Spanish Fork River Watershed Post Fire Restoration Phase III
Region: Central
ID: 5969

Project Status: Completed

Project Details

During the summer/fall of 2018 the Bald Mountain/Pole Canyon fire burned approximately 125,000 acres within the Central Region.  Significant portions of both the Lower and Middle Diamond Fork River and drainage, and their associated upland and riparian vegetation, were impacted. Sediment plumes and high flows have resulted in several documented fish kills and habitat degradation.  In addition historical flows of 400-600 cfs were common during the summer months to deliver irrigation water down Diamond Fork until approximately 2006 when those high flows were put into a pipeline. These high flows resulted in a very straight and simple, featureless river lacking the necessary fish habitat, especially pools, required to sustain a healthy fish population. Over the past 15 years Diamond Fork has been settling into a "new river" but has not been able to develop those necessary habitats naturally. The habitat improvements we are proposing will help immediately develop essential pool and more complex habitats required for the fish populations to be self-sustaining and rebound from negative fire impacts. 
There is a need to reduce pinyon pine and junipers that have been invading the sage-steppe and grassland habitats throughout the Forest. The invasion of pinyon-junipers, if left unchecked, will limit resources (water, light and nutrients) available to understory vegetation. As resources become limited, the result is a loss of understory vegetation, an increase in soil loss through soil erosion, and a degradation of wildlife habitat. In addition, pinyon pine and juniper encroachment are affecting the fire regime condition class in Sage-steppe and grassland habitats. As fuel densities increase and the landscape changes from sage-steppe and grassland system to juniper dominated vegetation, expect to see an increase in the intensity/severity of a wildland fire should an ignition occur.  This increased severity could lead to a loss of crucial mule deer and elk winter/spring range in the area.  This reduction in pinyon pine and juniper will improve the fire regime condition class by reducing the impact of wildland fire caused by encroaching junipers.
Part of this project is located in a WRI focus area and Spanish Fork is located downstream from this watershed and the benefits from this project will help protect them from wildfire. We will also work to improve the quantity and quality of water in this watershed. This project is designed to address these threats and benefit the entire watershed through a landscape scale approach. The loss of sagebrush habitats from Pinyon-Juniper encroachment and fire has been occurring in other areas as well across the west and this important habitat type continues to decline under the many threats that impact it (Bradley 2010, Miller and Eddleman 2000). Inversely, by doing this project we will increase the available forage and help to grow the deer herd and improve body condition, which helps to grow big antlers and more bucks. There is remaining bitterbrush, cliffrose, and sagebrush plants, in the understory that we need to protect. Much of the project area is found within phase I pinyon-juniper (PJ) encroachment and every year that goes by without treating increases the cost of treatments in the future and the loss of habitat. This project will be a lop and scatter treatment to remove this encroaching pinyon and juniper. The advantage of this project over others that are in more phase III PJ encroachment is that we still have lots of mature understory plants remaining and we will be able to protect large shrubs for mule deer to eat by doing a more feasible lop and scatter project in phase 1 before it becomes transitional into phase 2 and/or 3. By doing all these improvements to this watershed we will have many positive impacts to the ecosystem, to the economy, and the residents.

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.

1.  Install 5-10 boulder clusters consisting of 2-3 large diameter boulders (1500-2000 lbs each) to areas of low habitat complexity to enhance fisheries habitat and holding areas.  Structures may be used in conjunction with root wads and J-hook vanes. 
2.  Install 5-10 root wads to deflect water from back and scour deep pools fro fish habitat.
3.  Install 2-3 grade control structures made of rock to create pools and maintain streambed elevation.
4.  Install 10-15 rock vanes and/or J-hook vanes to redirect the water energy away from vulnerable banks, reduce near shore stress, and enhance habitat complexity.  These structures in 1-4 will be installed in sections 13, 14 and 15 (see Diamond Fork Aquatic Habitat Evaluation and Enhancement Planning.  October 2018 in Images/Documents).
5.  Establish ground level photo point monitoring sites, monitor every 6-12 months (Fall 2022-Winter 2024)).
6.  Seed any riparian areas disturbed by installation of rock vanes, or rock clusters and root wads.
7.  Obtain NEPA/EA from Forest Service (Spring 2022) and Arch. Clearance from FS or UDWR.  
8.  Stream Alteration Permit (Spring 2022).
9.  Riparian wetland restoration of approximately 1/4 acre
10.  Planting approximately 1,000 additional Narrowleaf cottonwood D60 saplings
11.  Maintain species diversity by removing all phase 1 pinyon/juniper (less than 10" stump diameter) in treatment areas.
12.  Maintain sustainable and diverse sage-steppe and grassland ecosystems over time by maintaining phase 1 pinyon/juniper at a rate of less than 1% per unit treated.
13.  Reduce pinyon/juniper invasion in sage-steppe and grassland habitats by removing all small phase 1 pinyon/juniper from establishing into larger phase 2 and 3 stands to restore and maintain open space.
14. Improve or maintain the quality of forage for big-game animals and livestock.
15.  Improve fire regime condition class and lessen the intensity/severity of wildland fires.

