The Alma Taylor Timber Stand Improvement and Meadow Restoration will improve forest ecosystems health, including vegetation and wildlife habitat improvement, and result in reducing the risk of catastrophic fire. the project is located within a UPCD primary focus area and in an area of high restoration interest for multiple resource uses. The intent of the project is to improve the resilience and adaptive capacity of lodgepole pine stands, reducing high stand densities and remove dwarf mistletoe infected trees where possible. The thinning will provide additional passage and forage for wildlife, as well as reduce the risk of potentially destructive wildfire bybreaking up fuel continuity. The wet meadow around Alma Taylor Lake has been significantly damaged due to unauthorized motorized access. The meadow will be restored and ongoing access will be prevented.

1.Maintain or promote tree vigor and form in young stands to minimize the future impacts of biotic (e.g.,mistletoe and bark beetles) and abiotic damage (e.g., snow damage and windthrow) by managing stand densities. 2.Improve the resilience and adaptive capacity of the project area by managing stand densities. 3.Promote the development of large trees. 4.Reduce the risk of large scale, stand replacing, catastrophic wildfires. 5.Protect Ashley Valley municipal watershed values. 6.Reduce overall fuel loading in the project area to promote firefighter and public safety 7.Improve summer range habitat for mule deer. 8.Increase ground cover and foraging habitat for small mammals 9.Improve Elk habitat across the treatment area 10. Restore wet meadow properties and rehabilitate hydrologic connectivity to protect and hopefully enhance Alma Taylor Lake.

If left untreated, the trees in the younglodgepole stands will continue the self-pruning process, growth rates of trees will gradually become slower,and the understory vegetation will decline. This would make the area less desirable to most wildlife species.If left untreated, these trees will develop structurally weak form and their resiliency and adaptive capacity will decline. At the present time, many of these trees are at an ideal stage for thinning. If treatment is delayed,stands may become more stagnant and less likely to produce the desired response.Many thousands of acres on the Ashley National Forest have been impacted by mountain pine beetle in recent years. Most or all of the large lodgepole pines have been killed in these areas. Large tree development in the project area will be delayed, and may even be impossible without incorporating some form of density management treatment into the overall management strategy of these areas. Without intervention, the area will continue to decline in value for most wildlife species. Overall forage values will remain minimal, and the density of the stands will not allow for most wildlife passage and use. The current state of the treatment area posses a high risk for high intensity stand replacing fires. The areas where group selection (clear-cuts) will occur are areas overrun with dwarf mistletoe. The treatment will hopefully eliminate, but definitely inhibit spread of the disease. Also the group selection areas contain some aspen. Aspen will be cut to encourage aspen regeneration in these areas. The wetland meadow located in the project area is already beginning to lose vegetation and the hydrologic connectivity has been lost. Historical images show that Alma Taylor Lake was larger, it is assumed that the compacted soils in the meadow are preventing full hydrologic connectivity decreasing the overall water supply to the lake. This may lead to the desiccation of the lake which is a vital source for wildlife, livestock, and recreation. The project will also rehabilitate the damaged meadow.

