The Traverse Fire burned approximately 441 acres of private and Lehi City owned land. The fire occurred on steep sloped hills above homes and infrastructure that are at risk of erosion and flooding post fire. The NRCS has secured funds to help pay for various erosion control structures and seeding. We will partner with the NRCS and Lehi City to contract and pay any additional needed funds to reseed 441 acres to protect life, homes, and infrastructure.

1. Reduce post fire erosion. 2. Reduce risk of flooding of homes and infrastructure. 3. Protect watershed and water infrastructure for Lehi City. 4. Prevent cheatgrass and other weeds from establishing. 5. Reduce future fire risk.

By not doing this project we risk allowing cheatgrass and other invasive species from establishing. This will cost more in the future to remove with chemicals.

This project addresses the following Plans: A. Suncrest/Traverse Mountain Community Wildfire Preparedness Plan (CWPP), 2014 B. Statewide Mule Deer Management Plan C. Deer Herd Unit 17A Management Plan D. Statewide Elk Management Plan E. Statewide Turkey Management Plan Specifically, the plans address the listed goals and objectives: A. Suncrest/Traverse Mountain CWPP: Goal A: Decrease fuels within the community to reduce wildfire intensity and impact in and around the community. Goal B: Work with County, State, and Federal fire officials to decrease fuels on adjacent public lands to reduce wildfire intensity and impact in and around the community. B. Draper Open Space Plan, 2016 Guiding Itiative 1F: Keep It Safe, Wildland-Urban Interface Treatments: In partnership with Utah DNR, develop a fuels and fire management program to reduce hazardous fuel loads and risk of wildfire C. Statewide Mule Deer Management Plan 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 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. D. Deer Herd Unit 17A Management Plan Maintain mule deer habitat throughout the unit by protecting and enhancing existing crucial habitats and mitigating for losses due to natural and human impacts. 3. Seek cooperative projects to improve the quality and quantity of deer habitat. 4. Cooperate with federal land management agencies and private landowners in carrying out habitat improvement projects. Protect deer winter ranges from wildfire by reseeding burned areas,creating fuel breaks and vegetated green strips and reseed areas dominated by cheatgrass with desirable perennial vegetation. E. Statewide Elk Management 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.

Seeding will reduce annual grasses and fire fuels for future fires.

This project will improve water quality in the watershed by reducing erosion

No ground disturbance is planned with State equipment.

We will aerially broadcast triticale or similar type annual grass this September 2020 in hopes of getting it to grow this Fall and be established by next Spring to help keep soil stable and reduce flooding and erosion. We will then do a secondary flight in late October or November with a combination of grass, forb, and shrub seeds to help have a longer term restoration of desirable plants. No ground disturbance will occur because of steepness of slopes.

A photo point could be established to monitor the success of the seeding.

Forestry Fire and State Lands, NRCS, Lehi City.

The land is mostly designated as open space and is used by wildlife, hikers, and mountain bikers. No livestock grazing will take place.

No livestock grazing occurs currently in this area. But there will be benefits to wildlife with improved understory vegetation.

09/24/2020

11/30/2020

2021

We first flew sterile triticale in Late September of 2020 on 441 acres. Later in November, we then seeded a variety of native grasses, forbs, and shrubs aerially on those same 441 acres.

The fire burned about 441 acres on Traverse Ridge. The exposed slopes posed a threat of mudslides and flooding to homes below the fire. So we decided to fly triticale seed that would grow faster and stabilize the soil quickly and then reseed with other native plants later.

We will continue to monitor how effective the seeding was and see how we can improve methods in the future.