This project will utilize some construction of man made beaver dams (BDAs) to improve habitat. But its main focus is to begin utilizing actual beavers as a restoration tool in a strategic way to improve watershed health. By targeting certain watersheds where the potential human conflicts are minimal and where beaver populations do not currently exist or are low in number we can have dramatic positive impacts on watersheds. Beavers historically numbered between 60-400 million in North America and inhabited every single water body that had vegetation growing nearby. Historical distribution in Utah would have likewise been in every single water body all across Utah. Though historic numbers ranged in the hundreds of millions, beavers were nearly completely extirpated from much of North America by the 1900's. Around this time, efforts began to protect the species and reintroduction of beavers to places they were trapped out from began. Much of these efforts have been successful and population numbers today range between 6 to 12 million. Despite this success however, many areas are devoid of beavers in Utah where they historically occurred. Because we now know how critical beavers are to maintaining the health of our watersheds and fish and wildlife populations we are proposing this project to restore beavers to three watersheds in central Utah where beavers are not currently found or are low in numbers. The UDWR has created a priority list of watersheds for beaver restoration based on on the ground biologist knowledge and the BRAT model. We have selected the three highest priority watershed on the list to begin these restoration efforts based on current habitat quality and low potential human conflict. One of the important ecological functions that beavers perform is in construction of their dams they help create diversity of stream habitats. For example, the dams help to slow water down and build deep ponds that would otherwise just be small creeks or fast flowing rivers. This slower moving water provides rest areas and refuge for fish so they are not constantly battling fast flows. They also create little eddies and side channels that increase the amount of habitat for fish and amphibians species. Smaller fish can utilize the eddies or shallow edges of these pools for escape from predatory fish. Beaver dams also provides places where fish and amphibians can breed and lay eggs. This is especially important for toads and frogs that need shallow slow moving water to lay their eggs in and where tadpoles can develop. The diversity of habitat will also provide more vegetation and food for fish and amphibians, which will allow fish to get larger and more prized by anglers. The increase of wetland habitat will provide more habitat for small mammals, and birds that nest and forage in willows, aspens, and wetland vegetation. Sage-grouse have also been shown to benefit greatly from the wet meadow habitats that are created which provide more food for their chicks. Moose will particularly benefit from beavers, as they love to wade and forage in their ponds. As climate change, parasites, and disease threaten the health of Utah's moose populations, the need to restore beavers is all the more critical to bolster their body conditions. Mule Deer, especially in the more dry locations of the State, will benefit greatly from the restoration of beavers, as they will be able to find water longer into the summer and have better quality summer range to protect them against harsh winters. These desert or remote deer herds are becoming increasingly valuable as deer herds near urban sprawl are suffering from the loss of habitat. Beaver dams are a better alternative to guzzlers since they are natural, cheap, and self-maintaining. Elk will also benefit from beavers, as they require lots of water in the summer and will have more vegetation to increase size. Livestock similar to wild ungulates will have more water and vegetation to forage on and this project will support our local agronomy and economy. Beaver dams can have huge improvements to water quality and quantity by slowing down otherwise high flows in spring, which will allow water to flow longer into the summer and reduce the amount of erosion and down cutting. This can be especially beneficial for streams that do not flow year round. By slowing the flows and recharging ground water aquifers, ephemeral streams can actually flow year long and extend the amount of connective stream habitat for fish and wildlife. When water is slowed down it also allows sediment to drop out of the stream flows and settle which will improve water quality for downstream users. Sediment build up behind dams can also repair incised or down-cut streams and restore historic floodplains. The restoration of these floodplains will deposit soil and provide water to create mesic meadows. It will also reduce the amount of sediment that will enter and clog water facilities, pipes, irrigation systems, and fill up reservoirs. With potential drying of our climate and the increasing demand for water resources from population growth, it is essential that we do this project to maximize our water yields. Beavers can also help other threats we face from wildfire by naturally thinning forest tree stands, creating larger riparian areas to serve as green strips, and catching sediment in post fire runoff. For all these reason and more this project is essential in our efforts to restore Utah's watersheds.

