Project Details

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.

1.  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 2019 (p 19-20). 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.
2.  Zion Deer Herd Management Plan, Deer Herd Unit # 29 
   -Habitat management objectives:
         Maintain and/or enhance forage production through direct range improvements throughout the unit on winter and summer range to achieve population management objectives. 
3.  North American Mule Deer Conservation Plan (Mule Deer Working Group 2004). 
  A) Mule deer habitat Objectives and Strategies
   -Develop and implement habitat treatment protocols that reduce the impacts of cheatgrass or other invasive plants. B) Manage mule deer habitat in a fashion to control type conversions (i. e., conversion of rangeland to croplands, and shrublands to monotypic pinyon-juniper stands) (Pg. 7).
4. National Fire Plan (NFP) 
   - Primary Goals: 1) Improve fire prevention and suppression; 2) Restore fire adapted
ecosystem.
5.   Accompanying (NFP) 10 year Comprehensive Strategy 
   - Guiding Principles: 3) Prevent invasive species and restore watershed function and biological communities through short term stabilization and long-term rehabilitation; 4) Restore healthy, diverse, and resilient ecological system to minimize uncharacteristically severe fires on a priority watershed basis through long-term restoration.
6.Utah Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy
  - A) Conservation actions-Protect and rehabilitate
remaining low elevation habitat for Mule Deer (pg. 6-60). B) Key Actions- Control invasive vegetation and plant desirable plants (Pg. K-11). C) Mountain Shrub conservation actions- Invasive Plant Species, Use herbicide mechanically remove, or otherwise control invasive non-native vegetation; plant desirable vegetation, including use of non-invasive, non-native species when ecologically indicated to fight invasive annuals (Table 8.1).
7.  Strategic Management Plan for Wild Tukey
   -Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR 2000, Publication 00-25).
     Grasses provide food for adults and are especially important to poults as an environment where they can effectively forage for insects. Poults need an environment that produces insects and in which they can efficiently forage. Poults need an area that provides enough cover to hide them, but allows the adult hen unobstructed vision for protection from predators.
8.  Ash Creek Watershed Coordinated Resource Management Plan-2016
    -Ash Creek Watershed is also critical habitat for big game.  Consequently, any treatment project that create diversification of the age class of vegetation, will assist in sustaining mule deer throughout the winter months.
9.  Southwestern Utah Regional Wildfire Protection Plan (2007)
    -Work with new communities and volunteer fire departments to identify risks
in WUI areas.
    -Encourage landowner mitigation and defensible space work

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.