This project will assist in accomplishing the following goals, objectives, and strategies as outlined in the following management plans and assessments. Note: mule deer, elk, and northern goshawk are all Forest management indicator species and the northern goshawk is listed as a Forest sensitive species. ASHLEY NATIONAL FOREST PLAN (pg IV-28, IV-30) Wildlife and Fish -Goal 1: Manage fish and wildlife habitat to maintain or improve diversity and productivity. (reduce sediment runoff) -Objective 1: Develop and Implement habitat management plan that will include key ecosystems and maintain habitat for supporting T&E or sensitive plants and animal species and management indicator species. (increasing stand structure) -Objective 3: Manage the habitat of all T&E or sensitive plant and animal species to maintain or enhance their status. (increasing stand structure) ASHLEY NATIONAL FOREST PLAN AMENDMENT -- Utah Northern Goshawk Project (page cc-1) - Goal 3: Restore or maintain forested landscapes in a properly functioning condition. (reducing stand densities) Functioning forested landscapes provide habitat for the northern goshawk and its prey to support a viable population of goshawks in. (Providing habitat for pray) Utah CONSERVATION STRATEGY AND AGREEMENT FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF NORTHERN GOSHAWK HABITAT IN UTAH (page 6) -Goal: Provide habitat capable of sustaining viable populations of goshawk in the state of Utah. (increasing diversity in stand structure across the treatment area) -Objective 1: Design a proactive approach to habitat management that will result in the long term conservation and management of habitat for goshawk, its prey and other associated species. ( Thinned stands will develop into large mature trees providing nesting trees) Desired Habitat Condition (DHC) - 1) Diverse forest cover types with strong representation of early seral tree species dominate the landscape. (Thinning will reduce competition for resources favoring seral species) - 3) Forested landscapes have 40% of the area dominated by large trees, well distributed. (Thinning is necessary to reduce stand densities to achieve larger diameter trees) UTAH STATEWIDE ELK MANAGEMENT PLAN (Sec. VI Pages 12-13) -Population Management Goal: Maintain healthy elk populations throughout the state that are managed within habitat capabilities and in consideration of other land uses. (enhancing habitat) -Population Objective 1: Seek opportunities to increase population objectives in individual elk unit management plans to attain a total statewide population objective of 80,000 elk, ensuring that any increases will be subject to an analysis of the impacts to habitat, landowners, livestock operators, and/or mule deer populations. Strategies: - c) Support objectives and strategies in this plan to protect elk habitat and mitigate losses. - d) Support habitat improvement projects that increase forage for both big game and livestock. UTAH STATEWIDE MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR MULE DEER (Sec. VI Pages 10-11) - Population Management Goal: Expand and improve mule deer populations throughout the state within the carrying capacity of available habitats and in consideration of other land uses. - Population Objective: By 2013, increase the statewide mule deer population by 50,000 to an estimated postseason herd size of 350,000. Strategies: - b) Support all habitat objectives and strategies in this plan to protect and improve mule deer habitat including energy development mitigation in crucial mule deer habitat. NORTH AMERICAN MULE DEER CONSERVATION PLAN (Pages 6-7) Habitat Goal: - Mule deer habitat potential is optimized for quality and quantity across mule deer range. Objective 2: Restore or improve mule deer habitat function throughout mule deer range. Strategy a: Proactively manage shrub communities to maintain mosaics of uneven aged stands to enhance habitat conditions for mule deer. BOREAL TOAD CONSERVATION PLAN 3.9.3 Create, restore, and maintain new habitats through water management. 3.9.3.b Deepen impoundments to maintain sufficient water levels through metamorphosis. The Alma Taylor area appears to occur in "substantial value habitat" Accessed https://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Search/Map.asp?Id=111 . Golden Eagle Utah WAP states" Northern Great Basin and Book Cliffs nesting areas in Utah have been monitored for many years, with apparent breeding declines associated with fire, shrub loss and jackrabbit declines in the Great Basin area" According to https://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Search/Map.asp?Id=154 this habitat is either Critical or High value for Golden Eagle. Uintah County Resource Management Plan Use active and adaptive forest management to improve forest health and support multiple use and sustained yield with emphasis on employment, forest product production, open space, wildlife habitat, forage, recreation,and other social and economic benefits. Manage forest resources to reduce the risk of catastrophic fires, which cause unacceptable harm to resources and assets valued by society, including ecosystem and community health and resilience. State of Utah Resource Management Plan Forest Encourage timber harvesting to prevent fuel load and biomass buildup. Fire The State will advocate for forest management practices that promote species diversity and overall ecosystem health. Wetlands The State supports using a combination of active water management where necessary (e.g., Great Salt Lake) and maintaining or restoring natural hydrology when possible to support wildlife habitat and healthy functioning of aquatic ecosystems.

There is a need to reduce the overall fuel loading in the project area to reduce the risk of large, stand replacing, high-intensity fires. These large scale fires have a detrimental impact on municipal watersheds from sediment runoff. The reduction in fuels will also benefit the community of Dry Fork by providing structure that can be safely managed in the event of a fire. The thinning of these dense stands will break up fuel continuity and reduce overall bulk density of the stand reducing the likelihood of these high-intensity stand replacing fires. This area receives high amounts of dispersed camping that would be negatively impacted if a large scale fire should occur. This project would also reduce the likelihood of critical wildlife habitat being lost from large scale fires by reducing fuel loading in the area. Alma Taylor Lake would be protected and hopefully enhanced providing a water supply for fire fighters, should the need arise.

