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.

Utah Bighorn Sheep Statewide Management Plan
B. Habitat Management Goal: Provide good quality habitat for healthy
populations of bighorn sheep. Objective: Maintain or improve sufficient bighorn sheep habitat to allow herds to reach population objectives.
Strategies:
c. Work with land managers to minimize and mitigate loss of bighorn habitat due to human
disturbance and development.
d. Initiate vegetative treatment projects to improve bighorn habitat lost to natural succession
or human impacts.
e. Encourage land management agencies to use fire as a management tool to improve
bighorn sheep habitat. When possible, allow fires that can have beneficial effects for
bighorn sheep to burn.

The Utah Elk Statewide Management Plan has the following applicable objectives and strategies:
Habitat Objective 2, strategy d -- Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve elk habitat with emphasis on calving habitat and winter ranges.
Habitat Objective 2, strategy h -- Emphasize improvement of upper elevation winter ranges to encourage elk to winter at higher elevation than mule deer.

The Utah Mule Deer Statewide Management Plan has the following applicable objectives and strategies:
 Utah Wildlife Action Plan identifies Mountain Shrub as a key habitat type as well as several threats to species that will benefit from this project. See the Threats/Risks section for details on how this project relates to the WAP.

Land Management Plan for the Ashley National Forest
Wildlife:
Coordinate management actions with management plans of other Federal, state, and local agencies, tribes, and adjacent landowners. Expand opportunities to manage wildlife habitat through coordination and collaboration along and across administrative boundaries.
Vegetation:
03 Ground disturbances in and next to plant communities that are susceptible to or are affected by invasive plants should be seeded within 1 year following disturbance. Plants that have proven capability to compete with invasive plants should be used.
04 Plant communities that are susceptible to or are affected by invasive plants that have been burned with prescribed fire or wildfire should be seeded during the same growing season following the fire. Seed mixes should include plants that have proven capability to compete with invasive plants

The Utah State Resource Management Plan has several applicable objectives and policies & guidelines: 
-- The State promotes fuel breaks, thinning, chaining, prescribed fire and the selection of fire-resistant vegetation in green-stripping and burned areas.
-- The State will pursue opportunities to conduct and assist other partners with fuel reduction work including mechanical treatments and prescribed fire.
--Support the use of mechanical or chemical means or fire to alter or perpetuate forests and increase herbaceous yield where timber harvest is impractical or demand does not exist."
--Improve vegetative health on public and private lands through range improvements, prescribed fire, vegetation treatments, and active management of invasive plants and noxious weeds.

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.