The need for this project comes from the Soldier Creek Watershed Assessment (UWC 2012), which found an overabundance of late seral and declining vegetation communities and wildlife habitat, and water quality issues. This entire project falls in a WRI Focus area. In addition, fires are common in this area and often have impacts to water quality and the Highway 6 corridor due to the highly erosive soils. Recently there have been several large high severity fires in the area: Dollar Ridge, Coal Hollow, Pole Creek and Bald Mountain. Another unplanned ignition in the area could lead to a high severity fire negatively impacting the lower watershed and values in the Highway 6 corridor with increased debris and sediment flows. The lower country has been treated by mastication to reduce the juniper densities and open up growing space for shrubs and grasses. The steeper slopes can only be treated effectively with prescribed fire in specific areas to reduce unhealthy stand and canopy densities and regenerate aspen and shrub communities. This treatment would tie the lower treatments to the upper ridgeline and the starting points of the Soldier Creek Watershed. The intended outcome of the project is to improve wildlife habitat by stimulating shrub and aspen regeneration and reduce fuel loading to lessen the risk of a high severity wildfire that impacts water quality and values along the Highway 6 corridor.

Improve watershed condition by reducing fuel loading, canopy cover in juniper, aspen and conifer. Improve wildlife habitat by increasing grasses and shrubs and stimulating aspen regeneration. Mitigate the potential for undesirable fire severity in the event of an unplanned ignition by reducing live and dead fuel loading. Improving recreational opportunities by improving declining conditions.

As the overstory densities increase unchecked, the herbaceous understory will decrease, and soil erosion will increase thereby degrading watershed condition and water quality. The risk increases yearly for an unplanned ignition to cause detrimental fire effects by hydrophobic soils being striped away from even low precipitation events, the degradation of soil and water quality, weed expansion and loss of wildlife habitat. The nearby and adjacent wildfires have proved these results that we want to avoid by burning this through a prescribed fire, we are reducing the chances of a catastrophic fire that could cause detrimental effects to the watershed. Columbia Spotted Frog and the Leatherside Chub are species located within the watershed that could benefit from reduced channel downcutting, sediment retention within the drainage that a catastrophic fire could cause. Project 5560 will really benefit and help to achieve these desired results within that watershed. Critical winter range habitat will continue to decline as the ecosystem continues to become less diverse.

This project will directly or indirectly address some of the 20 goals, objectives and/or strategies of the following planning documents. Treatments lie within Central Region UWRI focus areas. This project will help move the project area toward the following goals, objectives and strategies of the mule deer and elk management plans: Statewide Deer Plan Habitat Goal: Conserve, improve, and restore mule deer habitat throughout the state with emphasis on crucial ranges. Habitat Objective 1: Maintain mule deer habitat throughout the state by protecting and enhancing existing crucial habitats and mitigating for losses due to natural and human impacts. Strategies Work with local, state and federal land management agencies via land management plans and with private landowners to identify and properly manage crucial mule deer habitats, especially fawning, wintering and migration areas. 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. 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. Statewide Elk Plan Habitat Management Goal: Conserve and improve elk habitat throughout the state. Maintain sufficient habitat to support elk herds at population objectives and reduce competition for forage between elk and livestock. Watershed Restoration Initiative Increase forage production by annually treating a minimum of 40,000 acres of elk habitat. 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. Wildlife Management Unit 17 Plans Deer plan Habitat Improvement Reduce expansion of Pinyon-Juniper woodlands into sagebrush habitats and improve habitats dominated by Pinyon-Juniper woodlands by completing habitat restoration projects like lop & scatter, bullhog and chaining. Future habitat work should be concentrated on the following areas. North side of hwy 6 in the Sheep Creek drainage. Elk Plan Habitat Actions to Remove Habitat Barriers Cooperate with USFS, BLM, & Ute Tribe to increase vegetative under story and reduce Pinyon/Juniper invasion of the sagebrush step zone to increase winter forage to reduce depredation on private property. The proposed project will address the following goals and objectives of the Division of Wildlife Resources most recent strategic management plan: Resource Goal: expand wildlife populations and conserve sensitive species by protecting and improving wildlife habitat. Objective 1: protect existing wildlife habitat and improve 500,000 acres of critical habitats and watersheds throughout the state. Objective 3: conserve sensitive species to prevent them from becoming listed as threatened or endangered. The Soldier Creek Watershed Assessment states: 1)Remove juniper to increase sagebrush habitat and forb and grass cover. 2) Remove juniper to decrease soil erosion potential and increase soil quality. 3) Reduce juniper to increase wildlife habitat and hunting opportunities. The Upper Spanish Fork Management Area as defined by the 2003 Land and Resource Management Plan for the Uinta NF has the following sub-goals of the Forest Plan: -Sub-goal 2-8: "Ecosystem resilience is maintained by providing for a full range of seral stages and age classes (by cover type) that achieve a mosaic of habitat conditions. -Sub-goal-2-23 Areas identified as being of special concern for habitat such as big game winter range and big game natal areas. -Sub-goal-2-25(G-2-25)Maintain stable and upward conditions in big game winter range and improve downward trend sites -Utah Wildlife Action Plan, 2015-2025 Publication draft p.386 appendix threats 7.1.1 inappropriate fire frequency and intensity. Wasatch Front Fuels Assessment Report 2002. Strive for joint cooperation between federal agencies, municipalities and private landowners to reduce fuels contributing to unwanted wildland fire impacting landscapes along the Wasatch Front.

