The Petty Mountain Restoration project has two objectives as follows - 1) improving 806 acres of mountain meadows and riparian willow complexes that have been experiencing conifer encroachment - and 2) improving approximately 0.6 miles of stream channel and the adjacent wetland Long term monitoring indicates a trend of mountain meadow habitat being displaced by encroaching conifer, potentially reducing resources associated with these dry to saturated meadows. The amount of available habitat determines, to a large degree, the abundance of wildlife on National Forest lands. A reduction in fire frequency during the past 50-80 years due to increased fire suppression has permitted many of the plant communities to reach maturity. This has resulted in widespread successional advances in conifer communities, including heavy fuel build-up, loss of associated plants and a reduction in carrying capacity for early successional stage wildlife, while increasing habitat for late successional stage wildlife. Mountain meadows and willow complexes throughout the Uinta Mountains have experienced conifer encroachment, putting at risk a loss of habitat for plants and animals. There is a need to maintain mountain meadow habitat by removing the young, encroaching conifer. By doing so it is anticipated that within the meadow soil moisture will increase, improving forage for wildlife and livestock and maintaining a diverse ecosystem. Habitat improvement is needed not only to maintain forage quality, quantity, and distribution, but also for the maintenance of existing plant and wildlife diversity.

The objectives are twofold - 1) improving 806 acres mountain meadows and riparian willow that have been experiencing conifer encroachment - and 2) improving wetland and riparian function through stream and meadow restoration. Removing encroaching conifers from these mountain meadows and willow complexes will maintain existing plant and wildlife diversity in these communities on Petty Mountain. This will result in maintaining diverse plant populations associated with meadows, increase soil moisture, improve habitat for wildlife, maintain open space for recreation, maintain perennial vegetation for watershed protection and maintain available forage for wildlife and livestock. Another indirect affect to maintaining watershed health includes an increase in water quality and quantity for fish and other aquatic life, such as the Colorado River cutthroat trout that exists within Hells Canyon Creek, which is within treatment units.

Monitoring indicates a trend of mountain meadow and willow complex habitat being displaced by encroaching conifer, potentially displacing resources associated with these dry to saturated areas. This puts at risk a loss of habitat for plants and animals. If left untreated, cost per acre will increase as trees increase in size. This proposed project will reduce the risk of fuel loading and hazardous fuels within and surrounding meadow habitat creating a larger buffer to potentially manage a wildfire or future prescribed fire. This type of project may have helped slow down the nearby East Fork wildfire of 2020. The direct stream improvements are designed to stop and reverse downcutting and desiccation of the stream and adjacent wet meadows. The unknown alteration of hydrologic function after the East Fork fire makes the stream work an urgent need due to the potentially larger sediment loads.

Utah Statewide Elk Management Plan 1. The proposed plan addresses concerns discussed in Habitat Section III. 2. Population Objective 2: Identify future habitat restoration projects with stakeholders. 3. Watershed Restoration Initiative Goals a) Increase forage production by annually treating a minimum of 40,000 acres of elk habitat. b) 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. i) Identify habitat projects on summer ranges (aspen communities) to improve calving habitat. ii) Encourage land managers to manage portions of forests in early succession stages through the use controlled burning and logging. Controlled burning should only be used in areas with minimal invasive weed and/or safety concerns. Utah Mule Deer Statewide Management Plan 1. The proposed project falls with in crucial mule deer habitat restoration priority areas. 2. 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. 3. Work with land management agencies, conservation organizations, private landowners, and local leaders through the regional Watershed Restoration Initiative working groups to identify and prioritize mule deer habitats that are in need of enhancement or restoration. Forest Plan The proposed action has been reviewed and is conformance with the Forest Land Management Plan FLMP (1986) for the Ashley National Forest. The FLMP identifies the need and gives specific direction and objectives for management and maintenance of critical habitat by means of treating conifer encroachment. Additional FLMP objectives which are included in the Allotment Management Plans for each allotment include: 1. Manage the habitat of all T&E or sensitive plant, fish, and animal species to maintain or enhance status (Objective 3, IV-30). 2. Maintain or improve soil stability, site productivity, and repair or stabilize damaged watersheds (Objective 2, IV-39). 3. Maintain or improve riparian areas and riparian dependent resource values including wildlife, fish, vegetation, watershed, and recreation in a stable or upward trend. Manage for species diversity (Objective 1, IV-45). 4. Manage vegetation to enhance the riparian ecosystem (Objective 2, IV-46). 5. Maintain natural complexity and high relative productivity of riparian areas (IV-45). 6. Riparian areas will be given a high priority for rehabilitation in range improvement, fish and wildlife improvement, watershed restoration, road maintenance, and KV programs (IV-46). 7. Manage vegetation in riparian areas to be in good or excellent ecological condition, with a stable or upward trend (IV-46). Statewide Moose Plan The project meets the following strategies in the Statewide Moose Plan. B. Habitat Management Goal Strategy c. Work with public land management agencies to minimize, and where possible, mitigate loss or degradation of moose habitat.; Strategy e. Initiate prescribed burns, timber harvests, and other vegetative treatment projects to improve moose habitat lost to ecological succession or human impacts.; and f. Under the Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative, design, implement, and monitor the effectiveness of habitat improvement projects to benefit moose and other wildlife. Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Conservation Strategy The project meets the following Objective in the CRCT Conservation Strategy - Range wide Objective 4. Secure and enhance watershed conditions - Strive to improve watershed conditions for CRCT, including development of protocols for monitoring.

Fire suppression, beetle kill, disease and other factors have created an inappropriate fire regime (frequency and intensity) leaving the Forest and its users vulnerable to large, catastrophic fires. This proposed project will reduce the risk of fuel loading and hazardous fuels within and surrounding meadow habitat creating a larger buffer to potentially manage a wildfire or future prescribed fire. This type of project may have helped slow down the nearby East Fork wildfire of 2020.

