Newfoundland Mountains Water Development FY22
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Project ID: 5653
Status: Completed
Fiscal Year: 2022
Submitted By:
1312
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Project Manager: Nathan Long
PM Agency: U.S. Army
PM Office: Dugway
Lead: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
WRI Region: Northern
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Description:
To install two guzzlers on the mountain range.
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Location:
Newfoundland Mountains west of the Great Salt Lake
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Project Need
Need For Project:
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. During the summer of 2020 the DWR and SFW/UWSF hauled water to the existing Big Pass Guzzlers 4 times as the demand for water by the sheep emptied the tanks.
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 and reduce the demand on the critical Big Pass Guzzlers.
Objectives:
To install two guzzlers on the sites that have already been selected and received arc clearance that are north of the Big Pass guzzlers.
Project Location/Timing Justification (Why Here? Why Now?):
None
Relation To Management Plan:
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.
Fire / Fuels:
None
Water Quality/Quantity:
Water quantity will be increased
Water quality may be improved by distributing bighorn sheep to additional water sources
Compliance:
DWR archeologist has visited and cleared sites.
BLM has completed necessary NEPA requirements.
Methods:
We will contract UHP or another helicopter service to fly in the guzzlers and materials.
Due to the remote and rugged terrain of the guzzler locations we will fly the DWR staff and volunteers into the sites and back out.
Monitoring:
Game monitoring cameras will be placed at both guzzlers and there will be an additional 20 sheep collared on the mountain in 2021 to monitor the use of the guzzlers.
As the number of guzzlers increase on the mountain range it would be beneficial to contract a monitoring flight each year for DWR staff and volunteers to check guzzlers for repairs.
Partners:
Utah Wild Sheep Foundation
Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife
BLM
Future Management:
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.
To continue with the plan of installing 10 additional guzzlers to spread out sheep use during the summer months.
To create an additional water source that is near a road to facilitate bringing water to the sheep in emergency situations.
Sustainable Uses of Natural Resources:
As long as these water sources are maintained, then they will continue to provide valuable water to all wildlife species in the area.
| Budget | WRI/DWR | Other | Budget Total | In-Kind | Grand Total |
| $53,000.00 | $0.00 | $53,000.00 | $2,000.00 | $55,000.00 |
| Item | Description | WRI | Other | In-Kind | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment Purchase | Aprons and boss tank | $10,000.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2022 |
| Personal Services (permanent employee) | Operations time for removing old materials and bringing in new materials. | $10,000.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2022 |
| Materials and Supplies | Guzzlers, apron materials, monitoring cameras, required hardware and tools. | $15,500.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2022 |
| Contractual Services | Helicopter flights for materials and personnel $2,000.00 / hr @ 7.5 hrs | $15,000.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2022 |
| Personal Services (seasonal employee) | transport of materials and installation labor | $2,500.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2022 |
| Contractual Services | volunteers from SFW/UWSF and dedicated hunters for installation of guzzlers and aprons 10 people @$20/hr for 10 hours | $0.00 | $0.00 | $2,000.00 | 2022 |
| Funding | WRI/DWR | Other | Funding Total | In-Kind | Grand Total |
| $53,000.00 | $0.00 | $53,000.00 | $5,914.37 | $58,914.37 |
| Source | Phase | Description | Amount | Other | In-Kind | Year |
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| Utah Wild Sheep Foundation | S022 | $13,450.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2022 | |
| Safari Club International | S026 | $4,000.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2022 | |
| Sportsman for Fish & Wildlife (SFW) | S027 | $13,450.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2022 | |
| RMEF banquet funds | S055 | $2,100.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2022 | |
| BLM Wildlife | A094 | Mod 7 | $20,000.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2022 |
| DWR-WRI Project Admin In-Kind | $0.00 | $0.00 | $5,914.37 | 2022 |
Species
| Species | "N" Rank | HIG/F Rank | ||||
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| Bighorn Sheep | N4 | R2 | ||||
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| Black-tailed Jackrabbit | ||||||
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| Chukar | R3 | |||||
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| Golden Eagle | N5 | |||||
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| Mule Deer | R1 | |||||
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Habitats
| Habitat | ||||
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| Desert Grassland | ||||
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Project Comments
| Comment | 01/22/2021 | Type: 1 | Commenter: Sydney Lamb |
| More water on the Newfoundland mountains will help to spread the bighorn sheep across available habitat during the summer months. Hopefully they will also lessen our need to run water out to guzzlers during the summer months. I support this project and hope we are able to install these two guzzlers promptly. Sydney Lamb UDWR Wildlife Biologist Box Elder | |||
| Comment | 08/30/2022 | Type: 2 | Commenter: Alison Whittaker |
| Thank you for submitting your completion report on time. Don't forget to upload any pictures of the project you have of before, during and after completion. | |||
Completion
Start Date:
04/01/2022
End Date:
05/17/2022
FY Implemented:
2022
Final Methods:
This project was designed to create additional water sources for the bighorn sheep on the Newfoundland Mountain range. After the sites were selected using collar data and finding suitable topography the DWR archaeologist and biologist hiked into the sites to perform the required clearance. Guzzlers and materials were purchased through appropriate state best value contracts. UHP was hired to fly the guzzlers and materials in to the locations.
DWR habitat staff transported all the required materials to the staging site where UHP pilot Luke Bowman meet us.
Volunteers from the dedicated hunter program and Utah Wild Sheep Foundation joined for the day to help place the guzzlers and construct the aprons.
Once the tanks, materials, staff and volunteers were on site the tanks were leveled and aprons constructed. Each big game guzzler had a camera placed on it.
Project Narrative:
Due to the remote location and restricted airspace the logistics of pulling this off were complicated but because we had worked with Hill Airforce Base on other phases of this project we knew how to work through any problems.
We flew in with helicopter and dropped off two guzzlers and apron materials. Finally, DWR staff and volunteers from the Utah Wild Sheep Foundation and Dedicated Hunters were flown into one of the site to contructed the apron. Volunteers hiked into the other guzzler site and placed the guzzler and constructed the apron on a later day.
Future Management:
To monitor the cameras and collars to document sheep using the new guzzlers. Maintain these and other guzzlers as needed.
To continue to install guzzlers in the "water voids" of the mountain range to distribute sheep and reduce stress on the habitat.
If these guzzlers prove to not hold water throughout the summer we will fly in additional apron materials and expand the apron size.
Map Features
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Project Map
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