Project Details

This project will protect the environment of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons from the risks of invasive species, biodiversity loss, and catastrophic wildfire. Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons provide 60% of the drinking water for Salt Lake City, while hosting 5 million recreational visits each year. The heavy human usage of this natural resource has led to increased demand for management of invasive species and restoration of disturbed areas so that the ecosystem can remain biodiverse and resilient. When the ecosystem is healthy, it acts as a slow-release water filter, allowing for the water treatment facilities to do minimal treatment of our drinking water supply. The impact of unchecked wildfire on the ecosystem would be increased erosion and undrinkable water supply. The Cottonwood Canyons Watershed Restoration and Fuels Reduction project is critical for watershed health and biodiversity, water quality and yield, and providing opportunities for sustainable use of natural resources (recreation and drinking water supply).

The work in this project will benefit many sensitive and threatened plant and animal species. Reclaiming disturbed areas through planting native seedlings will create more habitat for the blue grouse, California quail, chukar, American pika, burrowing owl, and snowshoe hare. This will also increase food sources for the bobcat. Removal of invasives and planting natives will provide pollinators such as the Western bumble bee with forage and cover. Reducing standing dead trees will benefit mule deer, elk, moose and other wildlife by allowing understory growth for forage. The increased habitat for these large game species will in turn benefit the cougar and black bear populations. Planting native species in disturbed areas will reduce soil erosion into streams, providing better habitat for rainbow, brown, and Bonneville cutthroat trout. Removal of invasive species through early detection, rapid response will protect sensitive plant habitat such as wetlands where Ute's lady tresses grow. Invasive species removal and restoration around Silver Lake in BCC will protect the habitat where bald eagles and beavers currently live- one of the only places in the canyon.

These measures will create a healthy mosaic of habitats that are more resilient to fire, insect outbreaks, and disease, which will benefit plants and animals across the ecosystem of the Cottonwood Canyons.

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.

Invasive species management:
Objective 1- complete Early Detection, Rapid Response (EDRR) by surveying all the trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, and ski resorts in BCC and LCC to identify and eradicate new invasive plant populations
Objective 2- treat all high priority species' populations (Garlic Mustard, Oxeye Daisy, Dyers Woad, Leafy Spurge, Spotted Knapweed, Yellow Toadflax, and Phragmites) in BCC and LCC

Restoration:
Objective 3- plant 1100 seedlings grown from seeds genetically native to BCC and LCC
Objective 4- stabilize disturbed soil and aid in the recruitment of native plants
Objective 5- create habitat for native pollinators
Objective 6- collect data on survival for restoration plants in order to understand best practices for restoration

Fuels Reduction:
Objective 7- CCF crew will complete cut-pile-burn treatment for the mapped area at Brighton resort with supervision and training from the Forest Service 
Objective 8- train with Forest Service crew on prescribed burn techniques to acquire red card certification
If funded, these measures will protect and increase biodiversity, improve water quality, and increase water yield. In order for the growing use of these canyons for recreation to be sustainable, stewardship work in this project must be completed.

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 project area is directly adjacent to Salt Lake City valley, home to over a million people and growing rapidly as more people move for the outdoor recreation access. Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon are a hot-spot for this access, hosting four major ski resorts in the winter and world class hiking, biking, and climbing in the summer. With these canyons reaching their capacity for recreation, it is more important than ever before for sustainable management of the environment to match the demand. Adjacent watershed areas with similar climates have already become overrun with invasive species: once the environment has been degraded it is extremely difficult and costly to restore it. Big and Little Cottonwood have been managed by the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation Plant Stewardship program for 25 years, resulting in relatively pristine and biodiverse ecosystems that are constantly under threat from development, introduction of new invasive species, and unsustainable recreation. In order for this critical restoration, invasive species management, and fuels reduction work to continue, CCF asks for support from Utah's Watershed Restoration Initiative.

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.

1) CCF works closely with the Salt Lake Ranger District of the US Forest Service to comply with all management plans on Forest Service land. This includes but is not limited to the Tri-Canyon Master Plan, Uinta National Forest and Wasatch-Cache National Forest Revised Forest Plan, and the Wasatch-Cache National Forest Noxious Weed Treatment Final EIS. In practice, CCF completes pre and post project invasive species surveys and treatment for projects, restoration after project completion, and advises on NEPA documents.

2) CCF also partners with the Watershed Division of the Salt Lake City Public Utility to achieve all watershed-related management goals (especially the Watershed Management Plan). From these partnerships, the Central Wasatch Weeds Working Group has been born to aide in cross-agency collaboration and compliance with management plans.

3) CCF also works to follow the guidelines from the State of Utah Resource Management Plan to establish immediate revegetation or rehabilitation after invasive weed treatment. The state of Utah supports prevention as one of the best methods of managing noxious weeds.

4) CCF works with Salt Lake County to follow the Resource Management Plan to restore damaged areas, reduce fuels, provide more forage for wildlife, protect threatened and endangered species, and control noxious weeds.

5) CCF also works to improve key habitats in accordance with the Utah Wildlife Action Plan 
by the use of appropriate methods for reducing the spread and dominance of invasive weeds, including "early detection -- rapid response" programs.

