This project is planned to improve the winter range on the Wallsburg Wildlife Management Area (WMA).The Wallsburg (WMA) is located within the boundaries of the Wasatch Mountains deer and elk herd unit #17, which provides habitat for some 500 wintering deer and up to 300 wintering elk on a normal winter. A fire in 1998 destroyed some 200 acres of prime winter range. Deer numbers are on a rebound from large losses in 1993 and recovering at a faster rate than current vegetation densities. In future years, deer and elk numbers will have to be reduced if habitat improvements are not made. We plan to plant seedlings and broadcast seeds on scalped ground of sagebrush, bitterbrush, cliffrose and mahogany species. This will improve habitat for a recovering deer herd and for the present elk population and help prevent us from having to cull the herd. Diversity within the plant community is a limiting factor for a variety of other wildlife species including sage-grouse. Sage-grouse have not been seen on an historic lek or during lek counts for a number of years on the WMA, although, we have received reports of grouse on the WMA. This project will help to increase diversity of plants and help to have a multi age class of plants that will increase the resilience of the population to drought or other disturbance. This will benefit other non-game species and help to preserve the value of this wildlife management area for many years to come.

1. Increase the amount of shrubs on the property to provide more food for wintering big game. 2. Maintain a diversity of age classes of shrub plants to increase resilience of native shrub community. 3. Protect sagebrush and other shrubs for sage-grouse or other WAP species.

By not doing this project we risk having greater damage to existing shrubs from herbivory pressure. We also by not having younger shrubs we risk having just older shrubs that will eventually die off and will be more vulnerable to disease and drought. This project will help ensure that we have more food available now for big game and have food available in the future.

Wallsburg Coordinated Resource Management Plan (CRMP) Objective: Increase greater sage-grouse and big game habitat -- "Target 3,150 acres for sagebrush Utah Statewide Mule Deer Management Plan Habitat Objective 2: Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 500,000 acres of crucial range by 2019. b. 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 (Figure 6). d. Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat with emphasis on drought or fire damaged sagebrush winter ranges, ranges that have been taken over by invasive annual grass species, and ranges being diminished by encroachment of conifers into sagebrush or aspen habitats, ensuring that seed mixes contain sufficient forbs and browse species. Deer Herd Unit Management Plan -- Unit 17 Habitat protection and maintenance -- Work toward long-term habitat protection and preservation through the use of agreements with land management agencies and local governments, and through the use of conservation easements, etc. on private lands. Future Habitat work -- Wallsburg WMA Elk Unit Management Plan -- Unit 17 Habitat Within the next five years, enhance forage production on a minimum of 20,000 acres of elk habitat, through direct range improvements to maintain population management objectives. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Strategic Plan. Goal A: Conserve, protect, enhance and manage Utah's wildlife. Obj. A-1:Maintain populations of harvestable wildlife species at species or drainage management plan objective levels through 2003. Obj. A-2:Increase the distribution and/or abundance of 10% of the 1998 classified state sensitive species by 2003. Obj. A-4: Maintain distribution and abundance of all other naturally occurring wildlife and native plant species through 2003. Goal B: Conserve, protect, enhance and manage Utah's ecosystems. Obj. B-1: Increase the functioning of 10% of the currently impaired ecosystems by 2003. Obj. B-2: Prevent declining conditions in both impaired and currently functional ecosystems through 2003. The Habitat Management Plan for this unit states: Goal III, objective 1 "Maintain key forage species on winter range" This project will help meet some of the Habitat management strategies listed in the Wallsburg Habitat Management Plan (March 2016) including: * Improve sagebrush and bitterbrush habitats with seed and/or seedling transplant projects. * Utilize mechanical treatments to enhance sagebrush seedling establishment in over mature sagebrush stands. Wildlife Action Plan 1. The project area occurs within the sagebrush steppe type which is one of the key habitats identified in the WAP. This area supports mule deer (S4), elk (SNA) and Greater sage grouse (S3). Numerous other species of concern also inhabit the area includingneotropical birds and raptors. WRI Focus Areas The proposed treatments lie within Central Region UPCD focus areas. SVARM sage grouse conservation plan; Strategy 6: Maintain and improve habitat conditions in winter range.

