Vegetation: A healthy sagebrush community should consist of a diverse plant population and a wide variety of wildlife. The sagebrush habitat on the South Bookcliffs is becoming degraded due to encroaching Pinyon and Juniper (PJ) stands. In areas where trees have become dominant, they have out competed understory species for light, moisture, and nutrients. This eventually results in a loss of many if not all understory species. This lack of understory species will deplete the native seed bank, increase soil erosion, and increase non-native weed invasion (cheatgrass). Pinyon and Juniper (PJ) stands typically have an excessive fuel build up and can result in catastrophic wildfires. This further degrades the depleted habitat and increases the likelihood of noxious weed expansion such as cheatgrass. Removing some of the Pinyon and Juniper (PJ) and seeding with perennial species can help improve the degraded sagebrush communities. It will ensure the seed bank maintains desirable species, reduces the chances of catastrophic wildfires, and decreases the risk of weed invasion. Wildlife: The South Bookcliffs deer herds are 40-50% below the population objective for the area and the elk herds are more than 25% below population objective. These population declines can be attributed in part to habitat quality and quantity on both summer and winter ranges. High quality mule deer winter range on the South Bookcliffs is found in a narrow belt of habitat. Stands of Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata var.wyomingensis) are found at the mouths of each of the major canyons (Blaze, Floy, Sego Thompson, Cottonwood, Diamond, Sager, Bryson and, Sulfur) of the South Bookcliffs. Mule deer use these areas throughout the winter months for valuable forage. These stands are in poor condition as a result of drought cycles and high utilization by both mule deer and domestic livestock (cattle). Furthermore, existing stands are being out competed by Pinyon and Juniper (PJ) trees thus reducing the carrying capacity for mule deer and other wildlife species such as Bighorn sheep. Removing some of the trees in a mosaic pattern will improve the overall winter range condition. The mosaic patterns are very effective in that the Pinyon-Juniper (PJ) trees provide valuable thermal and hiding cover for deer as well as providing them with valuable forage close to cover. Removing some Pinyon and Juniper (PJ) trees will improve the quantity and quality of sagebrush in the area also. This would provide valuable winter range forage for mule deer and Bighorn sheep with hiding and thermal cover in close proximity. This should aid in both deer over winter survival as well as increase fawn production. Watershed Health: Areas dominated by Pinyon-Juniper (PJ) produce limited understory vegetation and the bare soil interspaces are prone to soil loss by erosion. Herbaceous vegetation is important in impeding overland flow and is effective at reducing soil erosion. Both the potential increase in herbaceous vegetation and the masticated tree material should help stabilize the soils by reducing erosion and protecting the water quality throughout the watershed. Pinyon and Juniper (PJ) intercept 10-20% of precipitation according to Horman et al. 1999. By removing the Pinyon/ Juniper (PJ), this should allow for more precipitation to contact the soil and increase biomass on the ground. Pinyon-juniper (PJ) expansion into areas that historically had greater forbs and grasses present impedes streamflow for off-site (downstream) uses (Folliott 2012). (PJ) presence alters the amount and distribution of water that reaches the soil. Because (PJ) is very competitive for water, this often reduces grasses and forbs within the area, leading to bare soil. "The increase in bare soil, particularly in the spaces between trees, typically leads to increased runoff and soil loss as the juniper infestation increases" (Thurow 1997). Increased runoff and sediment load, decrease water yield and water quality within the watershed. Studies have shown that an evaluation of alternatives using conversion treatments to enhance stream-flow in the (PJ) should be made (Barr 1956). There also is a need for the installation of beaver dam analog structures (BDA) within the Nash Wash canyon to increase the water table and freewater availability for desert bats such as the Little Brown Myotis. This will increase the production of riparian plant species and act as temporary escape cover for relocated beavers. Beavers were introduced in 2016 however it appears that they did not become established. Reintroduction efforts will continue once escape cover is created. After a healthy beaver population becomes established and the streams have water throughout the season, Colorado river cutthroat trout will be stocked in the Nash Wash canyon drainage. Chukar prefer steep rocky slopes with shrubs and grass cover. In Utah, priorities for increasing chukar populations are to reduce pinyon and juniper and increase native grass and forbs. Chukar habitats are also threatened by fire. When fire burns through an area like this it can be invaded by cheatgrass and much needed shrubs are often destroyed and are very difficult to restore. Although chukar will use cheatgrass for forage, other large seeded plants are much more desirable, such as indian ricegrass and annual sunflower which are included in the seedmix. Reducing pinyonjuniper and improving forage for chukar nearby south-facing rocky slopes can benefit chukar in the area. The black rosy finch is identified in the Utah Wildlife Action plan and is often limited by available habitat. Black rosy finch often use high alpine areas during the summer, which can be difficult for habitat manipulation, however, black rosy finch are also limited in winter range which overlap with mule deer habitats. Black rosy winter habitats include open valleys in high deserts with seeds and other vegetable matter. This project will create more open habitat and forage for black rosy finch. Ferruginous hawk and golden eagle are both threatened by inappropriate fire frequency. This project will reduce that threat by targeting heavy fuel loads in the area. This project will also benefit these species by providing more diverse forage and habitat for their prey species. Increasing the abundance of prey species available to raptors can lead to increased raptor densities. Ferruginous hawks may also further benefit from creating open foraging areas on the edge of pinyon juniper that can be used for nesting.