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.

Burned watersheds are vulnerable to intense pulses of high duration and short intensity discharge events triggered by spring runoff and/or monsoonal rains.  Combine this with the high (400-600 cfs) historic flows and Diamond Fork looks very different than a well functioning stream. The fish need more pools and habitat complexity. The proposed habitat improvements will provide the added complexity and help the Diamond Fork system function better and improve fish survival and numbers. This is especially important now after losing the fishery post fire 2018.
One of the greatest threats to this habitat type is the encroachment of pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) and Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) (Pinyon/Juniper) trees into these sagebrush habitats (Bunting et al.1999). Through fire suppression, historic livestock over-grazing, and changes in climatic conditions, Pinyon/Juniper have encroached into areas once dominated by sagebrush (Tausch 1999). The current Stand is dominated by Phase 2 PJ and when Pinyon/Juniper canopy cover and tree density reaches certain levels, they outcompete other vegetation and the diversity and density of under-story vegetation (shrubs, grasses, and forbs) decline. This removes an important component of food and shelter for elk, mule deer, sage-grouse, sage sparrows, and small mammals, such as jackrabbits, which are a large component of Golden Eagle and Bald Eagles diets (Bates and Moretti 1994, Naillon et al. 1999, Vaitkus and Eddleman 1991).  Other wildlife like mule deer and elk will greatly benefit. If this project doesn't occur and the transition of Phase 2 will move toward Phase3 and the remaining understory is lost, the results will be devastating to the deer herd. It will be more likely that animals will not survive the winter and population numbers will decline.  Livestock grazing is also an important part of the livelihood of residents of this watershed. These threats reduce the quality of the range for livestock grazing.

Untreated Pinyon/Juniper will continue to grow and increase costs of treatment in the future and the loss of understory vegetation. The project area is also located in terrain that is not conducive to mechanical treatment. This means if we don't do this project now, we will need to pay for hand thin, pile, and burn and aerial seeding in the future to restore the habitat. In addition, it will take many years to have sagebrush grow back. Mastication is an option for a few areas but its such a small area the benefits would be limited.

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.

Stream restoration of the lower portions of Diamond Fork to improve habitat complexity and especially the development of pool habitats for fish lies within the WRI focus areas and is supported by numerous management documents including the following.

Diamond Fork Aquatic Habitat Evaluation and Enhancement Planning.  October 2018.  Allred Restoration, Bio-West, and URMCC.  123 pages.

Diamond Fork Area Assessment.  2000.  A cooperative project between URMCC and the U.S. Forest Service.  175 pages.

Lower Diamond Fork Restoration Plan.  2008.

Land and Resource Management Plan-Uinta National Forest.  2001.  USDA Forest Service. -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).

Utah County RMP:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Cn80Wzst8eoa0o_BqoTBHOPfPm8M6MIe

Document cites need and County support for: Fire Management (p31) Fisheries (p35) Floodplains and River Terraces (p39) Recreation and Tourism (p72) Riparian Areas (p75) Threatened, Endangered, & Sensitive Species (p78) Water Quality and Hydrology (p81) Wetlands (p90)

2015.  Utah Wildlife Action Plan 2015-2025.  Project goals address major threats including "fire and fire suppression", "channel downcutting", "improper sediment balance", etc. and addresses threats to multiple WAP species, both aquatic and terrestrial.

RANGE-WIDE CONSERVATION AGREEMENT AND STRATEGY FOR BONNEVILLE CUTTHROAT TROUT (Oncorhynchus clarki utah). Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Publication Number 00-19, Salt Lake City, UT.
-Diamond Fork and tributaries are current (5th Water) or future potential (DiaFrk) BCT population centers.

