Existing vegetation, consisting of grasses, shrubs, pinyon and juniper trees fueled a moderate to high intensity wildfire. The Veyo West fire consumed both the pinyon and juniper canopy and understory vegetation. The Veyo West Fire burned near Veyo and Brookside, Utah. Multiple homes and properties were at risk along with one home and an outbuilding being destroyed and without treatments to mitigate the returned annual grasses which are a source of flashy fuel when cured, future fires are likely to occur to again endanger homes, property, and life. Erosion issues will also affect culinary and irrigation water systems negatively in high precipitation/flow events with the removal of vegetation on thousands of acres to the aforementioned cities. The burn area is near Baker Reservoir which has many trails utilized by recreationalists and nature observers.The potential dangers for such persons is higher in this area when fast moving fires like this one occur here. The majority of the Veyo West Fire burned at a high severity and the soil's protective vegetative cover was consumed and destroyed in most areas. According to the Custom Soil Resource Report for the burned area, the soils within the Veyo West Fire are classified as highly susceptible to fire damage. This indicates that the soils within the burn have features that are moderately to highly favorable to occur. This rating is directly related to burn severity, which in this case was moderate. Therefore, soils within the majority of the burn site could be classified as "moderately susceptible" for damage to occur after the fire. The susceptibility to fire damage ratings represent the relative risk of creating vulnerability to water and wind erosion prior to reestablishing adequate vegetative cover on the burned site.

1. Reintroduce perennial grasses, forbs and shrubs and increase frequency to at least 25%. 2. Reintroduce perennial grasses, forbs, and shrubs on mule deer, and other wildlife habitat. 3. Reintroduce perennial grasses, forbs and shrubs to establish and compete with invasive annual grasses. 4. Reduce sedimentation and erosion.

Cheatgrass has high probability of returning and re-establishing before other plant species due to the nature of this annual grass. As this happens, other plant species struggle to re-establish, which results in the landscape being dominated by cheatgrass. If the area is not rehabilitated through ES&R efforts it is expected that a pattern of more fires similar to the Veyo West Fire will continue to occur within the area.

This action is consistent with the following land use plans and the Normal Year Fire Management Plan. LUP Name: St. George (Dixie Resource Area) Field Office Record of Decision and Resource Management Plan (ROD/RMP). Date Approved March 1999. Other relevant Plans and associated NEPA analyses (copies available at BLM's St. George Field Office): Dixie Resource Area Draft Resource Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement; Oct. 1995, Dixie Resource Area Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement; Sept. 1998, Vegetation Treatment on BLM Lands in Thirteen Western States/FEIS; May, 1991 and associated ROD July, 1991 Vegetation PEIS ROD 2007 The Proposed Action is in conformance with the approved St. George Field Office RMP/ROD because it is specifically provided for in the following management decisions: VG-01, GZ-11-5: The use and perpetuation of native plant species will be emphasized. However, when restoring or rehabilitating disturbed or degraded rangelands, non-intrusive and non-native species will be approved for use where native species: a) are not available; b) are not economically feasible; c) cannot achieve ecological objectives as well as non-native species; and/or, d) cannot compete with already established non-native species. VG-02: Seed mixes used for rehabilitation will reflect a diversity of plant types suitable to the soils, climate, and landform of the area being restored. Mixes will be designed to meet a range of purposes appropriate for the land involved including wildlife, watershed, soil retention, livestock, and fire ecology. VG-03, GZ-11-13: Rangelands that have been burned, reseeded, or otherwise treated to alter vegetative composition will be closed to livestock grazing as follows: a) burned rangelands, whether by wildfire or prescribed burning, will be ungrazed for a minimum of one complete growing season following the burn, and b) rangeland that have been reseeded or otherwise chemically or mechanically treated will be ungrazed for a minimum of two complete growing seasons following treatment. Consistency with Related Subordinate Implementation Plans The Proposed Action is consistent with management actions recommended in the approved Programmatic Wildland Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Plan (Approved June 12, 2008) for the St. George Field Office and analyzed in Environmental Assessment (UT-100-05-EA-06), prepared for that Plan. Secretarial Order 3362: Site specific Management Activities to Conserve or Restore Big Game Habitat, November, 2018

The Veyo West fire encompassed 2,807 acres. In addition, numerous large fires (Brookside, Baker, and Shivwits) have burned within the immediate vicinity of the project area. If the Veyo West ES&R project does not occur it is expected that cheatgrass will invade and dominate this area. Future fires will continue to be more difficult to control and have devastating effects by burning at a higher intensity, which could lead to fires getting larger and burning unburned habitat. Treatments identified within this proposal, including seeding with more fire resistant vegetation and are expected to reduce the overall threat of future wildfires, which could impact unburned areas in the watershed.