6) CCF will work closely with the USFS to follow the Wasatch Wildfire Crisis Strategy by completing cross-boundary mechanical treatments to reduce risk to private property and infrastructure in the WUI, strengthen strategic fuel breaks utilizing Potential Operational Delineations to facilitate prescribed fire, increase opportunities for the use of beneficial wildfire, and assist with suppression actions on unwanted fires, and create mechanical and prescribed fire forest and watershed restoration treatments to reduce fuel loading and build resilience to future disturbances exacerbated by a changing climate, focusing on critical watersheds.

7) Brighton and Big Cottonwood Canyon Wildfire Preparedness Plan The purpose of wildfire preparedness planning is to... Motivate and empower local government, communities, and property owners to organize, plan, and take action on issues impacting the safety and resilience of values at risk Enhance levels of fire resilience and protection to the communities and infrastructure Identify the threat of wildland fires in the area Identify strategies to reduce the risks to structures, infrastructure and commerce in the community during a wildfire.

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.

Catastrophic wildfire presents a serious threat to the watersheds of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon. While fire is a natural and necessary component of many forest ecosystems, catastrophic wildfires are those whose size and severity cause extensive damage to infrastructure and/or damage to ecosystems that is greater than their ability to recover from fire. Early settlers of Salt Lake Valley logged BCC and LCC almost completely. Once they realized the importance of trees and healthy ecosystems, a huge tree planting initiative was started by the Forest Service and Civilian Conservation Corps. Now we have a forest of trees that are all about the same age and over a hundred years of fire suppression has contributed to insect and disease outbreaks and high fire risk. These forests have high shrub and dead and down surface fuels as well abundant "ladder fuels" that transition fire to the overstory canopy. Drought and climate change compound these issues and create a fire environment that under high fire weather conditions will likely produce a large, high severity fire with a high resistance to control efforts and catastrophic effects in BCC and LCC. Quantitative Wildfire Risk Assessments (QWRA) from the US Forest Service show that much of the Wasatch Front has a high Burn Probability and ranks as either "High" or "Very High" for expected loss to assets and watershed function (see QWRA Report). In this context, fuels treatments such as the ones proposed in this project can moderate the effects of a wildfire as well as create strategic fuel breaks that assist firefighters to more effectively engage a wildfire.

Continuous mixed conifer forests with heavy dead and down fuel loading and dense ladder fuels are prone to burning with high severity and present a significant challenge to fire management. This project proposes cut/pile/burn treatments in which dead and down logs and ladder fuels such as small trees and the lower limbs of large trees are cut, placed into piles, and burned in the winter months when fire danger is low. These strategically placed treatments will assist with control efforts and reduce wildfire intensity and severity.

Once trained on these fire management practices, CCF field crews will be an asset for the Forest Service in completing this essential work. Funding from this grant will provide training (wages/ certifications) for the CCF fuels reduction team.

Additionally, the Cottonwood Canyons Watershed Restoration project will clear invasive species from more than 115 acres each year, totally more than 12,000 lbs of invasive material removed. If left untreated, invasive species can completely change the fire regime of ecosystems, increasing fire risk.

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.

The CCF Plant Stewardship Crew will work full time from April to October. These crew members will carry out botanical surveys of all trails, picnic areas, campsites, and ski resorts within Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon (see the mapped 'Affected Area' polygon for survey area). Invasive species are mapped using Field Maps and treated using either mechanical or chemical control (see the mapped 'Terrestrial Treatment Area' polygons. PLEASE NOTE: the treatment will be a combination of chemical and mechanical control). Herbicide mix depends on species, but will always follow Forest Service and Watershed requirements.

Restoration will be completed after Forest Service or ski resort projects are completed by planting seedlings (the seeds of which are collected by CCF and grown by a local horticulturalist) or laying down seed and revegetation matting.

Training on fuel reduction will take place following Forest Service methods to systematically buck and pile dead wood material. These piles are then carefully burned and monitored in the late fall when snow or rain is falling to reduce risk.

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.

CCF has been an organization based on partnerships since its inception 25 years ago.

Salt Lake Ranger District of the US Forest Service: CCF meets with the Forest Service at least monthly to create management plans, check in on project status, and overcome any hurtles

Watershed Division of the Salt Lake City Public Utility: a partner in planning, guidance on herbicide spray rates, and allows CCF to operate from their spray barn. A close partner on all things invasive species management and restoration. The SLCPU sees CCF as their emissary for work in the Cottonwood Canyons

Brighton, Solitude, Snowbird and Alta ski areas: CCF consults with each of the resorts on invasive species management and restoration, helping to implement the project work through crew time and volunteer events. All four of the ski resorts are close partners with shared goals of invasive species management, restoration, and fuel reduction.

Salt Lake County: CCF works closely with the Bee and Noxious Weeds program coordinator to alert private property owners of invasive plants on their property that is adjacent to Forest Service lands.

Central Wasatch Commission: CCF staff are on the stakeholders councils for the Recreation and Environment committees, and provide data and expertise to important local agency.

Town of Brighton, Alta, Cottonwood Heights, Millcreek, and Sandy City: CCF receives support and permissions from all relevant local governments.

Save our Canyons: Collaborates on volunteer events.

Salt Lake Climbers Alliance: Collaborates on volunteer events.

This project is entirely on Forest Service land, although some of that land is leased to the four major ski resorts.

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.