Project Details

The Upper East Canyon Creek Watershed Restoration Project - FY25 goal is to improve the overall health of the Upper East Canyon Creek Watershed, including riparian areas, streams, wetlands, and upland sites. Building upon work that has been completed over the last five years under the WRI Parleys Canyon Project, this multiyear phased project will continue to restore the watershed and contribute to the Wasatch Mountains water security for downstream beneficiaries, ultimately providing a clean drinking water for downstream residents and supporting efforts to protect the critical water needed by the Great Salt Lake. To accomplish our landscape-scale goals, we have built a collaborative partnership for true watershed scale planning between many stakeholders, to include landowners, government entities, and non-profit organizations. Historically, the Upper East Canyon Watershed has been overgrazed, clear-cut logged, and most recently heavily developed.  These combined actions have created lasting negative impacts on the greater ecosystem and the services it provides. As a result, East Canyon Creek is incised and degraded leaving the habitat conditions stressed and diminished for many fish and wildlife species. In addition, decades of wildfire suppression have led to excess fuel biomass and unhealthy forests. This project is proposed as phased restoration in order to bring significant progress toward rectifying these impacts. This FY25 project will build on efforts along East Canyon Creek by treating invasive weeds, monitoring for new weed invasions, maintaining old and building new BDAs, and reducing wildfire danger with continued fuel reduction efforts. In addition to improving watershed health, the project area serves as an essential destination for recreation in the region (e.g., skiing, hiking, fishing, camping, and hunting). A large part of the Wasatch Back economy is driven by recreation, and protecting this watershed will help preserve those sustainable uses. The severe wildfire threat in the Upper reaches of East Canyon Creek Watershed concerns multiple stakeholders. Residents living in Pinebrook, Summit Park, Jeremy Ranch, and Park City face extreme risks to property damage and the habitat that supports a health ecosystem and most notably the lives of residents, visitors and firefighters. The long-term effects from a catastrophic wildfire can have devastating downstream consequences for water users. The associated infrastructure costs can be prohibitive to reduce erosion, maintain potable water, and make the area safe again for recreators. Efforts are needed to reduce fuel loads, create defensible space, reduce the risk, and mitigate the post fire impacts of such a disaster. This project will work to address and minimize these threats by reducing fuels and improving riparian health (natures firebreak). This project will improve the health of the watershed by focusing on ecological communities by thinning conifer stands and improving the riparian corridor with BDAs, thereby improving wildlife habitat. Additionally, project stakeholders are proposing a camera trapping and acoustic monitoring on proposed sites to collect data on wildlife species using treatment areas. The purchase of cameras, training of staff and monitoring of data will inform the project going forward and provide conclusive data of wildlife use and vegetation improvements related to project treatments. In conclusion, this is a highly critical watershed for both humans and wildlife alike. This project is an extension of the Parley's project that has been national recognized for its success in making progress by moving a watershed-scale restoration effort in a positive direction. The many partners on this project ask for funding to start the first phase of this new project FY25 to continue to build on previous efforts and restore the health of this watershed to its best possible state.
The goals of this project are to: 
1. Improve wildlife habitat with particular focus on existing conifer health, benefitting numerous species that benefit from healthy forests (e,g,. elk, mule deer, moose, beaver,  goshawk). 
2. Manage the risk of hazardous fuel accumulations to minimize the potential for large, high-intensity/high severity wildfires adjacent to the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI). 
3. Manage for future forestry practices, and current forest health concerns, by creating resiliency through means of managing stand composition and structure to create multiple age classes and species diversity.
4. Reduce sediment loading, improve water quality and quantity, and reduce fire risk to rangeland streams. 
5. Restore up to 4 miles of riparian habitat to support populations of Bonneville Cutthroat Trout, amphibians such as Northern Leopard frog and Boreal Toad, aquatic mollusks found in the project area (e.g. Mitered Vertigo, Mountain Marshanail, Cross Snaggletooth), other invertebrates (Monarch Butterfly, Western Bumblebee), and terrestrial species  (e.g. Little Brown Myotis, Moose, Elk, Mule Deer) that are known to benefit from riparian and wet meadow restoration.
6. Mitigate noxious weeds to foster native ecosystems recover
7. Plant wetland and riparian vegetation to improve habitat and ecological vigor.

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.

