Project Details

Aspen on the Markagunt Plateau continues to decline due largely to conifer encroachment.  Recent FIA data has indicated that aspen decline has accelerated in recent years and most recently was at a 3% per year rate for the entire Dixie National Forest. Additionally, later successional mixed conifer aspen stands are at risk from high severity/intensity wildfires that threaten wildlife habitat, water quality, and infrastructure.  The Brian Head Fire was over 70k acres and showed the capability for high severity, stand replacing events in mixed conifer stands on the Markagunt Plateau.  On August 6, 2019 Congressman Stewart met with the Cedar City Ranger District, Dixie National Forest for a field visit to discuss forest management. Congressman Stewart expressed interest in the Cedar City Ranger District's strategic approach to mitigate future high intensity fire such as the Brian Head Fire, and offered to help us get more work done on the ground.  Furthermore, Congressman Stewart offered to try and find additional monies, however, to date none has been allocated. One of the tour stops was the Sydney Valley area, also known as the Markagunt Aspen Restoration for this proposal, and the Congressman stated "can we all agree this needs to be treated?" Also in attendance were County Commissioners from Garfield, Iron, Kane and Washington counties; Utah State Forester and Southwest Area Manager Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands; Department of Natural Resources, -Division of Wildlife Resources; Intermountain Regional Office (RO) Deputy Regional Forester (DFR) and other Intermountain Regional Office staff.  This proposal aims to help address some of the concerns brought forth in the meeting.  This proposal is a multi-phased project that will implement approximately 2,920 acres of aspen improvement treatments and coppice openings in the Cedar City Ranger District, Dixie National Forest.

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 purpose of this project is to reduce fire risk to the surrounding community, improve wildlife habitat, and protect water quality to Mammoth creek and its tributaries. The risk to the communities, wildlife habitat and water quality are largely due to encroaching conifer within aspen stands that is causing their decline while increasing the risk of high intensity wildfire and risk to insect and disease outbreaks. Restoring aspen communities on the Markagunt Plateau has the following objectives:

1.	Improve and increase aspen habitats on the Markagunt Plateau by by removing conifers from over 500 acres of mixed conifer/aspen forests,
2.	Improve and increase forage for domestic and wild ungulates by opening the canopy on over 500 acres of mixed conifer/aspen forests,
3.	Reduce hazardous fuel accumulations on 500 acres of the Cedar City District,
4.	Reduce the risk for large-scale, intense wildland fires.
5.	Increase the probability that future naturally caused fires can be managed and allowed to play their natural role in the aspen ecosystems on the Markagunt Plateau.

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.

This project is located on the Cedar City Ranger District of the Dixie National Forest. It is immediately North and South of Utah State Route 143 at the junction with Sidney Valley and Red Desert Roads in the Mammoth Creek and Assay Creek Watersheds. This area has been identified as important summer habitat for deer and elk and is located on the upper end of a migration corridor for these species.  In addition, the area is popular with photographers and the public in general for its picturesque aspen stands. These stands have been identified by county and state officials as needed regeneration.

Phase 1 of the project resulted in the removal of conifer from over 500 acres of mixed conifer/aspen forests.  Phase 2 will prepare these acres for pile and broadcast burning to complete the regeneration process.  If left unfinished a continued decline in aspen forests is expected as conifer are allowed to re-invade treated acres before adequate disturbance of aspen forests is realized and the work completed in Phase 1 will be reduced in efficacy.

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 is directly tied to the Dixie National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan as amended (Forest Plan) (USDA, 1986). The Forest Plan guides all natural resource management activities and provides the overall guidance for management activities by specifying goals and objectives, desired future conditions, management direction, and standards and guidelines.