By having younger shrubs that are not as decadent and dry as older dying shrubs it will reduce the risk and severity of fire. Hopefully it will serve as green strip areas where fires will slow or stop. By maintaining healthy stand of shrubs and native plants it will prevent annual grasses from establishing that can increase the fuel load and dryness of plants that increase fire risk.

By having a healthy diversity of age class shrubs it will prevent a mono-culture of old decadent plants which can die off and result in invasion of weedy plants such as cheatgrass. Cheatgrass will absorb all of the available water and decrease the plant diversity. By doing this project there will be more available water for native understory plants to increase diversity.

All necessary cultural clearances will be conducted prior to implementation of this project. This project is on UDWR property and NEPA will not be necessary.

Narrow furrows will be tilled along the contour using a seko plow. These will be placed about 20 feet apart and planted in the early spring with seedling antelope bitterbrush, sagebrush, and mahogany seedlings. Planting will be done by hand and using a tractor mounted shrub seeder. The tilled strips are necessary to control competition from bulbose bluegrass which is found in high densities in the treatment area. We will also use a dozer with a 10 foot blade to scalp 10' strips through out thin shrub stands. The bare soil will reduce competition from grasses and allow for naturally seeding to occur. We will also broadcast seed and use dribblers to augment the amount of seed and diversity of species.

We will use photo points before and after project implementation to determine the success of these plantings.

The UDWR will partner with sportsman groups to fund the project and get volunteers to help plant shrub seedlings.

We will continue to graze in early spring and summer with cattle to help to hit those grasses to remove competition with the shrubs.

This will help to improve the diversity and quantity of browse species on the Wallsburg WMA. The Wallsburg WMA is grazed and this will help to prevent annual grasses from establishing that will reduce the amount of available food for livestock.

10/31/2019

11/02/2019

2020

We used a dozer with a harrow on the back to plow a 2' wide furrow in strips that ran parallel to the hills contour. The bare soil will help reduce competition from grasses and allow for natural re-seeding to occur. We also broadcasted seed in the furrows. We did this harrowing and seeding on October 31, 2019. We then on November 2, 2019 with about 20 volunteers from the Mule Deer Foundation, planted about 2,000 two year old shrub seedlings. These seedlings were grown in D-40 pots and a plastic biodegradable vexar mesh protector that went down into the pot to protect the roots. These plants had been grown for two whole natural growing seasons. As opposed to some of the other plantings we have done with a unnatural growing season in the greenhouse and one natural season outside the greenhouse. The idea of planting older shrubs is that their root systems are more developed and will better help them to survive.

This project is planned to improve the winter range on the Wallsburg Wildlife Management Area (WMA).The Wallsburg (WMA) is located within the boundaries of the Wasatch Mountains deer and elk herd unit #17, which provides habitat for some 500 wintering deer and up to 300 wintering elk on a normal winter. A fire in 1998 destroyed some 200 acres of prime winter range. Deer numbers are on a rebound from large losses in 1993 and recovering at a faster rate than current vegetation densities. Diversity within the plant community is a limiting factor for a variety of other wildlife species including sage-grouse. Sage-grouse have not been seen on an historic lek or during lek counts for a number of years on the WMA, although, we have received reports of grouse on the WMA. This project will help to increase diversity of plants and help to have a multi age class of plants that will increase the resilience of the population to drought or other disturbance. This will benefit other non-game species and help to preserve the value of this wildlife management area for many years to come.

We will continue to graze in early spring and summer with cattle to help reduce grass competition with the shrubs. We will watch to see what percent of our shrubs survive and work to develop better techniques to improve success in the future.