Project Details

Currently, habitat restoration projects designed to remove pinyon-juniper woodlands encroaching into greater sage-grouse and avian species habitats and other habitat projects such as fuel breaks have been a priority through the Utah Watershed Initiative program and encouraged in BLM land management plans to restoring healthy rangelands on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered lands. In an effort to make sound land management decisions based on scientific evidence and provide information about potential impacts on rangeland restoration project designs, the data collected would provide guidance and suggestions in pinyon-juniper woodland habitat restoration project designs and other habitat projects. Information collected would provide managers information when making land management decisions. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act establishes federal responsibility for the protection of migratory bird resources, including providing habitat and minimizing impacts.   This project benefits would increase knowledge gaps in species distribution and population monitoring and provide a solid foundation for BLM land management planning for specific avian species (i.e. GRSG, PIJA, YBCU, raptors, etc.). This project will also help us increase knowledge about T &E species such as yellow-billed cuckoo and their relation to their use of riparian habitats and help inform decisions on riparian corridor/woodland treatments such as Russian olive and tamarisk removal. 
Within the Green River District/Northeastern region agencies are lacking knowledge/information, including seasonal movements and habitat requirements for many avian species. Currently there have been a number of habitat enhancement projects that have been completed in the project area.  The habitat within the Northeastern region includes sagebrush and other habitat types (i.e. Pinyon-Juniper) that are in less than desirable conditions because of poor sagebrush structure, monotypic age class, poor understory, and encroachment.  Trend data has shown that the habitat projects completed through WRI and other means, have improved the habitat and provide better conditions for greater sage-grouse (GRSG) and other avian species. Monitoring of seasonal use and habitat use will allow the different agencies to identify areas that have been successfully enhanced for GRSG and other avian species and to collect data on areas that may need habitat enhancement or restoration.

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.

Utah Wildlife Action Plan 2015-2025 - The purpose and goal of this plan is "To manage native wildlife species and their habitats, sufficient to prevent the need for additional listings under the Endangered Species Act."

Vernal Field Office Resource Management Plan (2008): WL-6, WL-7, Appendix H (Table 33),

BLM Executive Oder 13186

Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Utah BLM Greater Sage Grouse RMP (2015):

Objective SSS-3: In PHMA habitat, where sagebrush is the current or potential dominant vegetation type or is a primary species within the various states of the ecological site description, maintain or restore vegetation to provide habitat for lekking, nesting, brood rearing, and winter habitats.
Objective SSS-4: Within PHMA, increase the amount and functionality of seasonal habitats.
Objective SSS-5: Participate in local GRSG conservation efforts (e.g., the appropriate State of Utah agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and local working groups) to implement landscape-scale habitat conservation, to implement consistent management to benefit GRSG, and to gather and use local research and monitoring to promote the conservation of GRSG.

Utah Conservation Plan for Greater Sage-Grouse (2019):
Habitat Objectives : Protect, maintain and increase sage-grouse habitats within SGMAs at or above 2013 baseline disturbance levels.

Strategies to Address Pinyon-Juniper (Conifer)
Woodland Encroachment
1h. Continue to fund, support and implement critical research that supports the implementation of this Plan and future improvements to this Plan.
4a. Using the Utah Wildlife Migration Initiative (WMI), identify the highest-priority sage-grouse
habitats and migration corridors within or adjacent to occupied habitats.
4d. Using the WRI, maintain existing sage-grouse habitats by offsetting the impacts identified in 1(f) by creating additional habitat within or adjacent to occupied habitats at an equal rate each year--or 25,000 acres each year--whichever is greater.

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.