1) Promote a healthy understory of grasses, forbs and shrubs to provide quality habitat for wildlife and range species. 1a. 12-20% preferred browse, 20% or less shrub decadency, 10%+ young shrub population. 1b. 8-15% perennial grasses, 5% perennial forb, less than 5% annual grass cover. 2) Reduce the encroachment of pinyon/juniper trees in sagebrush meadows, but leave patches of trees for wildlife corridors. 3) Reduce cheatgrass expansion by promoting perennial grass, forb, and shrub cover. 4) Reduce the density of pinyon/juniper trees as a hazardous fuels treatment to protect habitat at risk from a devastating wildfire event. 5) Reduce overland flows of water from rain/snow events where there is heavy pinyon/juniper stands. Allowing water to be infiltrated into the soils and slowly released back into the system. 6) After mechanical treatments have occurred it has been shown that 2 to 3 years post treatment there is a decrease in bare ground on the site. This increase was from grasses, forbs and litter left on site from mechanical treatment (Miller et al. 2014). 6) Increase available forage for livestock (cattle) and wildlife. 7) Help bring this plant community back into a more natural state with a variety of age classes of the different plant communities. 8) Maintain and improve ecological site description as described in the NRCS Ecological Site Description. 9) Install beaver dam analog like structures to increase riparian plant species and create escape cover for relocated beavers. 10) Create sediment basins that allow for higher water holding potential, open water and spread the runoff out allowing for more water later in the season. 11) Create more complexity within the stream to eventually provide a site for Colorado cutthroat trout reintroduction.

This project focuses on Pinyon/ Juniper (PJ) removal as a means to maintain healthy sagebrush habitat. Sagebrush habitat is at risk of being lost due to excessive Pinyon and Juniper (PJ), subsequent wildfire, and high potential for cheatgrass invasion. High severity wildfires could lead to an increase in cheatgrass and loss of native species. This project will decrease the risk of high severity wildfire by reducing fuel loading, reducing soil erosion, and promoting the growth of understory vegetation, which are critical to maintaining ecosystem resilience. The winter range/shrub community for the South Bookcliffs has been declining due to cheatgrass, fire suppression and over utilization of shrubs. As the conditions in these areas decline, so does herd health for wintering big game in the area. Conservancy in 2002 identified the Thompson area as a Conservation Target, an important area to manage for conservation to retain native biological diversity and ecosystem function. It had a low to medium ranking for Biodiversity Values, and a low to medium ranking for fire regime alteration. The Assessment does not provide management direction, but highlights the importance of the area and serves to focus future planning efforts. This project will help improve and maintain diversity and improve ecosystem function in this target area. Treatments in this area a very important since there is limited potential for wildfire to create disturbance and create a mosaic of different plant communities. The majority of the area is classified as a gravely sandy loam by the NRCS web soil survey. The area is dominated by Pinyon and Juniper (PJ) but mastication of these trees will allow the site to grow grasses, forbs and shrubs that will benefit wildlife and livestock in the area. Nash Wash canyon can go dry on bad water years and the riparian area is only a narrow strip of the valley bottom. In the past, fish have been stocked there, however, on bad water years, the fish do not survive the dry periods. With the beaver dam analog like structures and the following establishment of a healthy beaver population, the valley bottom riparian area will expand. This will allow the riparian area to hold more water longer throughout the season thus keeping the drainage from going dry. Also, it will create areas of open water that desert bats in the area will use as well.

