Box Elder Upland Game Guzzlers 2018
|
Project ID: 4483
Status: Completed
Fiscal Year: 2019
Submitted By:
53
|
Project Manager: Scott Walker
PM Agency: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
PM Office: Northern Region
Lead: Utah Chukar & Wildlife Foundation
WRI Region: Northern
|
|
Description:
Install 1 new, 500 gallon, upland game guzzler and replace 1 old non-working guzzler in West Box Elder County.
|
|
|
Location:
All guzzlers will be in West Box Elder County. The one replacement and one new guzzler will be located in the Chucker Knolls area (T 9 N, R 17 W, Sec 22 and Sec 32).
|
|
Project Need
Need For Project:
Upland guzzlers have been proven by DWR studies to benefit the population levels and distribution of Chukar Partridge. They also benefit many other small game and non game species. Water distribution is a primary limiting factor, and is partially controllable by adding guzzlers on the landscape. Water sources are limited in the mountains of West Box Elder Co. Providing addition water will allow for chukar partridge to utilize more quality habitat in this area. These guzzlers will also provide dependable water for a variety of other wildlife.
Objectives:
Add 1 upland guzzler with metal apron onto the Box Elder landscape and replace 1 old tire guzzler that no longer functions.
Project Location/Timing Justification (Why Here? Why Now?):
None - the previous two projects have been successfully completed.
Relation To Management Plan:
This project will provide water for a variety of upland game wildlife including chukar partridge, morning dove and cottontail rabbit.
This project will help address some of the goals and objectives in the Strategic Management Plan for chukar partridge including:
GOAL A: Establish and maintain optimum Chukar Partridge populations in all suitable habitat in Utah. Objective 1. Increase Utah five-year base, or average, Chukar Partridge populations
Objective 2. Improve Chukar Partridge habitat on 64,000 acres statewide by 2008.
GOAL B: Increase Chukar Partridge hunting and viewing opportunity in Utah.
Objective 1. Increase Chukar Partridge hunting opportunity
Objective 2. Increase public awareness and viewing opportunity for Chukar Partridge
The proposed projects will address the following goals and objectives of the Division of Wildlife Resources most recent strategic management plan:
Resource Goal: expand wildlife populations by protecting and improving wildlife habitat.
Objective 1: protect existing wildlife habitat and improve 500,000 acres of critical habitats and watersheds throughout the state.
Constituency Goal: Achieve broad-based support for Division programs and budgets by demonstrating the value of wildlife to all citizens of Utah.
Objective 2: improve communication with wildlife organizations, public officials, private landowners, and government agencies to obtain support for Division programs.
Fire / Fuels:
This project will have no effect of Fire or Fuels.
Water Quality/Quantity:
Guzzlers will increase the quantity of available water at local sites to upland game and small wildlife that use these areas.
Compliance:
These Guzzlers have been included in the BLM NEPA process and have been approved by the Salt Lake Filed Office.
Methods:
UDWR will purchase the material and assist in transporting and delivering the materials to each location. Labor to support materials delivery and guzzler installations will be predominantly provided by volunteers. UDWR biologists Volunteers have identified the possible sites & will support the DWR Archaeologist effort to survey the sites for archaeological clearances.
Guzzlers will be installed with DWR and Chukar foundation personnel and volunteers. Where possible a DWR backhoe will excavate holes for guzzler placement.
All sites are located on Bureau of Land Mangment lands and have been approved by the Salt Lake Field Office.
Monitoring:
Annual monitoring of guzzlers is done by NRO Habitat maintenance staff. All regional guzzlers are put inventoried and are visited on a rotational basis to determine maintenance needs.
Also, the Chukar Foundation personnel often visit these guzzlers and are active in reporting and helping with maintenance as needed.
Partners:
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Utah Chukar Foundation
Bureau of Land Management
Future Management:
Guzzlers will be maintained as needed.