1. Restore or augment beaver populations to 3 watersheds in the UDWR central region where they have been exterpated or are low in numbers 2. Restore and increase aquatic and riparian vegetation 3. Reduce erosion and stream downcutting 4. Increase water quantity and quality , turn ephemeral (spotty dry) streams into perennial (continual flowing) streams. 5. Reduce fire risks and spread by reducing fuel loads and creating larger riparian areas to act as a green strip or fire break. 6. Improve quantity and quality of vegetation and habitat for livestock 7. Increase diversity and quantity of aquatic habitat for fish and amphibians 8. Increase diversity and quantity of habitat for big game species. 9. Improve habitat and address threats to WAP species 10. Find ways to reduce conflicts between humans and beavers 11. Restore the overall health and balance of Utah's ecosystems

1. By not doing this project we will continue to see devastating erosion and down-cutting of streams that will cost more money to repair in the future and possibly cross ecological thresholds. Beavers can fix damaged streams through their dam construction. 2. We will potentially have larger catastrophic fires in the future that could otherwise be stopped or slowed down by larger riparian zones that beavers create. These fires can have devastating impacts on the ecosystem since they are unnaturally large. The impacts can be almost impossible to repair back to pre-fire conditions and will take decades. 3.These fires can destroy key fish populations and cross ecological thresholds that will be difficult to return from. From these fires we often lose the opportunity to have quality angling opportunities in these streams for many years. Beavers can capture more sediment and slow runoff which will reduce the damage to these water bodies post fire. 4. We will not have as healthy fish and amphibian populations that could be attained by the diversity of habitat that beaver ponds provide. Every year that we do not do this project we move further away from desired conditions. 5. We are seeing many frog and toad species begin to disappear from habitat loss and other threats. By doing this project we will help increase available habitat and places where amphibian species can be safe. By allowing these species to decline we risk having to spend millions of more dollars to bring them back and potentially could lose these populations completely. 6. Beaver dams will help store more water in watershed where humans and animals can utilize it. By not doing this project we will continue to see degradation of many watersheds and by doing it we will be able to repair many damaged watersheds in a very cost effective way. 7. Also, this may be a very in expensive way to increase our water storage capabilities for human consumption instead of building large reservoirs and dams that have many negative impacts that cross ecological thresholds never to return. A series of several thousand small natural beaver dams could have equivalent water storage as a multi-million dollar reservoir construction project. This will be essential in protecting Utah's water resources moving forward.

Utah Beaver Management Plan This project will address the following objectives and strategies of the Utah Beaver Management Plan 1. Increase awareness of and appreciation for the role of beaver in Utah's ecosystem by stakeholders (landowners, educators, recreationsists, sportsmen, water rights holders) We are doing this by sharing this proposal with sportsman and land managers. Establishing at least one showcase beaver management area in central region (Starvation WMA). 2. Improve understanding of all UDWR and other government agency employees involved in beaver management and assure consistent transmission of information and application of management actions. Once again just by proposing this project and the collaboration involved in accomplishing our objectives we will be fulfilling this objective of the plan. 3. Maintain reproducing beaver populations within their current distribution in appropsiate habitat. We will be diong this by augmenting populations that are dwindling. 4. Work to improve riparian habitats associated streams and wetlands in as many suitab;e tributaries as feasible through translocating beaver into unoccupied suitable habitat on public and or private land. 5. Fascilitate and promote beaver assisted restoration activities and expansion of existing beaver populations in areas that beaver are already present, habitat exists to already support them and human beaver conflict is low and or easily mitigated. Utah Moose Management Plan 1. Population Management Goal: Achieve optimum populations of moose in all suitable habitat within the state. 2. Habitat Management Goal: Assure sufficient habitat is available to sustain healthy and productive moose populations. 3. Recreation Goal: Provide high-quality opportunities for hunting and viewing of moose. Wildlife Action Plan 1. Under the threats, data gaps, and action section of the plan it identifies a list of Essential Conservation Actions. It states the need to restore and improve degraded wildlife habitats. species and others. 2. The habitat type that this project is located in as identified in the WAP is the aquatic scrub/shrub type, forested aquatics, and riverine. We will be improving the habitat in this key habitat and addressing the threats to this habitat type. 3. The plan identifies sediment transport imbalance as a medium threat to this habitat type and this project will help to reduce sediment transport by stabilizing the banks with vegetation and rocks. 4.It identifies channel down-cutting as a high threat and this project will help to remove the channels in the stream and make a more subtle gradient. This project will raise the water levels to restore the floodplain and reduce this channel down-cutting. 5. The plan mentions a management strategy that this project addresses to help improve this habitat type through 1.( restoring more natural water and sediment flow regimes) WAP Ch. 7-1; Mountain Riparian Habitat, criteria and score totals (ch. 7-8) 3rd highest priority statewide. Ch. 6-15; Western Toad; threat - 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. 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. Statewide Turkey Managment Pan Objective Increase wild turkey habitat, quality and quantity, by 40,000 acres statewide by 2020. This project will help us to increase lots of quality habitat for turkeys since they are are located where we plan to do the project and beaver dams will greatly benefit them. Treatments lie within Central Region UPCD/UWRI focus areas. UDWR Strategic Management Plan Objective R2 Maintain existing wildlife habitat and increase the quality of critical habitats and watersheds throughout the state. Objective R4 Decrease risks to species and their habitats through integrated implementation of the WAP, Objective C6 Increase hunting and fishing opportunities Uinta Forest Plan - 2003 Land and Resource Management Plan, Uinta National Forest: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/uwcnf/landmanagement/planning/?cid=stelprdb5076960&width=full -Plan sites management of riparian areas (pg 2.2), management of aquatic species (pg 2.3), wildlife (pg 2.5), and vegetation (pg 2.5).