The primary objectives of the FY25 proposal are to carry out 1) forestry work intended to reduce the risk of large fires, improve aspen habitat, and improve rangeland health within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), 2) implement riparian restoration and maintenance projects intended to improve water quality, wildlife habitat, and resilience of water systems to fire, flood, and drought and 3) implement a camera trapping and acoustic monitoring methodology to gather wildlife data related to the riparian improvements and upland forest treatment. Specifically, we will carry out:
1. Summit County, Basin Recreatoin, and Pinebrook HOA will implement forest health treatments, using handcrews, on 310 acres of mixed montane forest to reduce overloaded fuels, improved community resilience to wildfire, and enhance wildlife habitat in the WUI.
2. Sageland Collaborative will monitor and provide maintenance to existing low-tech process-based restoration projects (beaver dam analogs) in tributaries to East Canyon Creek, specifically McCleod Creek, and Toll Creek toward the project's riparian restoration goals. 
3. Trout Unlimited and Summit County will install 4 miles of cattle exclosure fencing on Big Bear Hollow from the headwater spring to the entry into East Canyon Creek on the 910 Cattle Ranch property. The project aims to improve grazing operations and stream health by removing direct access to the stream by cattle while allowing wildlife to access the water source using wildlife friendly fencing techniques. Restoration of vegetation and channel connectivity will be supported through other funding sources within the enclosure. 
4. By planting riparian trees and shrubs, DNR and USU Swanner will increase wetland and wet meadow habitat in the riparian zone and increase stream diversity of habitat types for fish and amphibian species.  Trees will be protected from herbivory using fencing to increase survival rates. 
5. Rapid stream assessment and continued monitoring will be performed by Sageland Collaborative on projects that were funding by previous years of WRI.
6. USU Swaner will complete a cultural and archeological survey on an earthen dam across East Canyon Creek to determine viability of future fish passage work and state involvement.
7. DNR and Sageland Collaborative will purchase and install four (4) acoustic monitoring devices for bat and bird surveys on Mcleod Creek BDAs
8. With the purchase of 9 wildlife cameras DNR, Summit County, Pinebrook, and Sageland Collaborative will collaborate on a camera trapping wildlife study to expand on their already successful Wasatch Wildlife Watch program, extending the project reach into the Wasatch Back.

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:
Forestry: Decades of fire suppression have left much of the region's conifer forest in need of updated management strategies to reduce the risk of uncharacteristically large fires. Thinning and prescribed burning of conifer stands in Pinebrook, Summit Park, Toll Canyon and 910 Cattle Ranch were selected based on area a critical concern for residential WUI protection, extreme fire risk, region-wide needs for fuel management, improving rangeland health and big game habitat (wildlife collar data- elk), and creating safe ingress/egress for emergency personnel.  All four project areas are located near important mule deer area, but are currently 'low use', suggesting the need for habitat improvement.  The project areas are also adjacent to the 1-80 wildlife overpass increasing the importance of habitat in these locations. Management plans (Utah's Wildlife Action Plan, Summit County Natural Resource Management Plan, Utah Wildfire Risk Assessment, Pinebrook HOA Management Plan, Toll Canyon and Summit Park Forestry Management Plans) were also instrumental in site selection using vegetation analysis and professional guidance to select the highest priority sites for treatment. With climate change and invasive insect outbreaks, several vegetation types within the project area are at risk of crossing an ecological threshold.  With significant forest health concerns occurring, mixed conifer stands are experiencing high mortality rates within white, subalpine, and Douglas fir and aspen decline with limited recruitment and regeneration, the landscape is transitioning into a Condition Class of 3 fire regime, a forests that have been substantially altered from their natural (historical) range.
Riparian: Project locations for proposed riparian restoration work (BDAs, noxious weed mitigation, riparian fencing) were identified with input from local land stewards, Utah DWR and DEQ representatives, USU extension officers, and a number of management plans directed towards improving habitat and water quality. As part of several multi-phase projects throughout the entire Upper East Canyon watershed, these projects represent just one part in the wholistic approach that is being done to restore ecological resilience in the area which has been compromised by historically poor land management practices. Extensive riparian restoration work has occurred in the Upper East Canyon watershed, but continued investment to monitor and maintain this work will ensure continued progress toward resilience and restoration goals. Management plans referenced for site locations include, DNR Conservation Plans, Basin Recreation Open Space Management Plan, and East Canyon Creek Management Plan.

