We have been working towards replacing fence around the property to the north side of the county road dike at Clear Lake and would now like to replace the fences on the dike and begin to the south along the west side. These fences are very old and we spend a considerable amount of time maintaining them and dealing with livestock trespass every year. In addition we would like to replace the west and south side fencing on the Pahvant WMA which is also in poor condition and has had a section burned in a wildfire.

Reduce both livestock trespass and the amount of time needed to complete fence maintenance each year.

Nesting and hiding cover is compromised each year for waterfowl and pheasants due to excessive grazing.

Wildlife Management Area plans call for securing and identifying boundaries. Management at Clear Lake and Pahvant also greatly supports multiple goals and Objectives in the UDWR Strategic Plan including: The agency goal to improve the image of the agency - this is accomplished with up to date infrastructure and well defined boundaries. The resource goals to protect and improve wildlife habitat, increasing wildlife populations, and expanding hunting opportunities.

Fire is used in a rotating system at Clear Lake as needed to clear thatch from units. Fence helps in identifying boundaries of those units. As mentioned above a portion of the west boundary fence at the Pahvant was damaged in a wildfire.

Water quality is improved due to the decrease in bank trampling and decreased sedimentation into the wetland system.

Will work with archaelogist to complete any necessary surveys which are unlikely because the action is re-construction.

UDWR will contract with a private contractor to provide the labor and materials to install up to 19,984 feet of fence at Clear Lake and an additional 14,584 feet at Pahvant including the removal of the materials of the existing fence.

Fence is monitored at least annually and repairs are completed as the need is identified.

This project is a cooperative project within the Wildlife and Habitat Sections at UDWR and its completion will involve staff from each section.

Management of future livestock trespass will be greatly simplified by this project and be conducted on an as needed basis.

Both the Clear Lake Waterfowl Management Area and the Pahvant Wildlife Managment Area are highly utilized by hunters and wildlife viewers.

04/28/2021

06/30/2021

2021

After receiving fast tracked FY21 funding we issued a contract for the removal and reconstruction of 14,700 feet (just over 2.78 miles) of fence at the Pahvant Wildlife Management Area. Contractor was Golden Eagle fencing from Delta. Contractor started in mid May and was complete by end of June.

Fence consisted of 8000 feet of 4 strand barbed and 6700 feet of net wire and installation of 1 steel gate. All corners were H-Style braces. Wood to steel post ration was 1:5 and line braces were placed every 1/4 mile. Contractor also removed the existing old fence. We had some issues with close out of contract when we discovered that contractor elected not to build a small portion of the fence and on another small portion of the fence they re-used the existing t-posts and just hung new wire. We called them on it and they admitted to not meeting specs and we negotiated a reduction in price on the contract.

Fence will be monitored and maintained annually by myself or seasonal staff. We would like to continue with future proposals to replace even more fence as there are still a lot of miles of old fence to be replaced.