CONSERVATION AGREEMENT AND STRATEGY FOR COLUMBIA SPOTTED FROG (RANA LUTEIVENTRIS) IN THE STATE OF UTAH. Publication Number 06-01
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Salt Lake City, Utah.
-Ponds in Lower Diamond Fork house a recently rediscovered breeding population of CSF.

USFS
Per chapter 2 in the 2003 Uinta National forest plan, this project is consistent with the following Forest wide Goals: 
FW-Goal-1: soil, air, and water resources provide for watershed health, public health and safety, long-term soil productivity, and ecosystem sustainability, and meet applicable laws and regulations. 
*	Sub-goal-1-2 Long-term soil productivity is maintained on at least 85% of all activity areas. 
*	Sub-goal-1-4 Eco logical and soil conditions are meeting or moving towards desired future conditions on 75% of the uplands and 80% of the riparian areas classified as suitable for grazing. 
FW-Goal-2: Biologically diverse, sustainable ecosystems maintain or enhance habitats for native flora and fauna, forest and rangeland health, watershed health, and water quality. 
*	Sub-goal-2-6 Ecosystems on the Forest provide and maintain viable and well-distributed populations of flora and fauna. 
*	Sub-goal-2-7 Non-native rangelands are restored to native rangeland ecosystems as opportunities arise. 
*	Sub-goal-2-8 Ecosystem resilience is maintained by providing for a full range of seral stages and age classes (by cover type) that achieve a mosaic of habitat conditions and diversity to meet a variety of desired resource management objectives. Recruitment and sustainability of some early seral species and vegetation communities in the landscape are necessary to maintain ecosystem resilience to perturbations. 
*	Sub-goal-2-10 Management actions maintain ecosystem health and encourage conditions that are within the historic range of variation. Management actions remain within the variability of size, intensity, and frequency of native disturbance regimes characteristic of the subject landscape and ecological processes. 
*	Sub-goal-2-14 Potential habitat for clay phacelia in the Spanish Fork Canyon area is managed to ensure quality habitat will be available in the future if it becomes necessary to introduce this species onto National Forest System lands to provide for its recovery. 
*	Sub-goal-2-17 Activities and vegetation management minimize or eliminate the occurrence of non-native pests (including noxious weeds) and epidemic episodes of native pests. 
*	Sub-goal-2-23 Areas identified as being of special concern for habitat such as big game winter range, big game natal areas, Canada lynx denning areas, and greater sage grouse breeding areas in the Vernon and Strawberry Reservoir Management Areas are maintained and, where potential exists, improved or expanded. Disturbances in these areas are limited during critical periods for wildlife. 
*	Sub-goal-2-25 Maintain stable and upward conditions in big game winter range habitats and improve downward trend sites.

Utah DWR Statewide Management Plan for Mule Deer (2014)
Objectives/Strategies: 
Habitat Goal: Conserve, improve, and restore mule deer habitat throughout the state with emphasis on crucial ranges. 
Habitat Objective 1: Maintain mule deer habitat throughout the state by protecting and enhancing existing crucial habitats and mitigating for losses due to natural and human impacts. 
Implications: Loss of crucial mule deer habitat will need to be minimized to achieve population objectives. Mitigation is essential for loss or degradation of all crucial habitats due to natural and human impacts. 
Strategies: 
Work with local, state and federal land management agencies via land management plans and with private landowners to identify and properly manage crucial mule deer habitats, especially fawning, wintering and migration areas. 
Habitat Objective 2: Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 500,000 acres of crucial range by 2019.
Implications: Habitat will need to be improved on at least 500,000 acres of crucial mule deer range to meet the population objectives in this plan. If habitat improvement projects cannot be completed because of inadequate funding, environmental restrictions, or unfavorable climatic conditions, population objectives may not be achieved. Additionally, because habitat treatments often require a number of years before they provide optimal benefits to mule deer, and if large catastrophic wildfires and energy developments continue to negatively impact crucial mule deer ranges, the population and habitat goals of this plan may not be achieved within the 5-year life of this plan.
Strategies:
Work with land management agencies, conservation organizations, private landowners, and local leaders through the regional Watershed Restoration Initiative working groups to identify and prioritize mule deer habitats that are in need of enhancement or restoration.
Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat with emphasis on drought or fire damaged sagebrush winter ranges, ranges that have been taken over by invasive annual grass species, and ranges being diminished by encroachment of conifers into sagebrush or aspen habitats, ensuring that seed mixes contain sufficient forbs and browse species.
Continue to support and provide leadership for the Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative, which emphasizes improving sagebrush-steppe, aspen, and riparian habitats throughout Utah.
Encourage land managers to manage portions of pinion-juniper woodlands and aspen/conifer forests in early successional stages using various methods including timber harvest and managed fire.
Continue to support the conservation permit and habitat enhancement programs which provide critical funding for habitat improvement efforts.

