The bighorn sheep on the mountain range are currently not utilizing the southern half of the range during summer months. This creates a concentration of sheep in the northern end of the range. This particular bighorn sheep herd is one of the few herds in the state that is free of the most concerning pathogen causing respiratory disease in bighorn sheep. It may serve as a critical source herd to other population in the future. By adding additional water sources along the range the sheep will be able to spread out thus reducing the risk of disease.

For this phase to identify needed guzzler sites and perform the arc clearance on them. Installation of the guzzlers will be done in upcoming phases. EDIT Due to Covid-19 affects on flights we have decided to do the arc clearance on foot and will plan to install 2 guzzlers in spring 2021.

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Utah Bighorn Sheep Statewide Management Plan Habitat Goals - f. Improve or maintain existing water sources and develop new water sources as needed to improve distribution and abundance of bighorn sheep. Completion of this project will increase the carrying capacity of the mountain range which will help the DWR achieve the population objective outlined in the bighorn sheep unit management plan. Strategic Management Plan for Chukar Partridge 2003 Chukars may require free water daily during hot and dry periods.

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Water quantity will be increased Water quality may be improved by distributing bighorn sheep to additional water sources

DWR archelogist will visit guzzler sites BLM will complete requirements for NEPA As of 4/2/2020 we have hiked to and cleared 3 of the 12 sites.

To fly the archaeologist to the guzzlers sites so he can perform the clearance. For future phases guzzlers and apron materials will be flown in and installed with a combination of DWR personal and volunteers. To install guzzlers in the spring on 2021 during the bombing range clean up days that allows us for a good window of airspace.

Guzzlers will be monitored and repaired if the need arises. Cameras will be installed on guzzlers Bighorn sheep collars will be monitored for summer use of new guzzlers

Utah Wild Sheep Foundation Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife Utah Chukar and Wildlife Foundation BLM

Our goal is to maintain these water sources so that they will continue to be valuable to the bighorn sheep, chukars, and other wildlife in the area.

As long as these water sources are maintained, then they will continue to provide valuable water to all wildlife species in the area.

03/25/2021

05/08/2021

2021

This project is part of a multiple year effort to increase and improve the water sources on the Newfoundland mountain range. The project is needed because a lack of water on the southern half of the range prevents bighorn sheep from utilizing the habitat there. Increasing the amount of water will allow the sheep to spread out helping to prevent future disease issues and overuse of habitat where the sheep concentrate due to water availability. This is a challenging project due the remote location and difficult road access. The range is within UTTR restricted airspace so getting the clearance to fly in tanks and materials requires additional coordination. Due to observed drought conditions this years project was expanded from the original plan for two guzzlers to add two additional guzzler installations. These additional guzzlers were placed in a location that provided easier access to haul water into. In addition water was flown into the eight existing guzzlers with a helicopter. The two guzzlers by the road on the west side of Big Pass were transported and installed by DWR habitat staff. Both tanks were dug in with the NRO tractor. The two guzzlers and aprons that required being flown in by helicopter were transported by DWR staff to the staging area. The work was completed by DWR staff and volunteers from UWSF during one long work day.

With the restricted airspace we scheduled the fly in guzzlers during the spring unexploded ordinance clean up week. The water hauling flight was completed on a Saturday. This strategy provided the best chance of maintaining an airspace window and fortunately both flights were able to proceed without rescheduling. The two guzzlers on the west side of Big Pass were dug in with a tractor and filled with water utilizing the FS water truck. The truck can fill one tank so filling both required two trips. The fly in guzzlers were transported to the staging area along with the apron materials in a bracket that held everything together for the flight. The package was bolted together using all thread, if the terrain is soft it may be challenging to get a wrench on the nut on the bottom of the all thread. We will explore more design options with future efforts. All the personnel were flown to the first site and constructed the apron. Then we hiked down to trucks and relocated below the second site. From there we hiked up to the second site and completed construction. For the water hauling Mountain West Helicopter delivered a 6000 dip tank to the staging area and it was filled by a volunteer driving his semi and tank out to it. Then on the flying day I took the FS water truck out for an additional 1500 gallons. The Bambi bucket has a 200-300 gallon capacity and the guzzler drinker has an estimated 100 gallon capacity that filters back into the tank. This results in some water loss that spills out of the drinker. We also dumped the bucket onto the apron. This large flush of water was to much for the system to handle and it would travel over the dome top of the tank and spill over the far side. On the big pass guzzlers the water was able to be dropped on to the big aprons that are like giant slip and slides. This method was effective in not losing any of the water. It also served to clean dust off the aprons. The flights for both the guzzlers/materials and water hauling were done with Mountain West Helicopter. The four guzzlers were purchased utilizing the statewide contract with Boss Tanks. The steel apron material was purchased through an RQS that was awarded to Metalmart.

Monitor the water levels in the guzzlers and fill with water as needed utilizing the water truck and helicopters. Monitor and maintain the existing guzzlers and aprons. Log visits and repairs needs in the collector app. Monitor the cameras on the guzzlers. Utilize collar tracker to confirm sheep use of the guzzlers. Install guzzlers in the already cleared sites in the next phases of this project.