The base flows of both creeks should increase as a result of the restoration. After restoration the phreatic zones in the meadows will be significantly larger. The enlarged phreatic (riparian) zones will feed the streams later in the seasons and through periods of drought much better than the current system. The project will also eliminate further downgrading and lowering of water tables which will at least maintain current stream flow levels, which will reduce sediment loads that will improve water quality. Cal State Polytechnic (Fie, 2018) has conducted research on conifer removal and wet meadows. A statistically significant increase in groundwater and soil moistures was documented every year post treatment, and vegetation changed from xeric to mesic indicative of a wet meadow. Similar results would be expected in meadows and willow complexes treated by this project. The proposed project will maintain and/or increase desirable perennial vegetation for watershed protection and reduce soil loss during high flood events and run-off. Streambank protection using cut debris will reduce erosion and increase sediment deposits while increasing water quality. This project occurs is a municipal watershed and may be correlated with the Cow Canyon Spring system which supplies culinary water through Upper Country Water.

The NEPA analysis was completed and a decision signed October 24, 2018. This project complies with all federal and state requirements. This project has all cultural clearances completed. A Joint Stream alteration permit will be required to complete the instream work. The project will comply with the Programmatic General Permit 10 requirements. The information for the permits has been collected and is expected to be permitted before June 30th, 2021.

The proposed project includes hand cutting and scattering conifers within designated meadows and willow complexes on Petty Mountain. The project is designed to have minimal disturbance and to target just areas that show encroachment. These areas are typically located at the margins of meadows or scattered young trees throughout. Chainsaws will be used to cut the conifers. This project is part of a larger project (Uinta Mountains Meadow restoration Project) which includes nearly 50 meadows that have been identified for treatment throughout the entire south slope of the Uinta Mountains. The Petty Mountain portion of this project proposes a total of 806 acres to be treated. Encroaching trees/acre range from 1-400 and average approximately 5-15 trees/acre. Size of trees to be treated range from young seedlings to the occasional mature trees. The stream channel (and water table) will be elevated using a series of grade control structures. These structures will vary in size and location. Throughout most of the project area small log structures will be used to control grade and establish pools behind the structures. The small structures will be placed by hand crews. Areas where vertical and near vertical banks exist will be laid back and the fill material placed into the channel along with high quality erosion matting.

The Ashley National Forest has an extensive monitoring program with thousands of plots and photo points in the project area. These photos and data are repeated on a regular basis. These data will be used to show the effect of the proposed project. Data, including repeat photography, will be collected immediately after treatments at already established sites. These plots will be revisited on a short-term and long-term schedule. A literature search determined a need for more information on meadow restoration. Meadows will be photographed before and after treatment following the Ashley National Forest monitoring program and documented in the 2060 files located at the Supervisors Office. Breeding bird surveys have been conducted in these areas and will continued be conducted to monitor use by bird species. Colorado River Cutthroat Trout (CRCT) are monitored in Hells Canyon Creek and this monitoring will continue every 2-3 years. Stream and meadow restoration will be monitored yearly for the first three years then at three year intervals utilizing both photo points and a modified Multiple Indicator Monitoring (MIM) protocol.

The following partners have been consulted for planning and coordination purposes. They have added valuable input and will continue to shape the details of the project. There were no opportunity for treatment on adjacent lands, because all treatment areas on Petty Mountain are high on the mountain and surrounded by several miles of Forest Service land. Coordination before and during the NEPA process included Forest Service resource staff, Grazing permittees, Utah Grazing Improvement Program, Utah Division of Wildlife, and Utah State University.

Removing conifer encroachment from mountain meadows and willow complexes on Petty Mountain is prat of the larger Uinta Mountain Meadow restoration project that encompasses a total of 17,000 acres on the south slope of the Uinta Mountains. Several projects are currently being proposed by the Ashley National Forest to manage vegetation resources (aspen, conifer/timber, pinyon/juniper, shrub). Monitoring will dictate re-treatment as needed. Conifer encroachment is also affecting aspen stands adjacent to meadows. The Ashley National Forest is working on an aspen project to treat these areas. The stream restoration area will be monitored to determine if/when reentry is needed. Due to the remote nature of Cow Park and utilization of wooden grade control structures reentry is expected in approximately 30 years.

The project occurs within active grazing allotments. Conifers removed from suitable grazing land is expected to increase forage. Removal of trees may help in the movement of livestock and allow for better access from one meadow to another. Material cut may be used for range improvement projects (log fences, wood stays, etc.). Open meadows will improve public experience related to hunting, camping, wildlife viewing, and other general outdoor activities including firewood gathering.

07/12/2021

07/22/2021

2022

The lop and scatter portion of the project was completed by a hand crew using chainsaws. The stream restoration portion of the project will not be completed.

The purpose of the project was to restore the mountain meadows and stream stability in the Petty Mountain area. Encroaching conifers were removed from mountain meadows to maintain the meadow community for the benefit of wildlife species such as elk, deer, moose and other mountain meadow obligate species. Originally, 806 acres were proposed for lop and scatter, but it was found that the East Fork Fire had burned some of the area. Therefore, the completed acres were reduced to 696 acres. This part of the project was completed to project specifications. The Stream restoration of the project was delayed pending water right permitting. In 2023 it became evident that the Forest Service would not get the permit to do the stream restoration. Thus the stream restoration portion of the project will not be completed.

Repeat photography will be conducted to monitor the lop and scatter portion of the project as well as migratory bird surveys. It is anticipated that treatment would not be needed again for 30+ years.