Utah DWR Statewide Management Plan for Elk (2015)
Habitat Management Goal: Conserve and improve elk habitat throughout the state.
Habitat Objective 1: Maintain sufficient habitat to support elk herds at population objectives
and reduce competition for forage between elk and livestock.
Strategies:
Habitat Management
a) Coordinate with land management agencies and private landowners to properly manage and improve elk habitat, especially calving and wintering areas.
b) Work with state and federal land management agencies to use livestock as a management tool to enhance crucial elk ranges.
Watershed Restoration Initiative
a) Increase forage production by annually treating a minimum of 40,000 acres of elk habitat.
b) Coordinate with land management agencies, conservation organizations, private landowners, and local leaders through the regional Watershed Restoration Initiative working groups to identify and prioritize elk habitats that are in need of enhancement or restoration.
i) Identify habitat projects on summer ranges (aspen communities) to improve calving habitat.
ii) Encourage land managers to manage portions of forests in early succession stages through the use controlled burning and logging. Controlled burning should only be used in areas with minimal invasive weed and/or safety concerns.
iii) Promote let-burn policies in appropriate areas that will benefit elk, and conduct reseeding efforts post wildlife.

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.

Several experts in range and fire science have identified the role healthy riparian systems play in wildfire dynamics by serving as fire breaks, safety zones, water sources, and burn out points.  Numerous authors cite similar observations. Proposed practices will improve the riparian zone in the Diamond Fork watershed in the identified river sections.

Workshop on the multiple influences of riparian ecosystems on fires in western forest landscapes.  Summary Report  2001.  Kauffman, J.B.

Fuels have been accumulating over the years due to human cultural practices and changing climatic conditions. The Utah Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal (UWRAP) designates this area as a Moderate and a few areas in Moderate-High Risk for wildfire (Utah Division of Fire, Forestry and State Lands The Oregon Department of Forestry completed this assessment on behalf of the Council of Western State Foresters with funding from the USDA Forest Service). 
Wildland urban interface areas are located around Little Diamond, Diamond Campground, and scattered private homes and summer cabins off Diamond Fork Road (#029) in Wanrhodes and Little Diamond areas.  The Central Utah Project (CUP) also has infrastructure to be protected and there are two existing utility corridors within this management area. Utah Power and Light occupies the corridor along Highway 6 and Deseret Generation and Transmission occupies the corridor along the eastern edge of the management area boundary. The southwestern portion of the management area contains a large amount of private land, specifically the Wanrhodes Basin, comprising about a tenth of the entire management area. The Bureau of Reclamation has a withdrawal in the bottom of the Diamond Fork drainage to develop and maintain the water transmission pipeline.

With the previous large fires in the area, this treatment would help tie in previous burn areas to give us a better fire/fuel break.  Hazardous fuels reduction treatments would help minimize the risks to private land, structures, and natural resources, from potential wildland fires. The implementation of this project would help minimize the risks to private land, structures, and natural resources, from potential wildland fires by: 1) altering fire behavior from a crown fire to a surface fire, 2) increasing native plant populations and their resiliency, 3) reducing the risk of weed expansion, and 4) protecting critical mule deer habitat from unwanted fire effects. The current fuel load and arrangement is likely to support a relatively severe crown fire due to continuous, dense canopies of juniper and oak brush. The proposed treatment would alter fire behavior from a crown fire to a more controllable surface fire by breaking up the continuity of aerial fuels. This alteration in fire behavior not only enhances firefighter and Forest visitor safety but increases the ability of the plant community to recover post-fire by reducing the fire severity. This project will increase the sinuosity of the stream, raise the water table, slow water movement through the system and reconnect the channel with its historic floodplain. This will increase the amount of riparian vegetation which will create a larger fuel break to stop fires from spreading and destroying more critical wildlife habitat. It will also create a location where firefighters can more easily combat the fire. By having younger shrubs that are not as decadent and dry as older dying shrubs it will reduce the risk and severity of fire. Hopefully it will serve as green strip areas where fires will slow or stop. By maintaining healthy stand of shrubs and native plants it will prevent annual grasses from establishing that can increase the fuel load and dryness of plants that increase fire risk.