Dense stands prevent snow and moisture from reaching the forest floor which then can be lost through evaporation and sublimation. The thinning of these dense stands will increase the amount of moisture reaching the forest floor resulting in increased water availability on the site as well as increase water runoff. The decrease is fuel load could greatly increase water quality in the event of a wildfire by decreasing the fuel load the risk of hydrophobic soils would be significantly reduced. The meadow restoration would improve local water quality by reducing overland flow, providing a more robust vegetative barrier to Alma Taylor Lake, and restore subsurface flows. Quantity would be augmented by encouraging soil intake and storage to either be used by vegetation of stored for late season inflow to the lake.

NEPA has been completed including archaeological clearances.

The project includes the mechanical thinning treatment of lodgepole pine stands to increase long-term forest health and improve wildlife habitat of the area. Implementation of the treatments will be accomplished with a contract crew using chainsaws to cut unwanted trees and to buck and lop the slash. This proposal includes precommercial thinning of up to 1000 acres in young lodgepole pine stands; approximately 300 to 360 trees per acre would be maintained. This is roughly 11 to 12 foot spacing. Slash will be lopped and scattered. The project also includes the cutting, skidding, and decking of 70 to 150 acres of timber which would be sold to the public. The wet meadow restoration would include obliteration of compacted soils to restore hydrologic connectivity. If possible sedge plugs will be harvest and planted the obliterated soil to increase vegetation response time. Temporary electric fencing may be utilized if grazing proves detrimental to restoration. After meadow restoration has been completed barrier rock will be placed at the end of the authorized route to prevent damage any future damage.

Continued monitoring will occur in the project area and will be utilized to change/alter management strategy if required to meet objectives. The Forest Service has vegetative study sites throughout the project area. Each of these sites will be reviewed every 3-5 years to assess the vegetative cover and species abundance. Photo points will also be placed in the treatment areas to monitor changes over time. Monitoring of the timber stand will also determine when future timber harvest occurs in the project area. Northern Goshawk territories occur adjacent to this project and nesting activity will be monitored. The restoration of the wetland will be monitored using photo points, ocular and some quantitative analysis to determine changes in both vegetation and levels of Alma Taylor Lake. A UWRI completion report will be added to the UWRI database.

Mule Deer foundation has spent many years in this area doing similar treatments to improve habitats. The Utah Division of Water Rights will determine if the wetland work follows all applicable state law. The project has undergone public scoping as part of the NEPA process and been allowed to provide input. The project occurs only of U.S. Forest Service property and does not adjoin any other jurisdictions. The Utah Watershed Initiative has funded numerous projects in this area in the past.

This timber stand improvement portion of the this project will be maintained by commercial timber harvest which will remove the remaining trees after they have grown to the proper size. Then young trees will be allowed to grow, be thinned, and then harvested again. This area is essential and is required by the forest plan to be managed for timber resources, so area will be used in the future for vegetation operations. The wet meadow portion of the project should not require future management actions to ensure success. The area will be monitored to determine if the this is indeed the case, if not then appropriate actions will be taken to ensure success.

The pre-commercial thinning will promote large tree development which may be utilized in the future for commercial logging. The clear-cuts will open up portions of canopy and encourage forage growth for domestic livestock decreasing pressure other areas. This area is part of the Black Canyon Allotment and actively grazed.

08/02/2021

11/30/2021

2022

The meadow tracks were ripped to restore natural contouring using a small bulldozer and allowed to naturally revegetate. This work was completed by the USFS road crew. The area has almost fully recovered. In order to protect the meadow long term a new trail head was constructed. The thick lodgepole was thinned to a spacing between 12 and 15 feet by a contractor through WRI. All aspen was left in place. A clearcut using a contractor was completed on approximately 71 acres. This timber was sold to the public as firewood This opened up the canopy for wildlife.

The Alma Taylor Timber Stand Improvement and Meadow Restoration project improved forest ecosystems health, including vegetation and wildlife habitat improvement, and reduced the risk of catastrophic fire. The intent of the project was to improve the resilience and adaptive capacity of lodgepole pine stands, reducing high stand densities and remove dwarf mistletoe infected trees where possible. The thinning of thick lodgepole pine will provide additional passage and forage for wildlife, as well as reduce the risk of potentially destructive wildfire by breaking up fuel continuity. The clearcuts create a mosaic to reduce fire potential and create a create a more diverse system. The wet meadow damaged by traffic around Alma Taylor Lake has been significantly damaged due to unauthorized motorized access. The meadow was restored and ongoing access will be prevented after the construction of a new trailhead.

The meadow will continue to be monitored to see if any future work is necessary. Right now it appears as though no work will be needed. The timber stands will continue to be managed for Forest Health and Multiple Use.