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Utah's Watershed Restoration Initiative
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Soldier Ridge Brush Management
Region: Southeastern
ID: 6478
Project Status: Completed
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Project Details
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Need for Project
This is a Natural Resource Conservation Service project on privately owned lands. The project areas have a dwindling herbaceous community due in part to the over abundance of mature and decadent sagebrush, and poor grazing management.
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.
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Objectives
The goal is to reduce the amount of sagebrush in the project areas by using a chain harrow. Once the sagebrush has been depleted the remaining grasses and forbs in this relatively high precipitation area, in combination with proper grazing management, will be able to reestablish and provide increased forage for deer, elk, and livestock.
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.
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Project Location/Timing Justification (Why Here? Why Now?)
If the area continues as a mature and decadent sagebrush dominated site with little herbaceous understory it will be very susceptible to invasive annuals when a disturbance event eventually occurs. Increasing the native grasses and forbs in the area will increase the sites resilience to disturbance.
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.
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Relation to Management Plans
Deer Statewide Management Plan: the plan illustrates work with land management agencies and private landowners to identify and properly manage crucial mule deer habitats, especially fawning and wintering areas, and will improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer. -Elk statewide management plan; the project supports objectives and strategies in this plan to project elk habitat and mitigate loss, habitat improvement projects that increase forage for both big game and livestock, maintains elk habitat throughout the state by identifying and protecting existing crucial elk habitat and mitigating for losses due to human impacts
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.
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Fire/Fuels
Initially this project will have little affect on reducing fuels in the area as the dead material will still be on site, but as the dead material breaks down there will be a reduced amount of fuels on site.
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.
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Water Quality/Quantity
Increased grasses and forbs will reduce amount of sediment in the watershed by holding soil in place and covering the bare ground. The increased herbaceous community will also increase water infiltration into the soil.
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.
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Compliance
The project has been checked for cultural resources by the NRCS archeologist, and all paperwork to comply with NEPA has been done through the NRCS processes.
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.
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Methods
We will be renting a 15' chain harrow from the DWR and the landowner will be using their tractor to pull it. The treated area will be 166 acres.
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.
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Monitoring
The project area will be monitored by the landowner as well as NRCS staff to make sure the grazing management requirements of their contract are upheld.
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.
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Partners
The NRCS is working with the DWR for equipment rental.
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.
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Future Management
The landowner has committed to a grazing management plan as part of their NRCS contract and maintain the area for increased grasses and forbs.
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.
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Sustainable Uses of Natural Resources
This project will improve the available forage for livestock in the area.
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.
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