WHY NOW?
Forestry work: If action is delayed and timely disturbance is not reintroduced into existing mixed aspen-conifer stands, then the resource will continue to decline within the watershed, increasing the wildfire threat to the nearby WUI and severely damaging soils, water quality and wildlife habitat. In a No-Action alternative treatment, conifers will outcompete shade-intolerant aspen eventually crossing a threshold where conifers further dominate. Soil moisture and water availability in this snow-dependent system will decrease as conifer canopy increases due to conifer intercepting precipitation before it reaches the forest floor, reducing groundwater infiltration and increasing evaporative loss. The 2019 National Hazards Mitigation Report revealed that investing in the upfront costs of wildfire fuel reduction treatments can deliver a 4:1 investment return. A 2020 study, published by UCANR Forest Advisors, of the comprehensive costs of wildfire in California, estimated that the 2018 wildfires cost the state around $150 Billion Dollars. Locally, the 2018 Dollar Ridge Fire (Duchesne County, Utah) demonstrated the high cost of inaction: in its wake, in the first three years the water utility has paid water treatment costs of over $44 million, representing a 15x increase in operating costs. Additional costs are expected to accrue. Similarly, the 1996 Buffalo Creek wildfire and the 2002 Hayman wildfire both occurred in the Upper South Platte watershed of Colorado's front range. Pre-fire inaction combined with post-fire heavy rainfall brought 1 million cubic yards of sediment into Strontia Springs Reservoir, or 40 years' worth of sediment in one event, which interrupted service for two months. Treating just the headwaters of the watershed, that provides for 1.2M downstream residents, could cost upwards of $170 million dollars. Summit County is ambitiously creating a Resilience Fund, pursuing $30 million dollars for upfront treatment cost and creating a lasting endowment for maintenance work; these funds will be leveraged for grants such as this one to fill the funding gap. 
Riparian restoration:   Loss of riparian vegetation and floodplain connectivity have stripped our region's watersheds of resilience to climate extremes, both in terms of flow events and thermal stress on Bonneville Cutthroat Trout. East Canyon Creek, for instance, experienced multiple temperature spikes above critical thresholds for coldwater trout species that use the watershed. We must act now to re-build resilience into our waterways.  Sediment loading and bank erosion will only continue to increase without intervention. Riparian restoration takes many years. BDA implementation, and the return of beavers, will kickstart the restoration process. Additionally, because the projects are located in upper reaches of the watershed, benefits will be seen throughout the entire watershed. Cost effective restoration requires maintenance and monitoring to see continued success.  This project supports funds that have already been put on the group, ensuring long-term success. Without timely maintenance, project will become redo's that duplicate funding and effort.    As mentioned above, riparian zones are highly sensitive ecosystems and can quickly cross thresholds that are difficult to return from. Fencing is a simple and effective way to stop ecosystem changes and improve riparian health by completely removing access by livestock. This will reduce erosion, sedimentation, and nutrient deposition almost completely from these currently highly grazed areas.In addition to the ecological thresholds mentioned for riparian projects above, funding for this project addresses a time-sensitive need to take advantage of significant federal funding available in the region.  Trout Unlimited and Summit County have received funds to supplement the WRI request but funds are time limited and must be put on the ground by the end of 2025.  This grant leverages those grant dollars and extends the reach of WRI project outcomes.

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.

This project complies with guidance and addresses objectives outlined in the following management plans:
1. The Boreal Toad (Bufo boreas boreas) Conservation Plan (Utah Division of Wildlife Resources 2005):
3.1 Fire Management.
3.1.1 Protect habitats in forest stands adjacent to and within 2.5 miles of breeding sites.
3.1.2 Restrict burns to late fall through early spring during which time boreal toads are inactive in known occupied areas.
3.1.3 Determine impacts of fire through monitoring of known breeding sites.
3.2 Habitat Fragmentation.
3.2.1 Prevent further habitat fragmentation of breeding populations.
3.2.1.a Identify and preserve dispersal corridors.
3.2.1.b Identify and preserve metapopulation structure.
3.2.2. Restore historic dispersal corridors where possible.
3.2.2.a Identify where migration and gene flow among occupied habitats should be facilitated.
3.2.2.b Improve habitat conditions in degraded dispersal corridors where appropriate
3.3.1.c Minimize depletion of boreal toad prey base.
3.3.1.d Minimize degradation of bank conditions.
3.3.1.e Minimize degradation of water quality.
3.3.1.f Minimize depletion of emergent and riparian vegetation. 
3.9.2 Minimize habitat loss and degradation associated with water management.
3.9.2.a Minimize stream channelization.
3.9.3 Create, restore, and maintain new habitats through water management.
3.9.3.a Create shallow shoreline margins in new impoundments.
3.9.3.b Deepen impoundments to maintain sufficient water levels through metamorphosis.
3.9.3.c Create new wetlands according to boreal toad breeding habitat requirements.

