The project area is significantly impacted by a recent mountain pine beetle epidemic that resulted in 70- 90% mortality of lodgepole pines. The dead trees are beginning to fall over and are significantly increasing surface fuel loads and the risk of a large high intensity/severity fire. Prescribed fire and mechanical treatments would provide wildlife habitat, reduce fuel loads, and provide fire management personnel options in the event of a wildfire.

1. Improve habitat for big game that are dependent on aspen ecosystems. 2. Utilize fire to increase aspen regeneration and reduce conifer encroachment. 3. Manage the risk of hazardous fuel accumulations to minimize the potential for large, high intensity/high severity wildfires. 4. Provide more corridors for bighorn sheep. 5. Restore riparian areas by removing encroaching conifer

A no action management alternative would result in a continued aspen decline in the project area. If the project was delayed, existing aspen-encroached stands may cross a threshold where conifers would dominate and further reduce the overall North Slope aspen population. As conifers become more dominant, canopy closure increases and understory plant species richness and diversity would decline creating a loss of forage production for wildlife and livestock. Soil moisture would also decrease as conifers increase because the conifer needles and branches would intercept precipitation before reaching the forest floor causing precipitation to evaporate into the atmosphere. Aspen to conifer succession is a concern for the North Slope. Aspens are clonal and need disturbance (e.g. wildfire) to initiate sprouting. Aspen is more successful over the long-term when fire intervals are short enough to regenerate aspen. If treatments are not implemented, conifers in existing aspen-conifer stands will shade out and out compete aspens. When a disturbance does occur, creating a possible scenario for aspens to sprout, conifers would have a stronghold making it difficult for aspen re-establish.