State and County Resource Management Plans: State of Utah Resource Management Plan Wildlife *Conserve, improve, and restore 500,000 acres of mule deer habitat throughout the state with emphasis on crucial ranges. *Protect existing wildlife habitat and improve 500,000 acres of critical habitats and watersheds throughout the state by 2025. *Produce and maintain the desired vegetation for wildlife and domestic livestock forage on public and private lands. Livestock and Grazing *Improve vegetative health on public and private lands through range improvements, prescribed fire, vegetation treatments, and active management of invasive plants and noxious weeds. *Actively remove pinyon-juniper encroachment in other ecological sites due to its substantial consumption of water and its detrimental effect on sagebrush, other vegetation, and wildlife *The state supports the active removal of pinyon juniper encroachment on other ecosystem, such as sagebrush, due to its consumption of water, detrimental effects on vegetation and available forage, and its negative effects on wildlife habitat. Noxious Weeds *Establish immediate revegetation or rehabilitation after treatment. The state of Utah supports prevention as one of the best methods of managing noxious weeds. T&E Species *Work with stakeholders and partners to continue to implement recommendations from the Utah Wildlife Action Plan 2015--2025 to conserve sensitive species and their habitat. *Restore 75,000 acres of critical habitat for sensitive species each year through the Watershed Restoration Initiative and by partnering with other government and nongovernmental entities. Water Quality and Hydrology *Cooperate in the protection, restoration, enhancement and management of water resources in the State of Utah to the extent of each agency's authority, expertise, and resources. Grand County Resource Management Plan Land Use *Land Restoration (Public Lands Policy 7.) Encourages public land-management agencies to restore damaged areas. Forest Management *Support federal agencies in vegetative management treatments in forested cover types that provide for a full range of seral stages, by forested cover type, which achieve a mosaic of habitat conditions and diversity. Each seral stage should contain a strong representation of early seral tree species. Recruitment and sustainability of early seral tree species in the landscape is needed to maintain ecosystem resilience to disturbance. *Support the removal conifers as determined appropriate, and manage land to promote the establishment of aspen cover and attendant grass, brush and forbs. Wildlife *The County supports wildlife management that seeks an optimal balance between wildlife populations and human needs. Water Quality and Hydrology *Grand County supports maintaining in-stream flows to establish the proper functioning condition of streams and maintain their biological integrity. Other Plans: The National Fire Plan *Designed to manage the potential impacts of wildland fire to communities and ecosystems and to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildland fire. *The NFP focuses on strategies for improving fire preparedness, restoring and rehabilitating burned areas, reducing hazardous fuels, assisting communities, and identifying research needs. 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. Grand County Master Plan *Public Lands Policy 2- Grand County will work to protect watersheds. Public agencies are encouraged to adopt policies that enhance or restore watersheds for Moab. *Public Lands Policy 11- Grand County contains a number of damage areas and the County encourages public land agencies to restore these lands. *Sensitive Lands Policy 1- Sensitive lands are defined as watersheds; seen areas of elevated benches, mesas, ridges and slopes; and significant geological, biological and archeological sites. *Implementation Actions- Encourage responsible re-vegetation, preservation of existing native plant communities and control of noxious weeds. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Statewide Management Plan for Mule Deer 2014-2019 Section VI Statewide management goals and objectives. This plan will address 1. Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 500,000 acres of crucial range. 2. 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. 3. Encourage land managers to manage portions of pinion-juniper woodlands and aspen/conifer forests in early successional stages. 4. 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. 5. 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. 6. Continue to identify, map, and characterize crucial mule deer habitats throughout the state, and identify threats and limiting factors to each habitat. 7. Work with land management agencies and private landowners to identify and properly manage crucial mule deer habitats, especially fawning and wintering areas. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Statewide Management Plan for Elk 2015-2022 1) Maintain sufficient habitat to support elk herds at population objectives and reduce competition for forage between elk and livestock. 2) Reduce adverse impacts to elk herds and elk habitat. 3) Increase forage production by annually treating a minimum of 40,000 acres of elk habitat. 4) Coordinate 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. 5) Identify habitat projects on summer ranges (aspen communities) to improve calving habitat. 6) Encourage land managers to manage portions of forests in early succession stages. DEER HERD UNIT MANAGEMENT PLAN Deer Herd Unit # 10 Book Cliffs March 2012 A) Maintain and/or enhance forage production through direct range improvements to support and maintain herd population management objectives. B) Work with private landowners and, federal, state, local and tribal governments to maintain and protect critical and existing ranges from future losses and degradation. C) Provide improved habitat security and escapement opportunities for deer. Habitat Management Strategies; A) Work cooperatively to utilize grazing, prescribed burning and other recognized vegetative manipulation techniques to enhance deer forage quantity and quality. B)Protect, maintain, and/or improve deer habitat through direct range improvements to support and maintain herd population management objectives. C)Work with private landowners and federal, state, and local governments to maintain and protect critical and existing ranges from future losses and degradation through grazing management and OHV and Travel Plan modifications. D)Work with federal, private, and state partners to improve crucial deer habitats through the WRI process. Elk Herd Unit Management Plan Elk Herd Unit #10 Bookcliffs * Improve forage and cover values on elk summer ranges. Practices will include prescribed fire, selective