In Hailey, ID it was documented where a fire did not burn the riparian area where there were beavers dams (See photo under documents). By protecting the riparian area it provided a refuge for wildlife and livestock to escape the fire. As well as it protected the fish and amphibian populations from dying from increased water temperatures. Beaver colonies and their dam complexes will spread water and wet areas over a larger area. This will widen the riparian area and serve as a larger fire break. Firefighters can use these riparian areas as green strips and places to help fight fires. These natural green strips will slow fire from spreading and may even stop fires completely. For post fire recovery and resilience of the ecosystem beavers provide many benefits as well. Beaver dams will help catch sediment and excess run off post fires that are extremely detrimental to fish populations and infrastructure. Beavers are also good harvesters of wood. They are cheap forest thinners and will help to remove fuels and keep the forest healthy.

One of the main objectives of this project is to increase water quantity and improve water quality. Currently in areas where the stream-bank has been stripped of vegetation due to erosion, resulting in more downcutting, this leads to further erosion and diminished water quality. This project will help to raise the water levels and allow for more vegetation to be growing near the water to stabilize the banks. This will help increase the water quality and quantity in the system. This project will also slow the flow of water which will decrease the amount of erosion that will occur in big flood events. Slowing the water will also increase the quantity of water that is able to seep into the soil and benefit the system. Beaver dams can have huge improvements to water quality and quantity by slowing down otherwise high flows in spring, which will allow water to flow longer into the summer and reduce the amount of erosion and down cutting. This can be especially beneficial for streams that do not flow year round. By slowing the flows and recharging ground water aquifers, ephemeral streams can actually flow year long and extend the amount of connective stream habitat for fish and wildlife. When water is slowed down it also allows sediment to drop out of the stream flows and settle which will improve water quality for downstream users. Sediment build up behind dams can also repair incised or down-cut streams and restore historic floodplains. The restoration of these floodplains will deposit soil and provide water to create mesic meadows. It will also reduce the amount of sediment that will enter and clog water facilities, pipes, irrigation systems, and fill up reservoirs. With potential drying of our climate and the increasing demand for water resources from population growth, it is essential that we do this project to maximize our water yields. Water enters groundwater upstream, besides, and downstream of beaver dams, which will sub-irrigate into the aquafers and retain more water in the watershed then would be lost if remained on the surface. It will then later re-enter creeks/streams downstream as cooler seeps, which is critically important to cold-water fish, e.g., salmonids. This colder water and subsurface movement will reduce the amount of water loss to evaporation. In addition to increasing water quantity in the watershed and for donwstream users and water rights holders it will improve water quality.