1. 2003 Wasatch-Cache Forest Plan: -(Subgoal 3d) Restore or maintain fire-adapted ecosystems (consistent with land uses, historic fire regimes, and other Forest Plan direction) through wildland fire use, prescribed fire, timber harvest or mechanical treatments. -(G24) Management activities that negatively affect pollinators (e.g. insecticide, herbicide application and prescribed burns) should not be conducted during the flowering period of any known Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive plant populations in the application area. An exception to this guideline is the application of Bacillus thuringiensis. - (G37) Use prescribed fire in wilderness only to meet wilderness management objectives. The objective of prescribed fire management in wilderness (FSM 2324.21) is to reduce, to an acceptable level, the risks and consequences of wildfire within wilderness or escaping from wilderness. - (G3.1W-1) Vegetation/fuel treatment, prescribed fire, and wildland fire use are allowed for the purposes of maintaining, improving or restoring watersheds to desired conditions, and to protect property in the wildland urban interface. - (G3.2U-1) Vegetation/fuel treatment, prescribed fire and wildland fire use are allowed for the purposes of maintaining, improving or restoring terrestrial habitat, for hazardous fuel reduction, and to protect property in the wildland urban interface. - (G4.2-1) Vegetation/fuels treatment, prescribed fire, and wildland fire use are allowed to mimic historic conditions and to restore ecosystem functioning. - (G4.3-1) Timber harvest, vegetation/fuels treatment, road construction, prescribed fire and wildland fire use are allowed to mimic historic conditions and to restore ecosystem functioning as compatible with the backcountry recreation opportunity and natural setting desired. - (G4.5-1) Timber harvest, road construction, vegetation/fuel treatment, prescribed fire, new recreation development, and new trail construction are allowed for the purposes of providing public enjoyment, safety, and protection of site investments. - (G5.2) Prior to use of prescribed fire and wildland fire use, investments made for timber production, such as road systems and silvicultural improvements, and the value of the timber for wood production receive consideration. - (G6.2 -1) Timber harvest, vegetation/fuels treatments, prescribed fire, and wildland fire use are allowed to maintain or improve forage production or for hazardous fuel reduction. - (Objective 3.b.) Stimulate aspen regeneration and reduce other encroaching woody species in aspen by treating (fire use and/or timber harvest) approximately 3,200 acres average annually 1 for a 10-year total of 32,000 acres. - Vegetation cover types will form a mosaic of plant communities representing a diverse mix of ages, sizes, and species. Fire use will play a role in reducing fuels, maintaining the historic dynamic of aspen regeneration and ratio of conifer to aspen and mountain brush vegetation patterns and age classes. Mechanical treatment of fuels along with limited use of prescribed fire will emphasize the safety of people and protection of property in the heavily populated and increasingly developed urban wildland interface adjacent to National Forest. 2. 2001 Roadless Rule: -Prohibits cutting, sale, and removal of timber in inventoried roadless areas, except: -For the cutting, sale, or removal of generally small diameter trees which maintains or improves roadless characteristics and to: -Improve habitat for threatened, endangered, proposed, or sensitive species, or -maintain or restore ecosystem composition and structure, such as reducing the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire effects. 3. Utah Mule Deer Statewide Management Plan: -Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat in ranges being diminished by encroachment of conifers into aspen habitats. -Seek opportunities through WRI to improve aspen communities that provide crucial summer habitat for mule deer. -Encourage land managers to manage portions of aspen/conifer forest in early successional stages using various methods including timber harvest and managed fire. -North Slope is a habitat restoration priority area for mule deer in Utah. 4. Utah Statewide Elk Management Plan: -Identify habitat projects on summer range (aspen communities) to improve calving habitat. -Increase forage production by annually treating a minimum of 40,000 acres of elk habitat -Encourage land managers to manage portions of forests in early successional stages through the use of controlled burning and logging. Controlled burning should only be used in areas with minimal invasive weed and/or safety concerns. 5. Utah Moose Statewide Management Plan: -Initiate prescribed burns and other vegetative treatment projects to improve moose habitat lost to ecological succession or human impacts. 6. Utah Bighorn Sheep Statewide Management Plan: -Encourage land management agencies to use fire as a management tool to improve bighorn sheep habitat. When possible allow fires that can have beneficial effects for bighorn sheep to burn. -Initiate vegetative treatment projects to improve bighorn habitat lost to natural succession or human impacts. 7. Northern Goshawk of Utah: Habitat Assessment and Management Recommendations: -Early and mid-seral species should be increased using both mechanical means and fire. -Polices should be adopted to manage for the production of large early seral species through clearings, thinnings, and weedings, using mechanical means or fire. -Fire or mechanical treatments or both should be used to create conditions favorable to lodgepole pine and quaking aspen. 8. Guidelines for Aspen Regeneration on National Forests in Utah: - Much of the loss of aspen-dominated acreage is attributable to encroachment and overtopping by conifer. It has often been presumed that this encroachment i.e., the natural succession process for seral stands, is the result of fire suppression. 9. Boreal Toad Conservation Plan: -(3.1.1) Protect habitats in forest stands adjacent to and within 2.5 miles of breeding sites. -(3.1.2) Restrict burns to late fall through early spring during which time boreal toads are inactive in known occupied areas. -Burning of downed woody materials approximately 18 to 25 cm DBH is detrimental to boreal toads, because these materials are often selected as beneficial microhabitats. However, fire may eventually result in higher shrub densities in the understory that may provide cover and improved dispersal corridors. 10. Utah Black Bear Management Plan: -Successional replacement of aspen stands by conifers can significantly reduce bear-food production in aspen communities. Both fire and selective logging of conifers can be used to maintain aspen vigor. 11. UDWR Wildlife Action Plan: - While the Aspen-Conifer physical (abiotic) habitat remains largely intact in Utah, coverage of aspen itself within that setting has declined greatly for two main reasons: (1) departure from natural fire regime (reduction in disturbance), resulting in widespread forest succession to conifer dominance; and (2) heavy ungulate browsing on young aspen stems, following disturbance. - The growing problem of catastrophic mega-fires can be solved by a systematic campaign of active restoration via mechanical fuel-reduction treatments and prescribed fire to safely return wildfire as a viable, natural, cost effective means of maintaining necessary patterns of ecological succession across the landscape. - Increasing disturbance from either prescribed or natural fire. Recent studies have shown that larger scale burns (e.g., 5,000 acres) that burn more intensely have been the most successful in terms of aspen regeneration. Higher-intensity burns stimulate higher numbers of young aspen per unit area, than lower intensity burns. A larger treatment area distributes ungulate browse pressure, allowing most young aspen stems to reach a safe height. - Applying mechanical disturbance agents such as timber harvest. This can also be used to stimulate aspen regeneration and avoid or reduce resource losses to conifer beetles. As with fire, larger mechanical treatment areas serve to distribute browsing pressure and reduce damage to individual stems, increasing regeneration success. 12. State of Utah Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy: - Rather than just reducing fires, the ultimate goal is to return landscapes to a condition of health and resilience that allows for wildfires to burn without becoming catastrophic to either human or natural systems. 13. Conservation Agreement and Strategy for Colorado River Cutthroat Trout in the State of Utah: -Natural climatic events such as flood, fire and drought may threaten specific populations of Colorado River cutthroat trout (CRCT); however, these forces only pose threats as long as CRCT range remains fragmented and populations are small. Small, isolated populations are more susceptible to catastrophic loss and impacts from demographic stochasticity. 14. Unit 8 Deer Management Plan -Work with federal, private, and state partners to improve crucial deer habitats through the Watershed Restoration Initiative (WRI) process. Also work with federal and state partners in fire rehabilitation on crucial deer habitat through the WRI process. -Manage conifer encroachment on important summer ranges by utilizing prescribed fire. Seek opportunities to increase browse in burned areas of critical winter range. 15. Unit 8 Elk Management Plan Work cooperatively with the USFS and BLM to utilize prescribed burning, mechanical conifer and PJ removal, and grazing to enhance elk forage quantity and quality.