Other management plans that relate to this project include:
1)  Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Statewide Management Plan for Mule deer (2014-2019). Strategy C states: "Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat with emphasis on drought or fire damaged sagebrush and ranges being diminished by encroachment of unwanted conifers into sagebrush, aspen habitats, and ponderosa pine stands".  
2)  Panguitch Lake Deer Herd Unit Management Plan, Deer Herd Unit # 28 -Habitat management strategies (2015-2022):  The project will help to restore essential forage opportunities and summer range for wildlife by reducing the amount of encroaching sub alpine fir. In addition, the project will reduce fuel loading that can greatly alter potential wildfire behavior, further protecting this crucial summer range from high intensity, high severity wildfire.  
3) Utah Statewide Elk Management Plan (2015-2022):  Elk are generalist ungulates and forage on grasses, forbs and shrubs.  They prefer to spend a lot of the summer months within or near aspen conifer forests. Conifer encroachment causing decline in aspen stands is a concern in all of Utah. Habitat Management Goal B: conserve and improve elk habitat throughout the State. C. Watershed Restoration Initiative b) Coordinate with land management agencies, conservation organizations, private landowners, and local leaders through the regional WRI working groups to identify and prioritize elk habitats that need 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 using controlled burning and logging.  This project will directly improve summer elk habitat through thinning and burning, creating mixed seral stages and creating small openings for perennial grasses and forbs to improve.
4) Elk Management Plans for Panguitch Lake Unit #28: Unit Habitat Objectives; Maintain and/or enhance forage production through direct range improvements throughout the unit to achieve population management objectives (Panguitch Lake Unit). Discourage the encroachment of conifer in aspen stands. This project will help accomplish these objectives by improving the understory of grasses and forbs and eliminating conifer trees in aspen stands. 
5)  National Fire Plan (NFP) - Primary Goals: 1) improve fire prevention and suppression as well as 2) restore fire adapted ecosystem. The project will reduce the amount fuel loading within the mixed conifer and aspen vegetation types that can alter fire behavior and improve these primary goals.
6)  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.  This project is one of several current or proposed projects on the Cedar City Ranger District were project objectives are aimed at restoring watershed function and biological communities.  The major goal is to move towards a resilient ecological system by reducing ladder and surface fuel loading and creating species diversity. 
7) State of Utah-Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy-Protecting the health and welfare of the public and our lands. Priority Action Areas- Southwest Region 6, Iron County, the project is between the Brian Head and Mammoth Creek communities on National Forest Lands (pg. 19).  
8) Land and Resource Management Plan-Dixie National Forest (LRMP 1986): A) Management Area 1 and 2B-Provide adequate forage to sustain big game population levels agree to in approved wildlife management plans on National Forest System (NFS) lands. Improve habitat capability through direct treatments of vegetation and, where possible, conduct habitat improvement projects cooperatively with the UDWR.  This project will help maintain and/or increase the quality foraging habitat for big game by removing encroaching conifers and thinning of the overall aspen stands. 
9) Warren-Bunker-Castle Valley Allotment Management Plan - Desired Conditions in the Upland: Improve plant diversity and revert areas that have conifer encroachment issues.  This project will aid in reverting areas of conifer encroachment that may improve plant diversity.
10) Bonneville cutthroat trout Range-wide Conservation Agreement and Strategy (UDWR 2018):  The BCT CAS identifies large wildfires as a factor that is a threat to the persistence of BCT.  As outlined in the Project Need, Water Quality and Quantity and Threats and Risks sections of the proposal the treatments within this proposal will support the following objectives and actions from the BCT CAS:
Goal 2: Protect all critical BCT populations (in this case critical = one of the Southern GMU metapopulations).
Goal 3, Objective 1: Work with landowners to maintain/improve land management activities.
Goal 8, Objective 1: Encourage and enable partners to perform restoration that benefits the BCT fisheries.
Additionally, this project supports Southern GMU goals 1 and 2:
GMU Goal 1: Maintain all populations within GMU
GMU Goal 2: Complete restoration of Mammoth Creek by end of 2022
11) Upper Sevier Watershed Management Plan (2004): Aspen/Mixed Conifer -- Vegetation Composition and Communities at risk of Wildfire were listed as the number 1 and 2 key issues identified.  Spruce-Fir fuel conditions were identified as key issue number 9.  Loss of healthy aspens stands to mixed conifer was considered undesirable and refreshing aspen stands as is proposed in this project would be beneficial to the management plan.  Reduction of fuels that could contribute to severe fires that threaten communities would also enhance the tie to the Upper Sevier watershed management plan.