We are working with BLM, USFS, and UDWR to accomplish the objective of restoring a keystone species to 3 watersheds in the central region in FY 2021. This will largely be a noninvasive project that utilizes a native species to restore health to the watershed, with exception of some BDA work to prepare release sites. We will reduce impacts as much as possible to reduce the amount of NEPA required. But all necessary NEPA or cultural clearances will be finished before project implementation (Before June 30, 2021). The UDWR has been consulting with USFS and BLM to ensure that release of beavers will not be an issue for their agencies. There seems to be no concerns from USFS about Indian Creek or Salt Creek. However, we do still need to work with BLM to ensure that release of beavers on Deep Creeks will align with the Wilderness designation and BLM's mandates for land management. We will continue working with them to ensure that we are in compliance with any NEPA or wilderness stipulations. If necessary we can pull the Deep Creeks from the project and add another location or invest more in the other two sites. We will be completing stream alteration permits where necessary as well to comply with the Army Core of Engineers requirements and water rights.

According to the Beaver Restoration Guidebook (Pollock, M.M., G.M. Lewallen, K. Woodruff, C.E. Jordan and J.M. Castro (Editors) 2017. The Beaver Restoration Guidebook: Working with Beaver to Restore Streams, Wetlands, and Floodplains. Version 2.0. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon. 219 pp. Online at: www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/promo.cfm?id=177175812) it is important to prepare beaver release sites with good habitat prior to release. This will encourage the beavers to stay at the site and protect them from predators. One of the key things that they need is to have a series of at least 3 beaver dams with ponds about 1 meter deep. We will construct these dams in a way that will be as low of an impact as possible. We hope to be able to do it in a way that will not require stream alteration permits or NEPA. Typically we pound posts in the ground to build Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs) or man made beaver dams but we will not do this wherever possible to reduce impacts. Instead we will just use natural materials found on site. Where we do need to use posts and traditional BDA construction techniques we will construct them based on design techniques using the ICRRR beaver restoration principles. The basic construction techniques include the use of sharpened lodgepole fence posts, approximately 3-4" diameter, which will be driven into the ground with a gas-powered hydraulic post pounder. The posts will be driven to a depth of approximately 1 m into the streambed. The posts will extend about 1 m above the channel bed depending on the stream. The posts will be spaced approximately 0.5 - 0.8 m apart. We will then weave willow branches or other tree branches that are available onsite between the posts to create a structure that will mimic a beaver dam. The concept is that the dams will last until sediment has built up behind the the dam. Riparian and emergent vegetation begins to grow and the stream channel aggrades and floods. We will place dams about 30 - 100 m apart, depending on factors such as gradient and degree of incision. Where appropriate, postless BDAs will be utilized.

We will monitor the benefits that beavers and the BDAs have on improving the health of the watersheds. Rapid Stream-Riparian Assessment (RSRA) surveys will be done prior to BDA construction and beaver re-introduction (see attached). The RSRA generates a score for water quality, hydrogeomorphology, fish and aquatic habitat, riparian vegetation, and terrestrial wildlife habitat. This method was selected because it is a time and cost efficient means to monitor restoration projects. Wild Utah Project biologists and their volunteers will conduct the RSRA surveys before and after restoration at each stream where we release beavers. In addition to this in depth monitoring we will also take multiple photo points and record video of the watershed before the project begins. This will help us to document visually as well as trhough written data the changes of the ecosystem. Visual inspection during post-treatment site visits will be used to determine effectiveness of treatments. Maintenance will be performed as necessaryon dams and subsequent releases of more beavers until we reach the desired objectives outlined above. Movements, density, and survival of beavers will be monitored using wildlife motion sensor cameras, dam complex surveys, and other low cost methods. UDWR biologists will conduct elector shocking fish surveys before and after project to monitor benefits to fish populations. UDWR biologists will also conduct amphibian surveys before and after project. Big game species are continually monitored and some deer, elk, and moose may be collared in close proximity to project and any changes in these movements in relation to this project will be documented.

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has just completed a priority list of the 25 highest priority watersheds where beavers should be trans-located to first within the central region. This list was created by getting input from multiple local aquatics and wildlife biologists within the UDWR of where they thought there was a need to restore beavers. Then we did an analysis based on the BRAT model to rank them based on habitat suitability and potential conflict. Then we all met and discussed which ones on that list needed to be ranked higher or lower based on which ones would have the least amount of potential human conflict and where need is greatest. Once this list was created we chose the top three watersheds on this list to begin working towards beaver trans-locations. This collaboration and partnership effort across sections within the UDWR is of high value and adds to the potential success of this project. Two of the watersheds identified to begin restoring beavers are located primarily on USFS lands. Because of this the UDWR has been partnering with them to discuss potential concerns that the USFS has and working with USFS biologists to improve the project. In addition, the USFS may be a partnering to allow construction of beaver quarantine/holding facilities on USFS property. One of the watersheds is located on the Deep Creeks on BLM property. The UDWR has been meeting with BLM biologists (Jim Priest and Cassie Mellon) to work through the challenges of introducing a species into a wilderness designated area. UDWR will continue to closely collaborate and work with BLM to identify the best way of doing this project and feasibility. The UDWR will also be partnering with Wild Utah Project to help with monitoring efforts and construction of BDAs. This project will have benefits for all landownership within the watersheds and crosses jurisdictional boundaries to accomplish a landscape scale project.