The Veyo West Fire burned near Veyo and Brookside, Utah. Multiple homes and properties were at risk along with one home and an outbuilding being destroyed and without treatments to mitigate the returned annual grasses which are a source of flashy fuel when cured, future fires are likely to occur to again endanger homes, property, and life. Erosion issues have the possibility to affect culinary and irrigation water systems negatively in high precipitation/flow events with the removal of vegetation on thousands of acres the aforementioned cities. The burn area is near Baker Reservoir which has many trails utilized by recreationalists and nature observers.The potential dangers for such persons is higher in this area when fast moving fires like this one occur here.

Required Class III cultural surveys will be contracted through the State of Utah and will be competed prior to chaining, and construction of burned/protection fences.

The Proposed Action is to implement the Veyo West Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Plan (ESR) on up to the 1839 acres of BLM-managed lands within the St. George Field Office as prescribed by the Programmatic Wildland Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Plan (Environmental Assessment UT-100-05-EA-06) and to work cooperatively with the State, USFS, and private land owners to treat the 968 acres on non-BLM-managed public lands. The evaluation team determined that appropriate measures for this burn would include an aerial application of a desirable seed mixture of perennial plant species across the BLM-managed lands of the fire area, followed by a chaining to incorporate the seed into the soil in areas where topography permits. Also, actions will be taken to prevent the further spread and eradicate noxious or non-native species. Seeding and Planting Selected areas are proposed for re-seeding within the fire perimeter. Attachment B contains the proposed seed mix. Proposed treatments include areal seeding only and aerial seeding followed by chaining. Portions of the Veyo West Fire are conducive only to aerial seeding. These areas are characterized by steep slopes and are not suitable for mechanical treatments. Aerial seeding followed by chaining or harrowing is the preferred method of seeding in areas where slopes are appropriate and where residual vegetation allows. Noxious or Non-Native Species Prevention Several mapped polygons of Scotch thistle occur within the fire perimeter. These, along with any other Noxious Weeds encountered during our efforts, would be monitored, and treated as appropriate. Actions, if approved, would begin this fall, and conclude by early winter.

The fire will be monitored each year for five years (2021-2025) and an annual monitoring summary report will be completed by early September each year. Four or five monitoring studies will be established. They will be established in both the aerial seed and chaining treatments using the AIM method.

The BLM St. George Field Office will be working with the Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative, the State of Utah, and United States Forest Service to complete this project. SITLA will be involved because of State Lands (149 acres) were burned in the fire. All acres will be seeded either aerially/chained. Non-use agreements, if needed, will be identified with the livestock permittees to ensure adequate rest following project implementation.

In accordance with the Standards for Rangeland Health, rangelands that have been burned, reseeded, or otherwise treated to alter the vegetation composition would be closed to livestock grazing for a minimum of two complete growing seasons.

The fire burned in portions of two grazing allotments (Scarecrow, Mogatzu). Three livestock grazing permittees have been impacted by the wildfire. The areas or pastures burned will need to be rested from grazing for a minimum of two years (growing seasons). In the long term, this project will likely have an overall positive impact on domestic livestock grazing because of added forage value following seeding.

02/04/2021

03/08/2021

2021

January 4, 2021: Aerially seeded 2,559 acres by Hammond Helicopters with a mixture of grasses, forbs and shrubs. February 17, 2021: Chained 645 acres of BLM administered lands with an ely chain behind two sets of D8 dozers. Chaining was completed by BLM personnel on March 08, 2021.

The Veyo west fire rehabilitation was kicked off on January 4, 2021. An aerial seeding contract was completed in two days. A total of 2,559 acres were seeded with a mix of grasses, forbs, and shrubs with a fix wing aircraft contracted by Hammond Helicopters. The seed mixture was introduced to attempt to compete against invasive species such as cheat grass and to stabilize soils post fire. Chaining was started on February 17, 2021 and continued through March 8, 2021 by utilizing local fire crews with 2 D8 Dozers and an ely chain. Crews utilized equipment to 1 way chain the area in order to remove burnt skeleton trees, till the soil, and mix in the seed mixture that was flown on prior to the chaining. It was decided post WRI proposal that no private lands would be chained due to grazing issues.

Areas of the fire that were seeded within the fire perimeter will be rested for a minimum of two complete growing seasons in order to allow the seedlings to become established and set seed. The rest period could be extended if monitoring shows the seeding has not sufficiently established.