Much of the fire burned in areas dominated by cheatgrass. Without herbicide treatment and seeding of adapted perennial grasses most of this burned area will continue to be dominated by cheatgrass and the fire frequency in this area will increase. The fire occurred near occupied Greater Sage-grouse (GRSG) habitat. The fire and past fires have killed Wyoming Big Sagebrush that is needed to provide feed and cover for GRSG. The draft Greater Sage-grouse planning EIS identifies wildfire and invasive species as the leading threat to the Sheeprocks GRSG Population.

1. Stabilize exposed soils of the Onaqui Fire Complex area. 2. Re-establish native and preferred grasses and shrubs. 3. Prevent invasive and noxious weed species from establishing in the burned area. 4. Improve the habitat for sage-grouse, mule deer,and other wildlife.

The Onaqui Complex fire burned hot and removed most of the soil's protective cover. The bare soils pose risks to wind and water erosion, roads, and the watershed. This fire has opened a window of opportunity for noxious and invasive weeds. Squarrose knapweed the most signifcant noxious weed concern in different areas of the fire. This knapweed typically increases logarithmically after fire disturbances, such as the nearby 2011 Desert Mountain Fire (GEL6). Cheat grass is found in many of the surrounding areas of the fire and will likely dominate the landscape if other plants are not seeded.

Because squarrose knapweed has been a long-term problematic noxious weed for the Fillmore Field Office (FFO) in the northern portion of the office area, the Squarrose Knapweed Management Demonstration Area (SKDMA) was established in 1997. SKDMA is a multi-partner organization made up of various government and private entities that were organized to help tackle the squarrose knapweed problem. Partners involved include two BLM offices, one Forest Service office, Utah State University, U.S.U. Extension Service, APHIS, Utah Dept. of Natural Resources, Utah Division of Wildlife esources, and four county governments. SKDMA has been making collaborateive efforts to educate the public on the problem and work with its partners to control knapweed since its inception in 1997. Each year SKDMA and other BLM efforts are carried out through Integrated Pest Management to control the spread and proliferation of squarrose knapweed. The most important factor in the control of weeds is aerial seeding treatments, which would establish perennial plants that are needed to occupy space and compete with noxious and invasive weeds.

This project will help to prevent the establishment of a monoculture of annual grasses and weeds that are more prone to fire and will change the fire frequency. This will also help to reduce the risk of future fires by having vegetation that holds more moisture later into the summer.

The fire has removed all vegetation and the soil is exposed and vulnerable to erosion. This project will help to establish vegetation that will stabilize the soil and help to reduce the amount of sediment that will enter streams and washes. This will help to improve the water quality of the watershed. Also, currently moisture will move across the soil more quickly and water quantity will be lost. This project will help establish vegetation that will hold more moisture in the system and allow for it to soak into the soil and enter under ground water storage.

All the necessary archaeological clearances will be conducted to ensure that no cultural resources are damaged by the soil disturbance.

Acres identified will be sprayed with 5 oz of Plateau herbicide surfactant and 3 to 5 gallons of water per acre during the fall of 2017. These areas will be left fallow until the fall of 2018 when the BLM will drill seed approximately 13,000 acres.

BLM will establish a vegetation trend study that will be read after each growing season for five years after the fire (2017-2022).

The BLM is partnering with the UDWR to re-hab this fire.

Fences are being built to help keep livestock from grazing the areas that will be seeded for at least two growing seasons. The BLM and SITLA will work with permittee to also ensure that this happens.

Re-seeding and chaining this area will help to establish perrennial grasses and forbs that will have greater value for livestock especially in the later summer months.

09/11/2017

03/04/2019

2019

Replaced burned west onaqui guzzler tank with new 1,800 gallon Boss tank during the fall of 2017. Installed new 16 ft x 32 ft metal apron and repaired guzzler fence during the spring of 2018. Sprayed Plateau on 16,341 acres of the Onaqui fire by fixed wing aircraft. Spraying began on September 27th and ended on October 12th. Sprayed 5 oz of Plateau, 1 oz surfactant and 3 gallons of water per acre. The BLM drill seeded the 13,058 acres of the project during the late fall of 2018 beginning on September 14 and finishing on November 4th. Sagebrush and forage kochia seed were flown on the last week of February and finished on March 4th of 2019.

The fire area received some moisture from storms before the spray treatment was started. However, it did not appear that there was much cheatgrass germination on the burned areas. The BLM had a contractor drill seed but was not happy with the work and BLM crews finished the drill seeding in early November of 2018. Four big game guzzlers were impacted by the Onaqui fire. The west Onaqui guzzler was destroyed. The wooden apron was totally burned leaving only the sheet metal. The tank was not completely buried and the exposed top was melted. The other 3 guzzlers were not damaged. Some had some minor perimeter fence damage. The new metal aprons are fire proof leaving only a small portion of the Boss tank exposed to fire.

BLM and SITLA lands treated on this project. Grazing will be deferred for at least 2 growing seasons after the drill seeding.