logging, and mechanical treatments that promote a diverse age structure in aspen communities. Over 300 acres per year will be targeted. * Remove pinyon-juniper encroachment into winter range sagebrush parks and summer range mountain brush communities. Over 500 acres per year will be targeted using primarily mechanical treatments. Utah Bighorn Sheep Statewide Management Plan B. Habitat Management Goal: Provide good quality habitat for healthy populations of bighorn sheep. -Objective: Maintain or improve sufficient bighorn sheep habitat to allow herds to reach population objectives. Strategies: a. Identify crucial bighorn sheep habitats and work with land managers and private landowners to protect and enhance these areas. d. Initiate vegetative treatment projects to improve bighorn habitat lost to natural succession or human impacts. Habitat * Promote sustainable livestock grazing practices that minimize negative impacts to plant health and diversity, especially on summer ranges and on SITLA and DWR lands where DWR holds the grazing permit or controls livestock grazing. * Protect/improve existing water sources for wildlife and livestock to improve distribution and minimize overutilization in proximity to water sources. * Remove coniferous and juniper tree encroachment into winter range, sagebrush park lands, and summer range aspen forest and mountain browse communities. Approximately 1,500 acres per year will be targeted. * Open the closed canopy pinion--juniper forest lands at mid elevation zones throughout the Book Cliffs to enhance perennial understory vegetative maintenance. Approximately 1,500 acres per year will be targeted utilizing mechanical and prescribed fire technology. * Enhance riparian system and canyon bottom vegetative communities through continued agricultural practices, prescriptive grazing and mechanical or chemical treatments. * Explore ways to improve Wyoming sagebrush community condition and perennial vegetative health. * Improve existing canyon bottom riparian communities by treating greasewood and overmature sagebrush through chemical, mechanical, and other methods, and minimize impacts on croplands in these habitats. Utah Wildlife Action Plan Lowland Sagebrush is a Key Habitat in the 2015-2025 Plan One of the threats identified to lowland sagebrush is inappropriate fire frequency and intensity Recommendations to Improve condition are: 1)Promoting policies and management that allow fire to return to a more natural regime. 2)Promoting and funding restoration that reduces the Uncharacteristic class, including cutting/ mulching/chaining of invading pinyon and juniper trees, herbicide or mechanical treatment of nonnative invasive species such as cheatgrass and secondary perennial weed species, and rehabilitation of burned areas following wildfire. 3) Promoting management that includes seeding a diversity of grasses, forbs and shrubs that will lead to increased resiliency and resistance in the plant community. Moab BLM Resource Management Plan Oct 2008 Fire-14 To reduce hazards and to restore ecosystems, authorized fuels management actions include wildland fire use, prescribed fire, and mechanical, manual, chemical, biological, and seeding treatments. GRA-21 Conduct new vegetation treatments (6,900 acres) for increased forage in the following allotments with prescribed fire, chemical, mechanical or other means: Floy Canyon. VEG-3 Reclaim and restore up to 257,809 acres of sagebrush habitat and shrub-steppe ecosystems where appropriate in accordance with the BLM sagebrush conservation guidance. VEG-8 Control noxious weed species and prevent the infestation and spread of invasive species. WL-40 Manage UDWR current deer habitat of 534,329 acres in the Bookcliffs and 313,551 acres on the La Sal Mountains as mule deer habitat by improving or maintaining vegetative conditions to benefit both livestock and wildlife and by maintaining or improving the ecological condition of rangelands. Grand County Noxious Weed Management Plan March 2007 Cheatgrass is on the C List Species. III. Priorities and Goals B) The Grand County Weed Control District will promote an Integrated Pest Management Program which includes chemical, mechanical, biological, cultural and re-vegetation methods for the control of noxious weeds. A Conservation Assessment of the Colorado Plateau Ecoregion Prepared by the The Nature Conservancy, 2002. The Thompson Area was identified as a Conservation Target, an important area to manage for conservation to retain native biological diversity and ecosystem function. It had a low to medium ranking for Biodiversity Values, and a low to medium ranking for fire regime alteration. The Assessment does not provide management direction, but highlights the importance of the area and serves to focus future planning efforts. Utah's Wild Turkey Management Plan Objectives 1. The plans objective is to maintain and improve wild turkey populations. One of the strategies identified to reach this objective is to do habitat projects. This project will help to achieve this objective. 2. The plan also identifies as an objective increasing habitat quantity and quality for turkeys by 40,000 acres statewide by 2020. This project will help to achieve this by increase herbaceous foraging habitat for turkeys. 3. Another objective in the turkey management plan is to increase hunting opportunity. This project will help to accomplish this because the project is located on the public lands where hunters have access. 4. Enhance appreciation for wild turkeys in Utah. This project will help to allow easier access to turkeys by the public and greater opportunity to observe these animals. This will help to achieve this objective. Beaver Management Plan Objective 1: Work to improve riparian habitats, associated streams and wetlands in as many suitable tributaries as is feasible through translocating beaver into unoccupied suitable habitat on public and/or private land. Conservation Agreement and Strategy for Colorado River Cutthroat in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming iii. Goals - To assure the long-term viability of CRCT throughout their historic range. Areas that currently support CRCT will be maintained, while other areas will be managed for increased abundance. New populations will be established where ecologically and economically feasible, while the genetic diversity of the species is maintained. The cooperators envision a future where threats to wild CRCT are either eliminated or reduced to the greatest extent possible. Objective 3 - Increase the number of stream populations by restoring CRCT within their native range. Local restoration goals and approaches will be developed to meet this objective. Objective 4 - Strive to improve watershed conditions for CRCT, including development of protocols for monitoring.