2. Deer Herd Unit 17a Management Plan:  Maintain mule deer habitat throughout the unit by protecting and enhancing existing crucial habitats and mitigating for losses due to natural and human impacts. Seek cooperative projects to improve the quality and quantity of deer habitat. Provide improved habitat security and escapement opportunities for deer. Future habitat work should be concentrated on the following areas;  Quaking aspen forests unit wide. We will be working in the quaking aspen stands to reduce conifer competition. Anywhere along the front that would avert deer from entering cities. By improving the habitat condition up higher in the canyon we will hopefully keep deer from going down into the city.
3. Wildlife Action Plan:  Under the threats, data gaps, and action section of the plan it identifies a list of Essential Conservation Actions.  It states the need to restore and improve degraded wildlife habitats. species and others. The habitat type that this project is located in as identified in the WAP is the aquatic scrub/shrub type, forested aquatics, and riverine. We will be improving the habitat in this key habitat and addressing the threats to this habitat type. The plan identifies sediment transport imbalance as a medium threat to this habitat type and this project will help to reduce sediment transport by stabilizing the banks with vegetation and rocks. It identifies channel down-cutting as a high threat and this project will help to remove the channels in the stream and make a more subtle gradient. This project will raise the water levels to restore the floodplain and reduce this channel down-cutting. The plan mentions a management strategy that this project addresses to help improve this habitat type through restoring more natural water and sediment flow regimes. WAP Ch. 7-1; Mountain Riparian Habitat, criteria and score totals (ch. 7-8) 3rd highest priority statewide. Ch. 6-15; Western Toad.

4. Statewide Moose Management Plan:  Population Management Goal, Achieve optimum populations of moose in all suitable habitat within the state. Habitat Management Goal, Assure sufficient habitat is available to sustain healthy and productive moose populations. Recreation Goal, Provide high-quality opportunities for hunting and viewing of moose. 
Statewide Mule Deer Management Plan: 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. 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. 
5. Statewide Elk Managment Plan: Increase forage production by annually treating a minimum of 40,000 acres of elk habitat. Maintain sufficient habitat to support elk herds at population objectives and reduce competition for forage between elk and livestock. 
6. Snyderville Basin Special Recreation Open Space Management Guidelines 2019
7. Summit Park Forest Stewardship Plan 2018:  Manage forest resources in the best interest of forest health, which should minimize losses associated with injurious insects and diseases. Detection and monitoring will be key components in minimizing forest pest impacts. Maintain or enhance wildlife use and habitat. Maintain favorable aesthetics by means of preventing large scale tree mortality. Adhere to the Forest Legacy Deed of Conservation Easement parameters. Actively manage to reduce the control/spread of noxious weeds, found throughout the property.
8. Snyderville Basin Special Recreation Trails Master Plan 2019:  Provide and support a diversity of trail experiences:  Objective 3C: Beyond the types of trail uses accommodated, consider a variety of user objectives in the planning, design, and construction of new trails. Objectives could include: Nature-viewing, Escape, Solitude, Challenge, Risk, Fun, Play, Exercise, Connectivity, Socializing. Develop a sustainable trail system in an environmentally responsible way:  Objective 4A: Secure and budget sufficient, dependable annual maintenance funding for the community-wide trail system.  Seek out partnerships with other organizations to share and leverage trail maintenance resources.

