Dark Canyon Plateau has become heavily encroached with pinyon and juniper. Old chainings and prescribed burns that were seeded with crested wheatgrass have begun to fill in and have created closed canopy forests that have reduced ground cover. Many archaeological sites including petroglyph panels and Anasazi dwellings are at risk from wildfire due to fuel load concentrations in pinyon/juniper woodlands. The plateau is also habitat to various wildlife species and is considered critical elk and deer winter range. Due to the pinyon juniper encroachment the risk of large wildland fires has increased along with increased water erosion, an overall decline in watershed health, and reduced forage availability. The project units are within the Black Steer-Dark Canyon watershed.

1) Restore watershed health and function by reducing pinyon and juniper trees 2) Reducing the risk of large wildland fires 3) Increase sagebrush 4) Improve elk winter range Pinyon/juniper forests have historically been controlled by fire frequency (Miller and Wigand 1994), but because of changes in management and use the fire return interval has greatly increased. Lack of natural disturbance along with prolong periods of drought have led to the expansion of pinyon/juniper into areas that were typically shrubland dominant. Common to the hydrology of many of these communities, when trees are dominant they are a relatively high evapotranspiration component of the water budget (Roundy et al. 1999) and high exposure of surface soils between tress that provide of major sources of runoff and erosion. Research has shown that in the southwest much of the erosion in these systems occurs in mid-summer during the monsoons and mid-winter with snow melt (Wilcox 1994). Shallow soils between tree canopy areas are wetter than in areas where canopies receive less precipitation due to interception (Breshears 1993). Pinyon and juniper trees deplete soil moisture in intercanopy areas as they transpire more in the winter. The lack of water and nutrient availability from tree-root exploitation of interspaces can result in eventual mortality of understory vegetation in absence of fire of other tree killing disturbances (Breshears et al 1997). Manipulating vegetation that is deep rooted and uses more water (ie pinyon and juniper) allows more water to percolate through the soil and enter ground water and streams (Hibbert 1983). Additionally, removing the trees opens they interspaces and allows for more water availability to other vegetative species that would typically dominate the site. Because much of the work is associated with old chainings there will be almost 100% removal of pinyon and juniper trees from the site. Through monitoring our objects are to see an increase of native plant diversity, at least a 70% change in the species composition and cover and a 50% change in the soil surface gaps, which is an indicator for wind and water erosion risk, water infiltration and the exotic plant invasion risk. We would like to see and increase of 20-25% in shrub cover and 20-30% increase in grasses and forbs.

Continued decline in watershed function associated with pinyon/juniper encroachment and closed canopy forest leading to increased erosion, high fire potential and overall loss of critical habitat. By thinning trees the risk of large fires will decrease, understory vegetation recruitment can occur and there will be an overall improvement in habitat. Phase I of this project has already shown a vast improvement in the overall increase in plant cover and diversity and a decrease in erosion.