This project will decrease the risk of high severity wildfire by reducing fuel loading, reduce soil erosion, and promoting the growth of understory vegetation, which are critical to maintaining ecosystem resilience. Fuels in the current state pose a hazard to fire personnel, the private citizens, structures and infrastructure. The current fire regime condition class is moderate (2), and would be reduced to low (1) immediately after treatment. The habitat type has been identified in the 2015-2025 Utah Wildlife Action Plan that lowland sagebrush is a key habitat and the threats associated with this key habitat are inappropriate fire frequency and intensity. This project will help bring to achieve this goals. The removal of trees would create a break in the tree canopy where firefighter could begin to manage the fire. According to the Utah DNR Wildfire Risk Portal (Cat. Fire Map or UWRAP) the area is at risk of low to medium intensity fire and low to medium intensity. The area is very remote and does have the potential to grow to large acre before being noticed. Treatment in this area could reduce the potential for fires by creating a gap in the tree canopy allowing for potential place to begin fire management. Expansion of the riparian area when beavers are established will also act as a green line and create a natural fire break. This could help slow or stop the spread of a fire if one were to occur. Having a healthy functioning riparian area will also hold sediment better post fire if large debris flows should occur.

Watershed Health: Areas with limited understory vegetation and the bare soil interspaces are prone to soil loss by erosion. Herbaceous vegetation is important in impeding overland flow and is effective at reducing soil erosion. Both the potential increase in herbaceous vegetation and the masticated tree material should help stabilize the soils by reducing erosion and protecting the water quality throughout the watershed. Pinyon and Juniper (PJ) intercept 10-20% of precipitation according to Horman et al. 1999. By removing the Pinyon and Juniper (PJ), this should allow for more precipitation to contact the soil and increase biomass on the ground. On wet years this will increase recharge, but does not increase stream flow. Wet meadows and upland plants benefit by utilizing the increase soil moisture, providing for better resiliency during drought years. This provides for an increase in water quantity for herbaceous plants on sites where (PJ) is removed. A recent publication by Roundy et al. 2014 showed that phase 3 juniper removal can increase available moisture for more than 3 weeks in the spring. Also, removing Juniper from phase 1 and 2 stands can increase water from 6-20 days respectively. Because Juniper are prolific water users they readily out compete understory species which eventually die off. We will use Beaver Dam Analog (BDA) like structures and beaver re-introductions to initiate the same suite of benefits of natural beaver dams. Dam building by beaver has been shown to influence stream hydrology and water quality in many important ways primarily by altering the amount, and timing of delivery of water and sediment (Naiman et al., 1988; Gurnell, 1998; Pollock et al., 2003). Ponding upstream of beaver dams slows water velocity encouraging deposition of fine sediment (Butler and Malanson, 1995; Pollock et al., 2007) in the pond itself and during high flows onto the adjacent floodplain. Areas of open water will also be created which will benefit other species such as desert bats. Beaver ponds and dams can act as long-term sinks for both suspended and bed load sediment (Green and Westbrook, 2009). Water quality benefits of the proposed project would include reduction of suspended sediment, capture of sediment loads, increase DO, decrease overall water temperatures and increase base flows.