9. Summit County Code: 10-4-3: Critical Lands, 10-4-7  (A): Fire Protection Fuel Breaks/Vegetation Manipulation: Hazardous fuels in the form of native vegetation will be cleared around structures and around the perimeter of the development to assist in wildfire prevention measures. This fuel break is not intended as a complete vegetation clearing firebreak. 
10. Summit County Snyderville Basin General Plan:  Goals: (1) Preservation of open space, view corridors and scenic mountainsides, (2) preservation of Critical Lands (as defined in Section 10-4-3 of the Code) natural resources and the environment, including clean air and water.   Community Vision: (1) Open Space, (2) Recreation, (4) Wildlife, (6) Critical Land Protection, (7) Water Conservation and (11) Natural Resource Preservation. Policy 5.22: Wildfire Management.  Policy 5.23: Wildlife
11. Utah Administrative Code R68-9 (Utah's Noxious Weed Act):  Utah Noxious Weed Act and the Summit County Code, Title 4, Chapter 4. The Act states that local governments are directed to take the necessary steps to manage the noxious weeds within their jurisdiction and provides specific authorization for local enforcement.
12. Utah Forest Action Plan 2016:  Distribute materials to community members, individual landowners, public officials, interagency partners and media for further dissemination and outreach. Increase participation in state and national programs including Utah Living with Fire, Ready, Set, Go!, Firewise USA and Fire-Adaptive Communities. Use all available management tools, including forest industry, to restore and maintain healthy ecosystems.
13. Treatments lie within Central Region UPCD/UWRI focus areas.
14. UDWR Strategic Management Plan: Objective R2 Maintain existing wildlife habitat and increase the quality of critical habitats and watersheds throughout the state. Objective R4 Decrease risks to species and their habitats through integrated implementation of the WAP, Objective C6 Increase hunting and fishing opportunities.
15. Utah Shared Stewardship Agreement (May 2019):- Project is within Shared Stewardship priority areas. We have applied for Shared Stewardship as well and working with USFS and FFSL to do this. Meets objectives to reduce hazardous fuels.
16. Pinebrook's Community Wildfire Preparedness Plan: 
*	Ensure maintenance staff remove dead trees and brush from Pinebrook parks
*	Hire professional contractors to treat approximately 10 acres or more of forest and scrub brush on PMA and PHOA open space annually, removing dead and dying trees, and creating fuel breaks
*	Undertake 3-5 volunteer fuel mitigation projects annually with a focus on removing dead trees and brush along roadways
*	Formulate incentives for homeowners within Pinebrook Master Association to harden their properties including by removing dead trees and brush
*	Investigate grant opportunities available to Pinebrook for wildfire risk mitigation activities (maintain regular dialogue with Utah WUI Coordinator, Park City Fire Dept and Summit County Fire Warden for this purpose)
*	Consult with and advise Gorgoza Water Company on initiatives to reduce fire risk near their structures in and around Pinebrook
*	Remain active participants of the Summit Wildfire Group to learn/share best practices, gain insights into other local and state initiatives, etc.
*	Coordinate with Basin Recreation to ensure that Pinebrook maximizes benefits of fuel reduction efforts near where our properties are adjacent
*	Initiate and maintain dialogue with Woodward about their fire risk mitigation initiatives and educate them about Pinebrook's initiatives
*	Initiate and maintain dialogue with Tailisker about fire risk mitigation initiatives near where our properties are adjacent and educate them about Pinebrook's initiatives; assist them in project planning and oversight; potentially incorporate their needs into Pinebrook grant requests
*	Initiate and maintain dialogue with Utah Open Lands about fire risk mitigation initiatives near where properties they manage are adjacent and educate them about Pinebrook's initiatives; assist them in project planning and oversight; potentially incorporate their needs into Pinebrook grant requests
*	Re-treat forest and scrub areas within PMA and PHOA open space that were previously treated by professionals to maintain fuel breaks

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.

The combination of an essential watershed, high recreation use, and a high-extreme wildfire risk rating according to Utah Wildland Risk Assessment Portal (UWRAP) designated Upper East Canyon Watershed project a priority area for WRI and the Shared Stewardship program. Decades of wildfire suppression has resulted in stand vigor dominated by disease and insect infestation. Massive amounts of dead/down and dying conifers fill the landscape predisposing it to uncharacteristic wildfire. These wildfire impacts continue to worsen as the American West, currently facing historic drought conditions and climate change impacts, is getting warmer and drier. At the same time spending is not keeping pace with the increasing costs of wildfire suppression. While fuel treatments will continue to be important for minimizing the undesirable ecological effects of fire, and for enhancing firefighter safety; treatments must be implemented strategically across large areas. Collaboration among agencies, private landowners, and other organizations is critical for ensuring resilience and sustainable forest management. Inaction will contribute to commerce, infrastructure, and private property damage. Pro-active planning and action will increase resilience in the Upper East Canyon Watershed and enhance and safeguard the water downstream beneficiaries and preserve our way of life. This project promotes wildfire adaptive communities, wildfire resilient ecosystems and will pave the way for future fire risk reduction efforts including controlled burns through the USFS. 
This is extremely concerning for people who live in communities in Summit Park, Jeremy Ranch, Park City, and Pinebrook. Billions of dollars in commerce, infrastructure, and private property damage could occur. In the instance of a wildfire, both public and firefighter lives would be at risk. This project will begin the process of thinning the forest and reducing the fuel loads in order to reduce the fire danger and make it safer for fire fighters, communities and commerce to occur or pass through the project area. The BDAs and stream restoration will also help increase riparian wet areas and green vegetation which will act as green strips or fire breaks to slow and stop catastrophic fire spread.  BDAs have the ability to raise the water table which increases the amount of time water is present on the landscape. This creates natural fire breaks that can slow down or even stop wildfires (Fairfax & Whittle 2022).

