Project Details

The Boulter Fire occurred on the east bench and foothill areas of the Tintic Range but remained out of the steeper slopes of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and is located approximately 25 miles west of Santaquin and 8 miles southeast of Vernon, Utah.

The public lands are primarily used for cattle permittee grazing within the Boulter Wash allotment and for recreation, with evidence of extensive ATV/UTV use and dispersed camping sites as well.

The fire occurred within crucial summer range and high-use migration corridor for mule deer and is entirely within Priority Habitat Management Area for greater sage-grouse. There are no known leks within the fire perimeter and the closest known lek is approximately 5.5 miles to the southeast. The integrity of the Boulter Creek drainage is at risk, due to loss of riparian vegetation or impacts from the fire effects including surrounding native trees, shrubs and perennial vegetation, all of which could contribute to an accelerated eroding landscape. Soil loss or movement downstream is of primary concern.  Wind erosion is moderate and water erosion is potentially high if there are future instances of rapid runoff.

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.

Even though most of the Boulter Fire burned hot and fast, it removed much of the live vegetation and ground cover needed to protect the soil and aid in infiltration of rainwater into the soil.  The fire is roughly bisected by or flanks the Boulter Creek drainage.  As is the case for all canyons in the Great Basin, these smaller drainages are just as susceptible to flash flooding and unmitigated debris flows due to heavy rainfall.  The risk of flash flooding within a watershed increases substantially post-fire.

Fire impacts watershed health by removing accumulated material and vegetation that provides protection to the mineral soil and holds sediment on hillslopes. Fire also alters infiltration by exposing soil to raindrop impact and enhancing hydrophobic soil conditions. Exposed hillslopes have increased raindrop impact, increased runoff with more power due to long uninterrupted flow paths and less surface roughness (due to removal of vegetation, litter, duff and coarse woody debris). Natural recovery of the vegetation and forest floor will take several years; a flashflood/debris flow during the post-fire recovery phase would result in significant impacts to everything below the burn area.

This fire has created a disturbance opportunity for weeds. Areas subjected to wildfire are highly susceptible to entry of both noxious and invasive weeds. The proposed seeding is important to establish desirable perennial species to compete with these invasive and noxious weeds.

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.

The cost of the investment in the aerial seeding applications are very small relative to the potential threats to the habitat by cheatgrass and other annuals if there were no treatment at all.  
In addition to public safety, the access roads and quite often those used within the burn area are at increased risk from flash flooding due to the impacts of the fire.  Most of, if not all the seeded species are deep-rooted, which are effective in holding the soil in place and promoting infiltration over this burned area.  Establishing a reliable stand of perennial seeded species on this burned area will significantly reduce the threat of flash flooding, which improves human safety and protects both wildlife species and water rights holders/users downstream in the watershed and below the burned area.

Regarding drill seeding operations, the site has a strong presence of cheatgrass, but the cheatgrass stand is not dense with matted roots that make it very difficult for any seeded species to establish.  This treatment will allow the new seedlings to provide favorable microsites throughout the burned area for seeding establishment. Should the seeding treatment succeed, this area will likely support a diverse plant community with a good mix of desirable perennials to hold the site for years to come.

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.

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 human (power line) caused fire started August 24, 2024 and was declared contained August 30, 2024. Most of the acreage burned between the afternoon of August 24th and early hours of August 25th.  The fire started on US Forest Service land adjacent to the railroad grade, west of State Route 36 near mile marker 9. High winds drove the fire north and east, jumping the highway and carrying the fire along the Boulter Creek drainage.  The fire ran upslope from the point of origin (T9S R4W Section 34), propelled by strong south-westerly winds causing creeping, spotting and torching.

At the heel of the fire, the landscape is hilly and dominated by Pinyon/juniper stands with sagebrush between stands. As the fire moved northeast, it reached a plateau dominated by sage brush and grasses. The strong winds created a long narrow fire perimeter with unburned islands. However, a shift in the winds blowing from north to south later in the evening on Saturday allowed both aerial and ground firefighting resources to halt the fire's forward progression.  Fire severity was continuous and predominantly moderate throughout the burn area.  
 
The fire quickly transitioned from a Type 4 to Type 3 fire by late Sunday with observed fire behaviors of active, torching, wind driven runs, short-range spotting and isolated group torching. A local Type 3 team was ordered  and stayed through the following week to assist with minimizing the fire size and intensity to protect greater sage-grouse habitat and big game winter habitat, limiting fire and suppression activities to keeping the fire within the roads throughout that were utilized for suppression logistics as it relates to dozer line where appropriate. It then transitioned back to local control.

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.

The fire is roughly bisected by or flanks the Boulter Creek drainage, which experienced low to moderate fire burn severity occurring throughout.  There are bands of small, unburned patches of Pinyon-Juniper and sagebrush within burn area. As is the case for all canyons in the Great Basin, they are susceptible to flash flooding and debris flows due to heavy rainfall. The risk of flash flooding within a watershed increases substantially post-fire.

Fire impacts watershed health by removing accumulated material and vegetation that provides protection to the mineral soil and holds sediment on hillslopes. Fire also alters infiltration by exposing soil to raindrop impact and enhancing hydrophobic soil conditions. Exposed hillslopes have increased raindrop impact, increased runoff with more power due to long uninterrupted flow paths and less surface roughness (due to removal of vegetation, litter, duff and coarse woody debris). Natural recovery of the vegetation will take several years; a flashflood/debris flow during the post-fire recovery phase would potentially result in significant impacts to the landscape and access roads surrounding the greater Boulter Creek drainage area.

A variety of seeding treatments are needed to stabilize soils, promote infiltration, and mitigate the potential for flash flooding threats.Without seeding, the potential for increased density and overall presence of cheatgrass, which was located within the burn area, could increase in this burned area if left untreated, and the invasion of several noxious weed species would also be a concern.

Due to the significant threats posed by the Boulter Fire, as described above, an interdisciplinary team (ESR Team) met on site to discuss potential courses of action that could be taken to address the concerns and real threats to the burned area landscape.  The members that provided input in that meeting and in the subsequent days were composed of individuals from the BLM who all provided their expertise and input to develop the Boulter ESR Plan. Subsequent conversations have also been held with staff from the Utah Department of Natural Resources -- Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR), private landowner(s) and permittee(s) to address their concerns and convey our two-year non-use agreement expectations if the proposed treatments occur.

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.