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.

There are two current TMDL's that are impacted by this project. Spanish Fork River has one and Utah Lake has another. This project will not directly but will potentially move the system towards attainment and will prevent further degradation cause by wildfire effects.

The project will also directly benefit water quality in several ways, including the following:

1.	Prevent channel downcutting and promote aggradation of sediments in entrained reaches.
2.	Reduce sedimentation delivered further downstream (i.e. Spanish Fork River, Utah Lake, Jordan River and The Great Salt Lake)
3.	Trap/filter sediment, nutrients, and contaminants thus prevent (reducing) its movement downstream.  Riparian seeding and vegetation also can remove/alter organic nutrients through processes such as denitrification, absorption by clays, etc.

The proposed efforts will make best use of the perennial water source by developing suitable pools, better fish habitat and overall riparian health.

The Diamond Fork watershed is the largest headwater tributary of the Spanish Fork River. Water from the management area is used for stock water, irrigation, domestic, power, storage, and municipalities. Spanish Fork City receives municipal water from this management area. 
A major influence in this management area is the Central Utah Project (CUP). The CUP diverts Utah's share of Colorado River water (roughly 260,000 acre-feet of water annually) from the Duchesne River Basin. This project consists of a network of dams, water diversions, and reservoirs to transfer water from the Duchesne River and its tributaries to the Wasatch Front. The first diversion operations began in 1915 to transfer water from the West Fork Duchesne River to Strawberry Reservoir, then through the Sixth Water and Diamond Fork drainages to the Spanish Fork area.
In order to deliver this amount of water and restore habitats adversely impacted by historically high CUP water flows, a series of pipelines, tunnels, and aqueducts have been built to remove a majority of the transported water from the stream channels. In the fall of 1997, a 510 cfs (cubic feet per second) pipeline was completed from the mouth of Diamond Fork to Monks Hollow, and after that connected this pipeline to the Sixth Water aqueduct via a tunnel and/or additional pipelines. One of the main objectives of the operation of the Diamond Fork System is to provide flows that will allow mitigation or restoration of past impacts from the Strawberry Valley Project. Impacts from augmented flows include loss of a multiple age cottonwood forest along lower Diamond Fork and Sixth Water Creeks, stream channel down-cutting, excessive stream bank erosion, decreased aquatic habitat, and increased sedimentation. The selected flow regime, including its magnitude, timing, and duration, are among the most important factors in achieving restoration of the Sixth Water Diamond Fork channels and riparian resources.
Watershed emphasis management is focused along the slopes of Spanish Fork Peak and continues to provide protection to the water collection system that provides the water supply for the city of Spanish Fork. Water quality in streams previously impacted by enhanced flows from CUP activities (Lower Diamond Fork and Sixth Water Creeks) is improved to meet state water quality standards. Riparian vegetation along lower Diamond Fork and Sixth Water Creeks is enhanced to be within the range of desired future conditions for RHCAs.

Pinyon/Juniper removal benefits water quality and quantity. A negative impact on the watershed from Pinyon/Juniper encroachment is soil erosion (Farmer 1995). By removing Pinyon/Juniper it will allow for the current grasses and forbs to return and stabilize the soil and decrease the speed of water-flow and the size of soil particles that can be moved downstream and therefore reduce erosion. This project will help to protect this from happening in the future and save the ecosystem from irreversible losses to soil. In water-limited systems, an added benefit to Pinyon/Juniper removal can be the potential to increase water-savings. Pinyon/Juniper have been shown to intercept about 10-20 percent of precipitation (Skau 1964). Also, where Pinyon/Juniper encroachment has resulted in large bare ground areas it has been shown that these systems can have greater precipitation runoff (Farmer 1995). Results of the Great Basin Landscape Conservation Cooperative study in Nevada (Desatoya Mt.) found that by removing (lop and scatter) Pinyon/Juniper (130 trees/acre) there is the potential to increase water recharge yields 4% on wet years. On wet years this will increase recharge but does not increase stream flow. Wet meadows and upland plants benefit by utilizing the increase soil moisture, providing for better resiliency during drought years. This provides for an increase in water quantity for herbaceous plants on sites where pinyon/juniper is removed. By implementing this project, we will be preventing the increased loss of water from occurring. This project is very large and has the potential to make a large impact on the watershed. Shrub restoration benefits to water quality and quantity: By having a healthy diversity of age class shrubs it will prevent a mono-culture of old decadent plants which can die off and result in invasion of weedy plants such as cheat grass. Cheat grass will absorb all the available water and decrease the plant diversity. By doing this project there will be more available water for native understory plants to increase species diversity.