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.

Forest management (e.g., thinning conifers, lop and scatter, pile burning) will reduce wildfire risk. Wildfires would cause soil erosion and debris flows that would degrade water quality. Using low-tech, process-based restoration to improve stream health will capture sediment and begin the process of aggrading incised stream channels. Healthy streams store water in the watershed, recharge groundwater, and regulate the flow of water throughout the year. There is evidence that healthy riparian corridors can halt the spread of wildfires and create more vegetation regrowth and resilience post-fire. Healthy riparian corridors are more resilient to wildfires because riparian vegetation such as willows and cottonwoods thrive after disturbance. Vegetation root systems in riparian corridors stabilize streambanks and are more resilient to flooding (i.e., down-cutting and incision), if and when post-fire rains erode into waterways. Conversely, degraded riparian corridors are not resilient to wildfire; they will require extensive efforts to restore vegetation and hydrologic function (i.e., deep incision and down-cutting). Riparian habitats can be resilient to wildfire and generally do not require extensive restoration (Halofsky and Hibbs 2009). A dense stand of degraded vegetation along a streambank could result in high fire severity burning, severely impacting the ability for natural recovery. The Two-Mile Creek drainage provides water to Gorgoza Mutual Water Company, and so to the thousands of residents of Pinebrook. Improving the forest health and mitigating the likelihood of intense and catastrophic wildfire will protect this vital watershed.  The western edge of Pinebrook also drains into One-Mile Creek.  A high severity wildfire in either one of these watersheds could have detrimental effects resulting in significant post fire sediment delivery to the drainages and potential impacts to development within the community.

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.