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 Markagunt Aspen Restoration Project treatments would be implemented to effectively restore resilient, fire-adapted aspen ecosystems on a landscape-scale by moving the stands toward desired condition in terms of composition (species diversity) and density (crown spacing, ladder, and surface fuel loadings). In addition the treatments will improve structural diversity, promote aspen regeneration and recruitment, reduce the current hazardous fuel loadings ranging from 20 to 50+ tons per acre, and reduce the continuity of fuels across the Markagunt Plateau; thus mitigating the risks and damage associated with high intensity, high severity wildfires and, where appropriate, expand opportunities to manage fire for resource benefits and meet Forest Plan objectives.  Currently the area is in a Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC) of 2 (moderate departure from historic conditions) with the goal of converting the project areas to FRCC 1 (within historic conditions).  This project will reduce the overall risk for high intensity and high severity wildfires in the area.

Communities and Values at risk and resource concerns include private property and associated infrastructure.  Subdivisions include Ireland Meadows, Castle Valley, Rainbow Meadows, Meadow Lake. Infrastructure includes approximately 238 structures, 5.2 miles of power lines, 11.3 miles of State routes, two Drinking Water Source Protection Zones, one SNOTEL site, and 21 historic properties.

Priority wildlife habitat that could be impacted by wildfire includes Goshawk habitat and nests near the project area, 16 miles of fire sensitive stream with sensitive fish species in and near the project area.  This includes streams that were recently treated to reintroduce Bonneville Cutthroat trout as part of the Upper Mammoth Creek project.

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.

Project treatments will considerably lessen the risk of large-scale high intensity and high severity wildfires that could result in long-term watershed degradation. By maintaining watershed function, long-term water quality will be maintained or enhanced. The 2004 Upper Sevier Watershed Management Plan listed Aspen/Mixed Conifer - vegetation composition and communities at risk of wildfire as the number 1 and 2 key issues identified.  Spruce-Fir fuel conditions were identified as key issue number 9.  Loss of healthy aspen stands to mixed conifer was considered undesirable and refreshing aspen stands as is proposed in this project would be beneficial to the management plan.  Reduction of fuels that could contribute to severe fires that threaten communities would also enhance the tie to the Upper Sevier watershed management plan.  The results of research on the volume and longevity of water yield increase following conifer removal from aspen communities, such as the proposed in this project, has been variable with some studies showing fairly substantial, relative long-term increases (Gottfried 1991) and others show little increase, or only short-term increases (Troendle et al. 2010).  Perhaps the most compelling local study shows that aspen stands had 34-44% higher snow water equivalents than adjacent conifer stands and a 42-83% greater potential water yield for runoff and groundwater recharge (LaMalfa and Ryle, 2008), indicating that removal of conifer and maintaining and improving aspen stands should result in higher water yield.  By removing conifer, it is anticipated that water quantity will be enhanced (seeps, springs, bogs--improved).  While no TMDL is applied to the reach of streams within this project area, lowering of the risk of severe wildfire and the impacts that are created by fire even moderately severe fires will protect downstream reaches of Mammoth creek which has a TMDL applied for total Phosphorus.  Also this will protect the Upper Sevier which also has a TMDL for total Phosphorus and Habitat Alteration.

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.

Fixed radius regeneration plots will be measured the fall after initial treatments and after snow melt annually for five years to ensure that regeneration is occurring, and height growth is being achieved.  The initial goal of at least 1,000 to 2,000 aspen saplings per acre will guide whether additional fencing or protection of aspen stands will be necessary.  The final recruitment goal will be at least 500 trees per acre over 10 feet tall. A long-term vegetation monitoring plot and transect also occur within the treatment area and will continue to be monitored throughout the treatments and after to determine if aspen regeneration is sufficient.  
 
