The area that burned in the Hilltop Fire is important winter range for mule deer and elk in the Central Region of the DWR. Browse species in the area show extremely heavy use and projects have been completed to reduce pinyon and juniper encroachment and imcrease shrubs that deer and elk use during the winter.

1. Stabilize exposed soils of the Hilltop Fire 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 mule deer, elk, livestock, and other wildlife.

Erosion, cheatgrass invasion, and loss of essential habitat for big game and livestock are all threats.

Lowland sagebrush is a key habitat identified in the WAP. The threats associated with this key habitat that will be addressed by this project are inappropriate fire frequency and intensity. . The removal of trees would create a break in the tree canopy where firefighters could begin to manage the fire. Statewide Mule Deer Management Plan Habitat Objective1: Maintain mule deer habitat throughout the state by protecting and enhancing existing crucial habitats and mitigating for losses due to natural and human impacts 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. Deer Herd 16C Management Plan Objective 1- Maintain a healthy mule deer population within the long term carrying capacity of the available habitat,based on winter range trend studies conducted by the DWR every five years. This project will help to increase the carrying capacity and maintain the health of the mule deer herd. Objective 2- -- Manage for a target population of 60,600 wintering deer (modeled number) during the five-year planning period unless range conditions become unsuitable, as evaluated by DWR. This project will help to increase the available winter forage so that populations can increase towards this 60,600 deer population goal. Habitat Management objective 1. Protect, maintain, and/or improve deer habitat through direct range improvements to support and maintain herd population management objectives. 2. Work with federal, private, and state partners to improve crucial deer habitats through the WRI process. 3. Maintain and protect critical winter range from future losses. 4. Continue to improve, protect, and restore sagebrush steppe habitats critical to deer. Cooperate with federal land management agencies and private landowners in carrying out habitat improvements such as pinion-juniper removal, reseedings, controlled burns, grazing management, water developments, etc. on public and private lands. Habitat improvement projects will occur on both winter ranges as well as summer range. 5. Reduce expansion of pinion-juniper and other woodlands into sagebrush habitats and improve habitats dominated by pinion-juniper woodlands by completing habitat restoration projects like lop & scatter, bullhog, and chaining. Statewide Elk Managment Plan 1. Increase forage production by annually treating a minimum of 40,000 acres of elk habitat. 2. Maintain sufficient habitat to support elk herds at population objectives and reduce competition for forage between elk and livestock.

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.

We will fly seed over aerially across the burned area. We will then pull an ely chain one way to knock down standing burned trees and help incorporate seed into the soil.

We will take photos before and after to show results.

UDWR, and Private Property Owners are working together to fund this project.

The UDWR will work with landowners to address any future concerns and needs of additional restoration work.

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.

10/15/2018

04/24/2019

2019

We first flew seed on with a fixed wing aircraft in October of 2018. See seed mix page for species and quantities. We seeded 1,730 acres. In the spring of 2019 we chained portions of the area that we seeded. We chained it with an ely chain in one direction only. We chained 873 acres.

The area that burned in the Hilltop Fire is important winter range for mule deer and elk in the Central Region of the DWR. Browse species in the area show extremely heavy use and projects have been completed to reduce pinyon and juniper encroachment and increase shrubs that deer and elk use during the winter. The objective of this project was to prevent invasive weeds from establishing post fire and encourage more natural forbs, grasses, and shrubs establishing.

The UDWR will work with landowners to address any future concerns and needs of additional restoration work.