Pile burning: Pile burning operations which include making spring and fall burn plans, checking in with the state air quality for permission to burn, informing state and local government resources of when burn days will be happening, and performing the actual burning. Community outreach about burn days via social media, reach out to nearby HOA's and community members, and assist on burn days when available.
Shaded Fuel Break Retreatments: Hand crews will perform a shaded fuel break treatment on the Summit Park and Toll Canyon fire egress roads. The prescription for the treatment is:
Summit Park: Shaded fuel break retreatment. 3.5 Acres, 80 ft treatment area on the downward side of the existing jeep road and 10ft on the upward side of road. Dominant species is Gambel Oak and Mountain Shrub community. Area will be flagged.  Toll Canyon: Shaded fuel break retreatment. 17.5 acres, 80 ft on either side from the center of the road. Dominated by conifers and mountain scrub.
Brush Area:  Remove all brush under 8 ft tall, cutting brush minimum of 6in from ground, making sure to cut perpendicular to ground, leaving no spike or jab sticks.  If taller than 8 ft, brush around the base and thin bush up 4-8 ft.Leave cut brush on ground when under 4in in diameter, otherwise pile for burning. When possible, large slash should be brought to the road and piled for chipping. When unable to pull the debris for chipping, slash piles can be made in open areas for future burning. Burn piles shall not be larger than 10 ft in diameter and piles less than 8 ft tall. Burn piles shall be teardrop shaped and tight with no air gaps for better consumption.
Ladder fuels: All ladder fuels will be removed from standing trees. Conifers will be trimmed up 5-8ft. Limbs should be trimmed as close as possible to the tree's trunk allowing for healthy scar recovery. Slash should be lopped and scattered if under 4 in diameter or piled for burning if larger. 
Tree Felling: Remove marked trees only.  Rounds will be cut to manageable lengths (approximately 16 inches) and stacked along the road for the public to remove at a future established date.  Use caution signs to close areas when felling trees along roads or trails.
BDA Maintenance: Restore the roughly 70 BDA structures that were built FY23. Maintenance will include contracted to inspect the condition of the current BDA's, order and install more of the 3-4" BDA posts as needed, and to help host BDA restoration volunteer days. 
Mixed Conifer Prescription: Thin all dead and decadent conifer trees within the unit. Because of terrain and lack of access, all thinned material shall be piled. All cut, and dead and down material, up to 10 inches in diameter shall be piled. Any lopped slash 3 inches in diameter or smaller shall be piled. Dead and down trees greater than 10 inches in diameter shall be lopped and bucked to 6 foot lengths and the logs left in place, but dispersed as to not create a significant concentration of logs piled on top of one another. The lopped slash shall be piled. No woody material should be left on existing trails and pulled back 10 feet from the edge of the trail where possible. Conifer trees shall be pruned up six to eight feet from the ground; for shorter trees, pruning shall not exceed 1/3 of the overall tree height. Thinning of doghair thickets of conifer regeneration consisting of groups of 3-10 coniferous trees shall have smallest and least vigorous trees removed, leaving 50% of the largest and most vigorous in the group as reserve. While piling, all slash between 1 and 10 inches in diameter and greater than 2 feet in length shall be piled. Each pile shall include an area within the center of the pile consisting of small sized slash to provide kindling for ignition. Piles shall be covered with a minimum of 6x6 foot piece of appropriate waxed paper. Unless approved in writing, maximum pile size shall be no more than 8 feet in diameter and 6 feet in height. Piles shall not be within the drip line or 10 feet to reserved trees or 25 feet from riparian areas. Piles shall not be placed on logs or stumps, within 25 feet of private property, trails, or within drainage ditches.
Common to all prescriptions:
Riparian Areas: Careful consideration and precautions shall be given to protect stream bed and riparian zone (e.g. no fueling of equipment within 30 feet of a perennial or seasonal stream and no piles should be constructed where they could impede the flow of water).
Noxious Weeds: To reduce the introduction and spread of noxious weeds, ensure that all equipment is cleaned off prior to operating on Pinebrook Open Space lands. Remove all dirt, grease, and plant parts that carry noxious weed seeds or vegetative parts. This may be accomplished with a pressure washer. In addition, if equipment is found operating in a noxious weed area, the equipment must be cleaned before leaving the project or moving to another area in the location identified in the Request for Proposal.
Warning Signage: Contractor shall furnish warning signs along any trails leading to the project area. For prescribed burning, warning signs along adjacent roads shall also be provided by the contractor to advise public of smoke.
Vegetation Planting: Tree and shrub planting will take place in Fall 2024 on the banks of East Canyon Creek where woody riparian vegetation is degraded and patchy or lacking completely. Volunteers will be recruited to plant native trees and shrubs and wrap with fencing to prevent herbivory by nearby beavers until stands can be established by using hand tools and accessing the site on foot. 
Noxious Weeds: Licensed contractors will be hired to apply herbicide using backpack sprayers while traveling on foot to be as precise as possible using herbicides 2,4-D and MSM 60. Precautions are taken to avoid wet areas and critical wetlands. Mechanical removal will take place by volunteer groups led by staff using best practices, typically almost 400 volunteers assist with invasive weed pulling each fiscal year on the Swaner Preserve. Volunteers are educated on plant natural history, proper control, and ecosystem impacts so they can implement control practices in their areas. Mechanical removal may be used on musk thistle, Scotch thistle, dyer's woad, and houndstongue. Spring/ early summer herbicide application will take place mid-May through July. End of summer herbicide application in September and October focuses on rosettes of species such as Canada thistle, dyer's woad, musk thistle, and scotch thistle to minimize growth in the following year.

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.

Basin Rec: Every year since the beginning of the Summit Park fuels reduction project, local contractor Martin & Nicholson has been conducting vegetative surveys in the same areas for monitoring. We plan to continue to use them for this purpose. Basin Recreation plans to continue its partnership with the CWMA to continue monitoring for invasive weed species on it's Summit Park and Toll Canyon open spaces. This includes monitoring burn pile areas to help determine if they create soil conditions for invasive species (most notably Garlic Mustard) to flourish. Forestry, Fire, and State Lands (FFSL) holds the conservation easement for Summit Park and will continue their yearly assessments of forest health and ecosystem quality. For the BDA's on Toll Creek, Sageland Collaborative will continue to monitor the site annually using the Rapid Stream Riparian Assessment (RSRA) and Amphibian Habitat Assessment protocols.

Swaner: Before and after photos will be taken of the tree planting sites, sites of physical removal of invasive weeds, and sites of herbicide application for invasive weed populations. Survival rates of planted trees will be collected 1 year post planting.
Utah Open Lands, a local land trust that holds conservation easements on three parcels on the Preserve, conducts annual monitoring to ensure the values of the easements are being upheld. The NRCS conducts annual monitoring of the Wetland Reserve Program easement on the Swaner Preserve. 
Ongoing monitoring for invasive weed species such as garlic mustard include an integrated pest management strategy of both chemical and manual control, combined with active monitoring, and persistent surveillance.