The project has a finalized Environmental Assessment. Archaeological Clearances have been completed for the Nash bullhog areas, significant sites will be avoided. SHPO concurrence will be completed before any project activities begin.

Treatment would be implemented through the use of mechanical treatment. Mechanical treatments will utilize a bullhog or mechanical shredder for masticating the Juniper and Pinyon trees on 437 acres and lop/scatter on 136 acres. Areas requiring seed will be aerial seeded with grasses, forbs, and shrubs prior to mechanical treatment so the seed can be incorporated into the soil for establishment. After mechanical treatment is completed, a second round of seed consisting mostly of sagebrush and some forbs will be flown onto the project site. Mechanical treatment will be done in areas where there is little to no understory in the pinyon/juniper and the first round of seeding will need to be done before the project begins. There is potential to utilize dedicated hunters to build nest boxes. Then, DWR can place nest boxes in the project area to benefit nesting passerines. Beaver dam analog type structures will also be constructed in Nash Wash canyon by cutting down a select few large cottonwood trees and falling them in the channel to create escape cover for beavers. Other materials such as bundles of willows and certified weed free straw may be needed to help back water up for a short time to help with the establishment of relocated beavers.

Monitoring will include both qualitative (photo plots) and quantitative vegetation monitoring transects. This will include line intercept to monitor vegetation results. Mule deer and elk counts will continue with DWR biologist in the area. Pellet transects will be identified with the veg. monitoring and will be read when veg. transects are monitoring. All methods will be done pre-treatment and 3 years post treatment. See Images/Documents for detailed methods. Online forms will be created for each sampling method, this way as soon as monitoring is completed it can be uploaded to the database from the users smartphone or internet connected device. In areas with no cell service, forms will be uploaded at the end of the day when back in cell coverage. The beaver dam analog type structures will have trail cameras installed to help monitor if the relocated beavers stay in the area and document their activities.