The use of prescribed fire on the North Slope has been very limited during the past and most wildfires have been suppressed. According to fire statistics, the number of large wildfires appears to be increasing since 1980. The majority of the project is within fire regime IV (35-100+ years) and V (> 200 years) with a condition class of 2. One of the objectives of this project is to manage hazardous fuel loads, continuity of hazardous fuels, and minimize the potential for large, high intensity/high severity wildfires. This project will help the North Slope move towards properly functioning condition (composition, stand structure, age classes, and patch size). It will promote aspen regeneration and reduce conifer encroachment. Aspens are a more fire wise than conifers since they have a higher moisture content, have a less chemicals, and provide less fuel during their dormant period. Fuel loads would be reduced and aspen regenerated within the Northern and Southern Units covering approximately 25,000 acres. Protected values would include Hoop Lake Campground, trailheads, the North Slope Road (used as a corridor to access recreational areas), and big game habitat. Reducing hazardous fuels along the road corridor and around recreational areas would mitigate public safety risks should a wildfire occur. Mechanical treatments would allow prescribed burns to be safely implemented by reducing hazardous tree risks and protecting fire personnel from injury during implementation.

Runoff and erosion rates associated with high intensity/severity wildfires are much higher than those associated with prescribed burns. After severe and intense wildfires, soils become hydrophobic increasing runoff and decreasing the soil moisture content in the ecosystem. Runoff introduces large quantities of sediment, ash, and other chemical contaminants into the river system negatively impacting water quality. Intense/severe wildfires can cause riparian areas to be denuded of vegetation, increase water temperature, decrease dissolved oxygen, and lead to eutrophication and poisoning of aquatic organisms. This project would remedy catastrophic wildfire effects to water quality by using prescribed fire and mechanical treatments to reduce hazardous fuel loads. Five sub-watersheds (West Fork Beaver Creek, Beaver Creek-Henry's Fork, Gregory Basin, Burnt Fork, and Birch Creek) would be protected against catastrophic wildfire effects. These systems flow into the Green River, which is used for recreation and many municipalities along its course. The project area encompasses several ecological communities e.g. lodgepole pine, aspen, aspen-conifer, spruce-fir, Douglas fir, and the tributaries that that flow through these forest communities.

Archaeology clearances were completed during phase I of the project in FY 19. SHPO has concurred with project. Consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is completed and concurrence letter received. NEPA was completed in March of 2019.