UDWR and the  Forest Service have established several fish monitoring stations both upstream and downstream of the project area.  Stations are monitored every 5-7 years.  Once BCT restoration is complete, these results will be available in UDWR publications on BCT status (see attachments), which can be uploaded to the database.

Wildlife monitoring - The Utah Division of Wildlife (UDWR) regularly conducts mule deer and elk population estimates within the Panguitch Lake Unit 28 area.  In addition, post treatment wildlife monitoring will take place annually for Focal Species during goshawk territory monitoring efforts.

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.

On November 24, 2015, Forest Fire Management Officer Kevin Greenhalgh participated in the Southwest Area Catastrophic Wildfire working group meeting.  The group proposes action plans to reduce catastrophic wildfires in Utah.  Members of the group include the State of Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, Kane County Commissioner, Iron County Commissioner, Garfield County Commissioner, Beaver County Commissioner, Bureau of Land Management, State Senators, Director of the Five County Association of Governments, Hurricane City Fire Chief, Iron County Extension Agent, and the Director of Utah Association of Conservation Districts.  This group identified communities at risk and actions to mitigate the risks as part of implementing the National cohesive strategy.  The community of Upper Mammoth was identified by the state as a high priority.
  
On July 11-12, 2016 the Cedar City Ranger District hosted a Collaborative Open House for the public to learn about the proposal for the Upper Mammoth Creek Project and provide the Forest with feedback and recommendations.  Collaboration participants included homeowners from private in-holdings such as Ireland and Rainbow Meadows, Iron County Natural Resource Management, Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, Resource Specialists from the Color Country Bureau of Land Management and a Biologist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Feedback was positive and recommendations included expanding the project area, performing fuels reduction work on private lands and allowing some of the areas to be made available for fuelwood collection during project implementation. Congressman Stewart, County Commissioners from Garfield, Iron, Kane and Washington counties; Utah State Forester and Southwest Area Manager Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands; Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife Resources; Intermountain Regional Office (RO) Deputy Regional Forester (DFR) and other Intermountain Regional Office staff visited the area and identified the need for treatment.  This proposal aims to help address some of the concerns brought forth in the meeting as well as benefit wildlife through improving aspen stands on the Markagunt Plateau.

In February and March of 2019, the Cedar City Ranger District staff met with Kane County Commissioners and Resource advisory board, Iron County commissioners, Utah Forestry and Fire and the Public Land Policy Coordination Office State of Utah to discuss the project and seek input on treatments and locations of treatments.

In April 2019 the Cedar City Ranger District met with the Catastrophic Fire Committee as well as the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and NRCS to discuss the project.  All groups were in support of the project and only commented that more acres should be treated.

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.

Aspen stands are among the most diverse in both fauna and flora on the Forest. The value of these habitats within the project area will improve as a forage resource for livestock and wildlife.  Through hand and mechanical thinning and prescribed fire treatments, conifer encroachment is addressed, and aspen regeneration/recruitment is promoted.  With the removal of conifer, the amount of usable forage the aspen understory is expected to increase significantly.  Many areas that are currently unproductive due to overgrowth will become desirable for future uses by both wild and domestic ungulates.

While these treatments will create additional forage for both domestic and wild ungulates, short term browse pressure from both domestic livestock and wild ungulates is a concern with the implementation of this project.  However, past coppice treatments adjacent to this project have been successful.  These included mechanical removal of aspen and prescribed burning but did not require resting of domestic ungulate browsing.  The aspen regeneration in this project is expected to also be successful.  To help aid in the success, range permitees that graze sheep in project area will be contacted to have the herders keep the sheep out of the treated areas until the aspen has regenerated.  Aspen sprouting will be monitored and if necessary, to protect the aspen regeneration in these areas, a temporary fence may be installed by the Forest Service.

Mammoth Creek is an important recreational fishery, while the area is also a popular hunting destination for deer and elk.  Improved aesthetics and wildlife habitat will enhance these activities.

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.