1) Monticello RMP/ROD (BLM 2008), which incorporated in its entirety the Utah Land Use Plan Amendment for Fire and Fuels (BLM 2005) (as summarized in Table 2.1, Chapter 2, page 2-16 of the RMP). Chapter 3, page 3-32 of the RMP describes the pinyon-juniper woodland in the Monticello Field Office and establishes the desired wildland fire condition as the "restoration of pinyon-juniper woodland to the vegetative community previous to pinyon-juniper encroachment." 2) The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) is the basic authority for BLM activities. It establishes the principle that public lands be retained in Federal ownership and provides for the management, protection, development, and enhancement of the public lands under the principles of multiple use, sustained development, and sustained yield. 3) The implementation of effective wildland fire management programs is mandated in Departmental Manual 620 (Wildland Fire Management). Section 1.5 (C) (Objectives) instructs the BLM to "...develop fire management plans, programs, and activities which are based on the best available science; that incorporate public health and environmental quality considerations; and support bureau land, natural, and cultural resource management goals and objectives." 4) The National Fire Plan (NFP) was designed to manage the potential impacts of wildland fire to communities and ecosystems and to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildland fire. 5) Public Law 108-148, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA), focuses on hazardous fuel treatment of BLM lands at risk of wildland fire. 6) Division of Water Quality stresses the importance of treating uplands to stabilize soils in their Watershed Approach initiative. General standards for water quality in Utah are found in the Standards of Quality for Waters Title II (43 USC 1901 et seq), as amended. 7) The BLM Grazing Management Regulations, 43 CFR Subpart 4180.2(e), required development of guidelines to address the restoration, maintenance and enhancement of habitats to promote the conservation for federally proposed, federally candidate and other special status species. 8) BLM National Policy Guidance on Wildlife and Fisheries Management This manual provides direction to restore, maintain and improve wildlife habitat conditions on public lands through the implementation of activity plans 9) Mexican Spotted Owl Recovery Plan Management recommendations within the plan include: * Ecosystem/landscape management: management should sustain biotic diversity and the natural processes and landscape mosaics that generate diversity. * Encourage proactive fire management programs which assume active roles in duels management and understanding the ecological role of fire. * Forest management- provide uneven-aged stand of trees and develop or maintain stratified mixtures of forest systems. 10) The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Statewide Management Plan for Mule Deer (December 4, 2008). Section VI Statewide management goals and objectives. This plan addresses: * Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 500,000 acres of crucial range. * Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat with emphasis on drought or fire damaged sagebrush winter ranges, ranges that are being taken over by invasive annual grass species, and ranges being diminished by encroachment of conifers into sagebrush or aspen habitats. * Encourage land managers to manage portions of pinion-juniper woodlands and aspen/conifer forests in early successional stages. * Work with land management agencies, conservation organizations, private landowners and local leaders through the regional Watershed Restoration Initiative working groups to identify and prioritize mule deer habitats that are in need of enhancement or restoration. * Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat with emphasis on drought or fire damaged sagebrush winter ranges, ranges that are being taken over by invasive annual grass species, and ranges being diminished by encroachment of conifers into sagebrush or aspen habitats. * Continue to identify, map, and characterize crucial mule deer habitats throughout the state, and identify threats and limiting factors to each habitat. * Work with land management agencies and private landowners to identify and properly manage crucial mule deer habitats, especially fawning and wintering areas. 11) Deer Herd Unit Management Plan-Unit 14 San Juan * Maintain and protect existing critical deer ranges sufficient to support the population objectives. Seek cooperative projects to improve the quality and quantity of deer habitat. Maintain and enhance habitat security and escapement areas for deer. * Work with public land management agencies to develop specific vegetative objectives to maintain the quality of important deer use areas. * Continue to coordinate with land management agencies in planning and evaluating resource uses and developments that could impact habitat quality. * Cooperate with federal land management agencies and private landowners in carrying out habitat improvements such as reseedings, controlled burns, water developments etc. on public and private lands. * Cooperate with federal land management agencies and local governments in developing and administering access management plans for the purposes of habitat protection and escape or security areas. 12) Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Statewide Management Plan for Elk 2008-2013. * Improve the quality and quantity of forage and cover on 250,000 acres of elk habitat with emphasis on calving habitat and upper elevation elk winter range by the end of this plan. * Work with land management agencies, conservation organizations, private landowners, and local leaders through the regional Watershed Restoration Initiative working groups to identify and prioritize elk habitats that are in need of enhancement or restoration. 13) Elk Herd Management Plan-Unit 14 San Juan * Limited Summer Range - Work with public land management agencies to develop specific vegetative objectives to maintain the quality of important elk use areas. Respond to any range deterioration concerns and address documented excessive forage utilization. Continue to investigate and develop habitat projects on summer range to improve forage availability for both elk and cattle. * Habitat Loss - Cooperate with federal land management agencies and private landowners in carrying out habitat rehabilitation projects such as reseedings, controlled burns, water developments etc. on public and private lands to maintain or increase forage quantity and quality. * Land Resource Activities - Continue to coordinate with land management agencies and energy development companies in planning and evaluating resource uses and developments that could impact habitat quality. Work to develop and administer access management plans for the purposes of habitat protection and escape or "security" areas. 14) The San Juan County Master Plan approved and adopted July 8, 1996 (Revised in March 2008). The plan (Section 4 p.108) supports vegetation treatments, such as mechanical and burning, to restore rangeland for the mutual benefit of livestock and wildlife. Section 5 revision (p. 110) promotes programs to remove pinyon and juniper with mechanical treatments to stimulate grasses and improve water yield. 15) Utah Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy *Shrubsteppe habitats ranked out as the 4th highest habitat priority for the state of Utah. This places the shrubsteppe into a "key" habitat type *Shrubsteppe habitat should be a target for restoration and conservation. *Recommends where decadent pinyon juniper has increased into shrubsteppe due to lack of disturbance to disturb the decadent vegetation 16) Utah Wildlife Action Plan * Desert Grassland: Promote policies and management that allow fire to return to a more natural regime; Promote policies that reduce inappropriate grazing by domestic livestock and wildlife; Continuing the use of appropriate methods for reducing the spread and dominance of invasive weeds and annual grasses..., Continuing the development of plant materials suited to this habitat. * Lowland Sagebrush: Promote policies and management that allow fire to return to a more natural regime; Promote policies that reduce inappropriate grazing by domestic livestock...;Promote restoration that reduces the uncharacteristic class, including cutting/mulching/chaining of invading pinyon and juniper trees, herbicide or mechanical treatment of non-native invasive species...;Promote management that includes seeding a diversity of grasses, forbs, and shrubs that will lead to increased resiliency and resistance in the plant community.