The bullhog project in the South Bookcliffs area has been planned in conjunction with the BLM wildlife and fuels departments as well as the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The grazing permittees in the area are highly supportive of the project due to the benefit to their operation, they are willing to do what they need such as resting the area to make the project successful. I have worked with SITLA to continue the treatments, SITLA supports this project. I have worked with Mule Deer Foundation and discussed this project, they are supportive of habitat improvements for mule deer in this area.

The project area falls within an active grazing allotment. In areas where seeding will occur, the BLM will work with the permittees to rest seeded areas for 2 growing seasons. Fencing will not be constructed as part of this project. The project will be evaluated after treatment to determine if any follow treatments will need to occur, particularly if any herbicide applications are needed. The project area is on BLM lands and will continue to be managed for multiple uses, including grazing, hunting, wildlife watching and many other recreational activities. The area is within the The Deer Herd Management Plan for the Bookcliffs unit 10. The herd objective is 15,000 deer with a 3 year average of 25 to 35 buck per 100 does post season. The area will continue to be manged for these numbers. The area is under objective and this project would help work toward achieving this goal. The Bookcliffs Elk Herd (unit 10) Management Plan states that population objective is 7,500 elk the current population estimate is at 4,000. The area will continue to be managed for increased elk numbers. During earlier phases of this project there was fantastic forb and grass establishment. Additional acres of treatment will continue to help livestock and wildlife that use the South Bookcliffs. As addressed in the management plan section, this project is working towards goals in the Moab BLM Resource Management Plan to restore ecosystems. Authorized fuels management actions include wildland fire use, prescribed fire, and mechanical, manual, chemical, biological, and seeding treatments. Once escape cover is created, relocation of problem/depredation beavers will be relocated to the Nash Wash canyon. Ideally, our hope is re-establishing a colony within the Nash Wash canyon.

This project is within an active cattle grazing allotment. The treatment area will be rested for 2 growing seasons post treatment. Bullhog activities will increase forage for livestock in the area. The bullhog areas would allow for more forage and allow for less utilization once new forage is established. This would allow for a decrease in competition of herbaceous vegetation for limited water resources in the area allowing for better plant vigor. The project is located within a DWR WMA as well as in a limited entry deer unit. Nash Wash WMA has provided viewing as well as hunting opportunities for the public since DWR acquired the land. The surrounding BLM lands will continue to be managed for multiple use.

01/06/2020

02/28/2020

2020

The area was lop and scattered by a handcrew using chainsaws. The areas that were originally proposed were for bullhog were determined to be too small so they were added to the lop and scatter areas. Areas that were treated were designed to be small areas that have a lot of edge effect. This will provide optimal benefit for wildlife. Drainage's were left to prevent erosion and to create more edge effect. The affected area that is identified on the map is archaeological clearance for future phases that will most likely be treated in 2021.

The nash wash area is very important for wildlife including wintering mule deer. As pinyon and juniper have encroached into important habitats for wildlife they have reduced habitat and therefore capacity for small mammal and rodents. There are many know raptor nests near the project area. By strategically, reducing encroaching trees within the shrub communities it will preserve conditions in the area for wildlife. This project will maintain or increase small mammal/rodent populations as well and maintain winter range for big game in the area. The project was designed to create a lot of edge to create habitat conditions. The treated areas are small in area so there is a good balance of open area and treed areas.

This area will be monitored for any needed additional treatments. This project is part of the larger south bookcliffs treatment project that is a collaboration between BLM, DWR and other partners. There will be more phases on other winter range benches along the south bookcliffs to provide for improved habitat conditions. The area is managed by Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and BLM. DWR lands are managed for wildlife. The Bookcliffs unit is a limited entry unit and is under the population objective. This project will provide better winter habitat conditions for deer in the area. This project will maintain habitat for wildlife in the area. BLM lands are managed for multiple use and will continue to be managed for multiple lands.