Future phases of this project will cost significantly less. This first phase costs a little more because of the need to purchase traps and build quarantine facilities. This will be a multi-phased project for at least 10 years. The beauty of this project is that in relation to the benefits gained to the watershed the costs are extremely minor. To get the same benefits by using machinery and man hours that this project will produce would be dramatically higher. Depending on what information we gain from our monitoring RSRA data that we are collecting and monitoring of beaver activity we will make adjustments. If needed we will continue to augment beaver populations with beavers over several years until we get a self sustainable population. If there is any unwanted damage or human conflict we will address these issues as they arise. Through the partnerships we have developed we hope to cultivate a new culture as outlined in the beaver management plan that increases human tolerance and ability of agencies and landowners to live with beavers.

We expect the project to improve riparian area productivity by enhancing the water table and serving as a local example of rangeland/riparian practices that can be beneficial to livestock, especially if they are paired with livestock management techniques such as off-channel watering and rotational grazing techniques. This should increase the available forage and distribution of water across the landscape. This project will provide an increased opportunity in the future for the public to trap beavers. It will improve fishing opportunity across the state. It will enhance wildlife populations and increase hunting opportunities.

07/01/2020

06/30/2021

2021

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has acknowledged the importance of having beavers across the landscape in order to maintain the health of our ecosystems and our watersheds. This project was the first step to get a reintroduction program going in the UDWR central region of the state. The first part of this project was to build a quarantine station in the central region, so that we would be able to hold beavers, for at least seventy eight hours. Seventy eight hours is the recommended time that the Division has decided is needed to reduce the risk of transmitting AIS from one water body to another. We completed the construction of a quarantine facility at the Great Basin Research Center, in Ephraim, UT, that has: two pens, water, and draining capability. Once this was complete, we began purchasing traps and other equipment needed to handle and transport beavers. We identified Indian Creek as a potential reintroduction site and began doing monitoring of the stream health before we released beavers. Wild Utah Project did an RSRA on the stream. We also did some fish shocking with USFS and found no fish before we brought beavers in. We got permits and installed about 25 BDAs in order to encourage the beavers to stay in the stream and not go elsewhere. We began trapping some nuisance beavers in Park City and were able to capture several beavers there. We quarantined those beavers and then relocated them to a creek near Tie Fork called Indian Creek. We also hired a trapping contractor and USU trappers to capture and quarantine beavers for us. We also released those beavers. By the end of the live trapping season in 2020, we had captured and relocated 8 beavers. In the spring of 2021, we once again began trapping nuisance beavers in Park City. We trapped and held in our quarantine facility in Ephraim two beavers from there and then released them in Indian Creek. We also trapped up by Heber and caught 3 beavers from there and quarantined them in Ephraim and released them in Indian Creek. We also got 4 more beavers from USU. So by the end of the fiscal year we had relocated 17 beavers to Indian Creek as part of this project. The beavers have been very active and have already constructed about 20 dams and two lodges that we have been able to confirm to this point.

Historically there were hundreds of millions of beavers all across North America. Every stream in Utah would have been full of beavers. Beavers played an essential part in providing diversity of stream habitat; their dams would have helped prevent erosion and store more water in the watershed. In an effort to restore the health of our streams in Utah, The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources identified Indian Creek as a potential re-introduction area. We hope to improve the habitat through beaver reintroduction and hopefully get some fish and amphibian species back into the stream, once they build some habitat back.

We will continue to relocate beavers into Indian Creek until the population is stable and we have achieved the habitat that we want. We may need to do some additional BDA work in the future. We plan to release Bonneville cutthroat trout in the stream once we get sufficient habitat built.