General Method: The project area is divided into three treatment units: the northern (4,510 ac), eastern (1,300 ac), and the southern (20,088 ac). The project will include 20,000- 30,000 acres (prescribed fire, lop and scatter, and cut and pile). Some treatments will overlap in acres. Phase III: The method for Phase III will include cutting and piling trees creating 150 foot buffers from the center line of the road/trail. Treatments in Kabell Meadows will remove all hazardous trees (dense, diseased, damaged, and poorly formed) and open the canopy to 14 foot spacing. Trees will be piled or lopped and scattered and then burned in a future phase(s). Kabell Meadows will be used as a staging area/fuel break for future prescribed burns. Areas specifically include: 1. Kabell Creek Road prep (29 acres) 2. Burnt Ridge Trail (45 acres) 3. Kabell Meadows (471 acres)

Baseline data was collected during Phase I (FY 19) by surveying 70 timber stands and Brown's transects. Monitoring will be conducted during and after the implementation phases. Vegetation plots that have been treated will be revisited and walk through surveys will be completed at least once post-treatment. Data collection will include ocular estimates of shrub and ground cover, and tree density measurements. Rangeland resources will be evaluated post-fire and if needed, permitted livestock grazing will be adjusted. Collared bighorns will be monitored to determine if their migration patterns have adjusted to the more open terrain.

-During Phase I of this project partners included UDWR through obtaining funds to hire Utah Conservation Corps crews to conduct timber stand, Browns transect, and goshawk surveys and hiring an archaeology contractor to survey project area. -During Phase II, a Mule Deer Foundation participation agreement was used for mechanical treatment in the Eastern Unit, North Slope Road, Fishlake Trail, and Burnt Fork Trails. -Phase III will continue to use the participation agreement with Mule Deer Foundation. UDWR is part of the collaborative process of selecting Phase III treatment areas and supporting project implementation.

-Future phases will continue mechanical treatments and focus on prescribed burn treatments throughout the project area. Thinning in the Eastern unit will also provide a potential area for a future sustainable timber harvest. Follow-up treatments may be pursued where appropriate and allowable if initial treatments are deemed unsuccessful. If treated stands cannot be certified as naturally regenerating after five years, then planting(s) may be scheduled to meet Forest Plan stocking requirements. Continued monitoring of collared animals in the area by DWR biologist. Other partners include: Habitat Council Account, Federal Aid (PR), USFS-WRI, Internal Conservation Permit (ICP Bighorn), Utah Wild Sheep Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Safari Club International, Sportsman for Fish & Wildlife, and Utah Archery Association.

The project area includes two cattle allotments encompassing mostly the non-wilderness portion of the project area. Cattle include 307 cow/calf pairs from late June to late September. Conifer removal and aspen regeneration open up the forest canopy and increase understory plant species richness and diversity, which could be beneficial to livestock. Studies within the project area and across the district indicate successful aspen regeneration and sustainability concurrent with permitted livestock grazing and wild ungulates following disturbances such as fire, timber harvest, chaining, and etc. Therefore, permitted livestock grazing following the project is not anticipated to inhibit aspen regeneration and sustainability. Rangeland resources will be evaluated post-fire, and if needed, permitted livestock grazing will be adjusted.

07/21/2020

07/20/2021

2022

The objective of Burnt Beaver Phase III was to treat the overly dense lodgepole pine stands to reduce fuel loading, establish defensible lines for Rx burning or wildfire suppression and provide for improved wildlife forage and movement. This was done by creating a 14-foot bole to bole spacing with hand cutting & piling, targeting dead and diseased trees first. All material that was cut was piled to a minimum of 6x6x6 foot pile and a maximum 15x15x15 foot.

Phase 3 of this project was contracted through the Mule Deer Foundation. Treatment areas were previous logged in the 90's and required a retreatment to protect the stand from future prescribed fire treatments. A precommercial thinning contract (PCT) was awarded in spring of 2020. Work in those areas began in July 2020 and continued into August '21.

Contractors successfully treated 511 acres and constructed approximately 27,000 hand piles. Total acres amended from the original 520, reducing Burnt Ridge Trail acres by 31 and adding 22 acres for Kabell Meadows area. Funding not used for hand-piling was allocated to contract crew who assisted USFS with pile burning.

Phase 4 of this project will focus on burning all piles created from phases 2 & 3. Phase 5 will focus on large scale prescribed burning in the area, 2k-3k acres (WRI #5893). Potential work for a 6th phase will be discussed and planned based on USFS priorities and need. MDF and USFS will close out the Burnt-Beaver participation agreement that supported Ph. 2 and negotiate modifications to the SPA that supports Burnt-Beaver phases 3-5 and Bear River Resiliency projects in order to continue work in those areas.