DNR: UDWR will work with Sageland Collaborative to monitor McLeod Creek using the RSRA protocol for overall riparian habitat quality, plus the Amphibian Habitat Assessment protocol and implement protocols associated with the Wasatch Wildlife Watch camera trap program to monitor use of the restoration site by medium to large mammals. Sageland collaborative will also partner with UDWR to pilot acoustic monitoring for amphibians and/ or bats at the McLeod Creek site. 
Pinebrook: Pinebrook's project manager will regularly assess work progress and quality, reporting status to Pinebrook's Fire Safety Committee principals and HOA leaders. Wildlife cameras will be placed within several aspen stands to monitor for potential ungulate herbivory within the treated stands.  If herbivory is impacting aspen regeneration, wildlife enclosures will be placed within strategic locations throughout Pinebrook.
Summit: Summit County will establish a wildlife camera - based monitoring program of restoration sites on tributaries to East Canyon Creek on the 910 Ranch property, in partnership with Sageland Collaborative's Wasatch Wildlife Watch program. Summit County will conduct post 3 and 5 year post fuel treatments using photo points. Post treatment photos and data will be available under the WRI project proposal.

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.

Basin Rec: Outside of continued yearly monitoring of the project area Basin Recreation will continue to implement managed plans to help with forest health. Shaded fuel break retreatments will need to continue to happen every three to five years depending on vegetation regrowth. Basin Recreation wants to keep the fire egress roads functioning as they are intended to indefinitely. Continued monitoring and maintenance of the BDAs on Toll Creek will also be necessary to ensure the health of that riparian ecosystem. Since the thinning project in Summit Park there has been little conifer regrowth. Basin Recreation is planning on working with forestry specialists to come up with a plan to encourage more growth of understory coniferous tree species if sapling numbers do not increase.

Swaner: The Preserve is protected in perpetuity by a variety of conservation easements that require ongoing land management practices to improve wildlife habitat and the native ecosystem as well as annual monitoring. Dedicated Swaner staff will continue to monitor noxious weeds and success of restoration efforts to reach objectives and will make any future repairs or adjustments as needed to ensure their success.

DNR: Future phases and ongoing management of the riparian projects proposed here may also include additional BDAs, additional riparian fencing, off-channel water systems, riparian/ wetland plantings.

Pinebrook: Pinebrook has established a working budget which will fund ongoing maintenance of its open spaces, retreating areas every 3-5 years as needed

Summit: Retreatment every 2-3 years as needed to maintain fuel loads. Yearly inspections of exclosure fencing and repairs as needed.

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.

This project will improve many sustainable uses of the area. As outlined in the description of what sustainable uses are it identifies recreation as a sustainable use. This project will greatly benefit recreational uses such as fishing by improving the opportunity for these activities. It will also benefit the experience that mountain bikers, hikers, snowshoers, cross country and downhill skiers will have by ensuring its resiliency to fire, infestation and disease. The overall experience will be improved beyond it simply remaining accessible. There will be an increase in forage availability by reducing the canopy cover and allowing more light to enter the forest floor. Post-treatment conditions fuels treatments will promote an increase in forage availability for both big game (elk, mule deer, moose) and domestic livestock, increase available surface water, and soil moisture, by reducing conifer canopy cover promoting light to enter the forest floor, resulting in a more productive aspen cover and grass understory. Additionally, BDAs will increase forage and disperse water. This project will also combat garlic mustard from spreading and reducing forage quality. This will largely be a grazing benefit for wildlife since most of the project area is on private land or conservation areas where livestock grazing is not allowed. There are, however, areas near Swaner Preserve, East Canyon Creek, and the 910 Cattle Ranch where is livestock grazing activities occur. The project areas and the surrounding ski resorts are important recreation areas, from skiing, hiking, and fishing, given its proximity to Park City and Salt Lake City. Bonneville cutthroat are found in these waters and this project will help improve angler opportunity. A large part of Utah's economy is driven by this recreation, and protecting this watershed will help preserve those sustainable uses and continue to support the economy. The proposed wildlife-friendly riparian fencing will follow the guidelines of "A Landowner's Guide to Wildlife Friendly Fences: How to Build Fences With Wildlife in Mind" to ensure wildlife movement is not drastically impeded by fence installation.

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.