Achieve at least 60% mortality by scorching the canopy cover to stimulate grasses and shrub regeneration over 10% to 60% of the prescribed fire area. The remaining 40% reduces fuel loading to a low risk from future fires. Create a dispersed mosaic of high and low intensity burn patches within 30-90% of conifer and aspen communities. This will reduce the stand density of the large late seral conifer patches and create growing space for a more diverse stand. Treatments would move the project area from a High fire risk to Low. Values at risk: A undeveloped private parcel is within the burn unit. Treating this parcel of private with fire is an option. There are also a several developed and undeveloped private parcels within a mile of the project area. Soldier Summit improvements and the corresponding estates are within 2 miles of the project. Utah Power and Light occupies the corridor along the southern project boarder with the HWY 6 and corresponding rail lines within a mile of the project area. Several dispersed recreation camp sites and motorized and non motorized roads and trails pass through or are within the project area. This area is a high use hunting area that hasn't seen good herd levels in a few decades. this project could make this area a much more desirable area for wildlife once diversity is restored.

The project has the potential to improve water quality by increasing ground cover, helping to stabilize and filter sediment flows in the future. It has the potential to increase water quantity by restoring and expanding aspen stands that are being encroached by conifers. In addition, the project will help prevent negative impacts water quality in the event of a wildfire. This action could also improve the upper water shed by restoring more historical structures that lead to an improved and more diverse habitat.

2 PM Archaeology, Archaeology clearances completed, Dec 10 2014 / 6 NEPA, NEPA completed, Dec 10 2014. Sheep Creek Amendment Decision Memo was signed September 2019 to adjust the project boundary and move a section of a control line outside the previous boundary to provide for increased safety and holding capacity.

Planned ignitions utilizing hand firing and Aireal ignition techniques during times of the year that contribute to the desired outcome of the objectives. Optional Items in Finance section: If only partial funding is available we would like to fund these first to secure the lines for either future fires or our eventual RX.

Pre and Post monitoring will continue to be done utilizing photography points. Key areas of Low Moderate and High severity plots will be monitored for up to 5 years post treatment.

DNR and WRI has partnered with us on all the 4 lower mastication projects in sheep creek. The burn will complete these previous project phases and improves conditions for wildlife. USFS, Utah & Wasatch counties, Utah Forestry Fire and State Lands, Department of Wildlife resources and Utah Valley University. Have helped in the design of the project. Implementation of the burn has come from USFS, BLM, NPS, Utah County, Wasatch County Unified Fire, Woodland hills, Salem and Lone Peak fire departments.

Being able to let fire play a more natural role in this project area to maintain the desired future conditions. Grazing management will occur through a rest-rotation grazing system.

Available forage is expected to increase post-treatment with the reduction in canopy density. The project is expected to restore forest health and resiliency to infection and disease. Reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfire to aid in the maintenance and or improvement of the watershed. Recreation will benefit for the added safety and user access for hunting, hiking, mountain biking, OHV, Fishing, Camping, .