Sustainable Uses of Natural Resources:
None
| Budget | WRI/DWR | Other | Budget Total | In-Kind | Grand Total |
| $1,640.00 | $0.00 | $1,640.00 | $4,600.00 | $6,240.00 |
| Item | Description | WRI | Other | In-Kind | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | Chukar Foundation/Dedicated Hunter Volunteer time to install guzzlers. 40 hours @ $20/hr | $0.00 | $0.00 | $800.00 | 2019 |
| Materials and Supplies | Donated tanks by Chukar Foundation, 500 Gallon Rotational Molding tank. 2 @ $900 each = $1,800 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $1,800.00 | 2019 |
| Personal Services (permanent employee) | Full time DWR employees, ordering, receiving, organizing, transporting and installing guzzler material. (40 man hours at $25/hr) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $1,000.00 | 2019 |
| Motor Pool | Two trucks and trailers to transport material and backhoe from NRO to Box Elder. (800 miles) | $600.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2019 |
| Archaeological Clearance | In house archaeological clearance | $0.00 | $0.00 | $500.00 | 2019 |
| Other | Miscellaneous expenses: Fuel for backhoe, other motor vehicle costs of other employees, ATV fuel, wisc. etc | $0.00 | $0.00 | $500.00 | 2019 |
| Materials and Supplies | Prices per guzzler- $520 X 2 = $1,040 Metal Roofing - $150 8 Delineator Posts - $120 4 Perlins - $100 Rain Gutter/spout - $50 Misc. Hardware - $100 | $1,040.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2019 |
| Funding | WRI/DWR | Other | Funding Total | In-Kind | Grand Total |
| $3,440.00 | $1,000.00 | $4,440.00 | $4,600.00 | $9,040.00 |
| Source | Phase | Description | Amount | Other | In-Kind | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Habitat Council Account | HCRF | $3,440.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2019 | |
| Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $2,000.00 | 2019 | ||
| Chukar Foundation | May or may not come through DWR | $0.00 | $1,000.00 | $2,200.00 | 2019 | |
| Volunteers - Dedicated Hunters | $0.00 | $0.00 | $400.00 | 2019 |
Species
| Species | "N" Rank | HIG/F Rank | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chukar | R3 | |||||
|
||||||
| Desert Cottontail | R5 | |||||
|
||||||
| Mourning Dove | R2 | |||||
|
||||||
Habitats
| Habitat | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowland Sagebrush | ||||
|
Project Comments
| Comment | 04/03/2018 | Type: 1 | Commenter: N/A |
| I have some concerns on the placement of the 3 northern guzzlers that are part of this project. They are adjacent to one of the largest sage-grouse leks in the state as well as important sage-grouse nest/brood habitat. Although guzzlers are generally a positive for many species, especially chukar, they also have the potential to subsidize predator populations. In this case the worry is subsidizing fox and raven who are both effective nest predators for sage-grouse. I suggest relocating these 3 guzzlers to expand the network of guzzlers at the south end of the Grouse Creek/Bovine Mts or Pilot Mts. -Avery Cook | |||
| Comment | 08/27/2019 | Type: 2 | Commenter: Alison Whittaker |
| Please enter any missing expenses, highlighted in rust, on the Finance Page. When you have completed that please go back to the Completion Form and finalize your report again so I know that it has been completed. Thanks. | |||
Completion
Start Date:
07/01/2018
End Date:
06/30/2019
FY Implemented:
2019
Final Methods:
UDWR purchased the materials for 2 guzzlers. They also assisted in transporting and delivering the materials to each location. Labor to support materials delivery and guzzler installations were predominantly provided by volunteers. DWR Archaeologist surveyed the sites and gave archaeological clearances.
UDWR biologists Volunteers identified the possible sites & supported the DWR Archaeologist effort to survey the sites for archaeological clearances.
Guzzlers were installed with DWR and Chukar foundation personnel and volunteers.
All sites are located on Bureau of Land Management lands and were approved by the Salt Lake Field Office.
This project originally included three additional upland game guzzlers to be placed North and west of the Rosebud BLM field station. These areas were disallowed by the BLM and DWR biologists as they were deemed to close to existing sage grouse Leks.
Project Narrative:
The sites had been previously identified by the Chuckar Foundation and volunteers. The sites were visited by DWR biologists and were confirmed that guzzlers would be appropriate. One of the sites was an old tire guzzler at the base of Chukar knolls that was no longer functioning. The other site was in the general proximity (approximately two miles to the North east). This other site was visited by Monson Shaver, the DWR archaeologist, and arc clearance was approved.
Through the spring materials were purchased by the DWR and gathered. The tanks are the Rotational Molding type tanks and had been previously purched by the Chukar Foundation for projects in the Central Region. They were transported from the CRO to the NRO and used for this project.
On May 4th a group of voluteers, Chukar Foundtaion members and DWR maintenance staff traveled to the area and installed both guzzlers. Fences were placed around the guzzlers.
Later in the year it was determined that the guzzler that replaced the tire guzzler might be effective as a big game guzzler. So the DWR habitat maintenance staff went back and modified the guzzler to allow for Pronghorn to be able to drink from it. They were able to just hook a strap around the tank and pull it out a couple of feet from under the apron to give space for the pronghorn to drink.
Future Management:
These guzzlers will be monitored for any maintenance requirements. Also, the one that was modified will be monitored to see if Pronghorn use the guzzler and if there is sufficient water capacity to support both pronghorn in the area and still allow enough water for the other wildlife. If it is found that there is not enough water, the guzzler will be modified again either disallowing the Pronghorn or increasing the apron size.
Map Features
N/A
Project Map
N/A