of young trees encroaching areas of remaining sagebrush, mountain brush and other deciduous shrubs causing a downward trend in herbaceous cover. The project area serves as an important winter and transition range for mule deer.

This proposed project will improve wildlife habitat, increase ecosystem resiliency to natural disturbance, improve watershed conditions and water quality, improve the health of both woodlands and sagebrush/grasslands by increasing biological diversity in age class and/or structure and will enhance habitat conditions for wildlife species, including mule deer.

This area is identified as crucial and substantial mule deer winter range that has been severely reduced by human development especially with the construction of Interstate-15 and Highway-14.

Hazardous fuels reduction would reduce encroaching pinyon-juniper and overgrown mountain brush to provide fire resistant, perennial grasses throughout the project area, decreasing the risk of catastrophic wildfire while providing wildlife habitat benefits through maintaining previous treatments.

Enhanced protection to recreation interests, including existing and future bike trails and proposed and future campgrounds in the Cedar Highlands and Shurtz Canyon area over the next 10-15 years would also occur.

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.

The primary objectives are to reduce all dead vegetation, a minimum of 90% of the pinyon and juniper overgrowth and 70% of overgrown mountain brush identified as hazardous fuels within the project area while while leaving islands of trees in a mosaic pattern for use by mule deer as thermal cover.

Out of 7,133 acres of possible treatment acres (shown on map feature), some acres will likely not be treated after arch clearances and design features are finalized.

The project is also designed to re-establish perennial grass, forbs and shrubs to as close to ESD percentages as possible to maintain a healthy landscape and limit wildfire destruction to the communities of Cedar Highlands, Kolob Terrace and to the smaller communities located in the Shurtz Canyon area of Iron County, Utah.

Additional objectives include improving wildlife habitat and reducing soil erosion. This area contains crucial and substantial mule deer winter range that has been severely reduced by human development, especially with the construction of Interstate 15 and Highway 14.

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.

The likelihood of catastrophic wildfire is much greater if the treatment is not conducted, increasing the threat and risk to communities and wildlife. The treatment area would experience significant erosion after a severe wildfire event and would threaten mule deer and overall wildlife habitat.

Projects like this provide for greater landscape resiliency when future wildfires occur in previously treated areas, making a site more likely to recover on its own and lessening the chances of adverse burn site impacts. Fire return intervals would be more in balance with historic ranges.

Proactively treating this area will provide multiple benefits including reduced hazardous fuel loads, reduced threat of a catastrophic wildfire and reduced threat to developed areas and infrastructure. Proactive action will also provide increased firefighter and public safety, while protecting natural resources wildlife habitat and surrounding public recreation improvements.

Other challenges associated with not treating this area include more invasive species and conifer encroachment while increased public use and recreation continues. Recreation interests near Cedar Highlands and Shurtz Canyon is continuing to expand with the addition of mountain bike trails and the currently proposed Shurtz Canyon Campground. There is continued demand and plans to add more trails adjacent to these communities, which would continue to put pressure on mule deer at certain times of year, though many of trails will not be accessible during the winter months.

This proposed treatment would effectively return identified areas to a fire regime closer to the historical range and desired future condition.

The proposed treatment methods are intended to reduce overgrown vegetation and promote age class diversity.  This greatly decreases the likelihood of future high intensity catastrophic fire and the subsequent infestation of invasive species. Seeding fire resistant grasses and forbs would also create lower wildfire intensity and would lessen the spread of future wildfires while reducing erosion in critical areas.

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 proposed action is subject to the Cedar Beaver Garfield Antimony Resource Management Plan (RMP), approved in 1986.  This land use plan was amended in 2005 by Utah Land Use Plan Amendment for Fire and Fuels Management (UT-USO-04-01).

The proposed action is consistent with federal, state and local laws, regulations, and plans to the maximum extent possible, including the following:

- Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
- Title 54 U.S.C. 306108 (Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act) 
- Best Management Practices for Raptors and Their Associated Habitats in Utah (IM: 2006-096) 
- Utah's Standards for Rangeland Health 
- Endangered Species Act 1973 
- Migratory Bird Treaty Act 1918 
- National Fire Plan (August 2000) 
- Secretarial Order 3372 (September 12, 2017) 
- Iron County Plan

The proposed action is tiered to BLM's Final Programmatic Environmental Report (PER): Vegetation Treatments on BLM Lands in 17 Western States Programmatic Environmental Report, June 2007 and Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on Bureau of Land Management Lands in 17 Western States Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), June 2007.

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.

The project area is located along a strip of land between Interstate 15 to the west, and mountains to the east.  The proximity to the freeway and frontage road increases the likelihood of unwanted human caused wildfire ignitions, as does anticipated increased recreation use and development of private land.

Reducing the fuel load would help to off-set the probable increase in potential fire ignitions from a growing human and future development planning perspective.

This project is designed to improve and sustain nearby grazing allotments and will work in conjunction with them to expand quality winter habitat for mule deer.  Rangeland conditions within the Hicks Creek, Hamilton Fort and Greens Lake allotments are expected to improve following implementation of the proposed vegetation project. The forage quality and availability would greatly increase in the area after implementation of the project. Completion of this project would help distribute animal use over the area, which would reduce concentrated use in certain areas.

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.