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.

PALS: some Post Assisted Log Structures may be installed as with the previous two projects. 
We will utilize local large woody debris (LWD) e.g. logs. Logs will be dead and down, standing dead or fire mortality trees of the proper size. Logs will be placed in-stream with a trachoe and anchored with 4"x6' sharpened, untreated wooden posts. Posts are driven into the streambed with a handheld diesel powered hydraulic post driver to hold logs in place and assist in capturing sediment and debris. PALS will be placed to optimize habitat and material capturing benefits.

ROCK CLUSTERS AND J-HOOK VANES: Large rocks will be strategically placed in sections of the river to develop more pool and fish holding habitats. These structures will also aid in reducing stream energy away from the banks and attempt to redirect or add sinuosity and complexity to the river.

ROOTWADS: Large rootballs will be placed and keyed into the banks of the river to generate large pools and redirect the river.

Riparian wetland restoration:  An approximate 1/4 acre riparian wetland has gradually filled in with sediment due to fire induced erosion.  The excess sediment will be removed with the use of a excavator to approximated 2010 levels/depth.

Seed any riparian areas disturbed by installation of these various structures.

Pinyon/Juniper Removal:
To remove Pinyon/Juniper we will contract chainsaw hand crews to lop and scatter. We will not need to seed because there is still an understory.
 Remove smaller Junipers and Pinyon pines <10" in diameter measured at each stem or stems where they meet the bole or bole's nearest the root collar/stump of the tree in shrub-steppe and grassland areas that have less than 20% canopy cover. Remaining stumps will be no higher than 6 inches, Trees will be cut into approximate 3 foot lengths and branches scattered across the site. Scattered material should not exceed a height/depth of  24 inches. Chainsaws and /or loppers would be used in the project areas. All travel between sites will be on foot or on existing roads and trails.

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.

In the fall of 2018 CRO DWR and the Forest Service convened a regional streams fire rehab coordination team which was attended by over 30 people from numerous agencies.  From this meeting a subgroup was appointed to focus on restoration within the Nebo Creek, Spanish Fork and Diamond Fork Watersheds.  Numerous people have contributed to the group, but the major partners working in Diamond Fork are UDWR, the U.S. Forest Service, Utah County, Utah State University, Bio-west, URMCC, TU and NRCS.

U.S. Forest Service.  Assistance with final design and project objectives.  Fulfill NEPA requirements perhaps through a categorical exclusion.   Funding assistance (in-kind).

URMCC.  Assistance with final design and project objectives.  Funding assistance (actual and in-kind).

Trout Unlimited.  Assistance with final design and project objectives. .

Habitat and Wildlife Sections of CRO UDWR. Will aerially seed portions of the burned area to reduce upland erosion, provide assistance with final design and project objectives.

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 Diamond Fork Restoration Team determined that one of the main goals of the team is to establish a "medium sized fishery" or fishing opportunity in Diamond Fork. A river in size between the Provo River and Thistle Creeks. The habitat improvements will improve the fishery and provide better fishing opportunities for anglers. These improvements will also improve the success of the fish populations to be more self-sustaining.

The projects goal centers upon speeding the recovery of the riparian and aquatic community with the ultimate goal of restoring a self sustaining trout fishery for recreation and conservation purposes.

Diamond Fork has been on the potential Blue Ribbon Fisheries List and these efforts could help the Diamond Fork River reach that status and provide great fishing opportunities to anglers.

Diamond Fork Canyon is a High Use Recreational area for dispersed camping, hiking, hunting and ATV'ing, these stream restoration efforts will speed desirability of the area for the public.

Reseeding and reestablishment of watering areas and riparian forage will shorten post-fire rest periods on the two grazing allotments.

Multiple grazing allotments within the drainage will/have benefitted from seeding, riparian restoration, and instream practices designed to limit channel downcutting and sediment retention.

The reduction in overhead canopy will increase the amount of grasses and forbs produced within the project area. This will primarily benefit livestock and wildlife that utilize this area. Recreation will experience secondary benefit's from a reduced fuel load. This will increase safety, scenic vistas and user primitive access for hunting, hiking, mountain biking, OHV, Fishing, and Camping.

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.