The Dark Canyon Plateau area is currently classified as a Condition Class 3 Fire Regime. There is a high departure from the historical regime of the vegetation characteristics and fuel composition on the plateau. Pre-treatment monitoring indicates that the pinyon/juniper ranges from a Phase 2 to Phase 3 condition where the percent tree cover ranges from 25-50%, percent shrubs 2-10%, percent grasses is 4-20 and bare ground is 30- 65. Historic fire scars within the project area show stand replacing, hot, extreme fire behavior. Cheatgrass and annual weeds are now the dominant species within the burn areas. By reducing that canopy cover and returning the plant community to a more diverse resilient community that includes grasses, forbs, and shrubs, the risk of have a large catastrophic stand replacing fire on the Dark Canyon Plateau would greatly be reduced. This will also protect the existing critical elk and mule deer winter habitat.

The project area is located with the Dark Canyon and Cataract Canyon-Colorado River HUC 12 Units. Pinyon/juniper forests have historically been controlled by fire frequency (Miller and Wigand 1994), but because of changes in management and use the fire return interval has greatly increased. Lack of natural disturbance along with prolong periods of drought have led to the expansion of pinyon/juniper into areas that were typically shrubland dominant. Common to the hydrology of many of these communities, when trees are dominant they are a relatively high evapotranspiration component of the water budget (Roundy et al. 1999) and high exposure of surface soils between tress that provide of major sources of runoff and erosion. Research has shown that in the southwest much of the erosion in these systems occurs in mid-summer during the monsoons and mid-winter with snow melt (Wilcox 1994). Shallow soils between tree canopy areas are wetter than in areas where canopies receive less precipitation due to interception (Breshears 1993). Pinyon and juniper trees deplete soil moisture in intercanopy areas as they transpire more in the winter. The lack of water and nutrient availability from tree-root exploitation of interspaces can result in eventual mortality of understory vegetation in absence of fire of other tree killing disturbances (Breshears et al 1997). Manipulating vegetation that is deep rooted and uses more water (ie pinyon and juniper) allows more water to percolate through the soil and enter ground water and streams (Hibbert 1983). Additionally, removing the trees opens they interspaces and allows for more water availability to other vegetative species that would typically dominate the site.

NEPA was completed on 2012, Dec 17 2014. Class 3 Archaeology clearances where completed for this area during Phase 4 of this project. SHPO and Native American Consultations have also been completed. Archaeological surveys, SHPO and Native American Consultation meet the requirements outlined for Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. All methods and phases are compliant with the 2008 Monticello Field Office Resource Management Plan. Section 7 Consultation has been completed in compliance with the Endangered Species Act.

A bullhog will be used to thin pinyon trees with a dbh of 10 inches or less and juniper trees with a dbh of 12 inches or less. Treatments would occur in the early spring or late fall.

The DWR has a long term range trend plot within this project area (Sweet Alice Spring). Pre and post treatment photos will also be taken.

Partners for this project include The Nature Conservancy, DWR, Utah State University, USGS and Canyonlands Research Committee.

We are coordinating with the permitee on developing better grazing plans and will continue to monitor and identify future treatment areas. We will continue to work with the UT DWR to help meet the goals and objectives within the elk and mule deer management plans and the unit management plans.

Improved availability of water, facilitation of better livestock grazing management, improved utilization of forage.

07/01/2018

06/30/2019

2019

Excavator mastication of pinyon and juniper trees. Followup with chainsaw and loppers after snow melt for smaller trees that might have been covered by snow. Any dead and down chaining debris were masticated. Any other shrubs or trees encountered were left untouched.

The Dark Canyon Plateau is important for deer and elk wintering. The area also provides cover and forage for other wildlife species such as raptors, bears, migratory birds, and other small mammals. The Dark Canyon project was designed to remove Pinyon and Juniper encroachment from sage and grass meadows established previously by BLM "seeding" and chaining operations. Older condition class 3 tree stands were converted to condition class 1 or 2 through thinning of smaller size class trees opening up the understory for herbaceous response and slowing erosion of top soil. Erosion was exposing cultural resources and cutting deep arroyos on the plateau. Winter range for wildlife and more opportunity for grazing flexibility to lessen impacts to the Plateau overall will be realized. The likelihood of large stand replacement fire has been reduced while preserving some of the oldest members of the adjacent Pinyon and Juniper forests. The phase 5 crew started work on November 15th, work was done with excavators equipped with mastication heads. They finished the heavy machine work on Jan 31st. We asked that they come back in the spring to go over the area with chains saws and loppers for small trees that may have been covered by snow. While removing the heavy equipment one of the excavators tipped off the road and had to be left until the summer. Crew did return by Jun 12th to finish the contract with loppers and chain saw. They finished Phase 5 by Jun 30th. The tipped machine was removed by August 2nd.

Range land health monitoring plots will be read for the next 4 years and then the regular cycle of rage land health monitoring will continue everything 3 years. The area will be evaluated periodically and will be re-treated by hand crew once it is determined that new growth of pinyon and juniper trees has reached a treatable amount.