The project goal is to improve the overall health of the Parley's Canyon watershed including riparian, stream, wetlands, and upland sites. To accomplish our landscape-scale goal, we have relied on coordination and planning between many stakeholders including landowners, government entities, and non-profit organizations. For over 100 years, the watershed has been degraded do to wildfire suppression, diseases and insect infestations, livestock overgrazing, and noxious weed promulgation. Restoration work is needed to return the watershed to more resilient ecological function. In addition to improving watershed health, the project area serves as an important destination for recreation in the region (e.g., skiing, hiking, fishing, camping, and hunting). A large part of the area's economy is driven by recreation and protecting this watershed will help preserve those sustainable uses. One hundred years of successful fire suppression has resulted in an accumulation of dead fuels on the ground raising the likelihood that in the instance of a wildfire, the effects would be of a catastrophic level. This is concerning for people who live in Lambs Canyon, Summit Park, Jeremy Ranch, Park City, and Mount Aire. The cost associated with property damage could be extreme, not to mention the potential risk to the lives of residents and firefighters. Additionally, the long-term effects from a catastrophic wildfire would have downstream consequences to water users in the Salt Lake Valley, as well as the associated infrastructure costs to reduce erosion, maintain potable water, and make the area safe again for recreators could be prohibitive. Efforts are needed to reduce fuel loads, build fire breaks, and create defensible space. This project will work to address and minimize these threats. Insect infestations from beetles and the non-native insect balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae) in the conifers are of great concern, and the older age class of the watershed makes it more susceptible to these infestations. Removing mature and dying trees will improve the forest's resilience to insect infestations, while also mitigating wildfire risk. The aspen in this watershed are also beginning to die from disease, insect infestations, and are being out-competed by conifer trees. This project will work to improve the health of aspen components by thinning conifers stands, thereby improving wildlife habitat.

The project goal is to improve the watershed health in Parley's Canyon. The project has multiple objectives designed to address all of the Watershed Restoration Initiative's priorities and the Shared Stewardship program. 1. Protect the lives of residents and firefighters from catastrophic wildfire 2. Reduce fire risk to communities and infrastructure and reduce costs of post fire rehabilitation. 3. Improve forest health. 4. Reduce and eradicate noxious weeds from the watershed. 5. Improve fish and wildlife habitat, especially for boreal (western) toad and Bonneville cutthroat trout. 6. Improve water quality and increase water quantity 7. Address threats to species identified in the Wildlife Action Plan. 8. Addresses specific objectives identified in local, state, and federal resource management plans. 9. Increase forage for wildlife and livestock where grazing is possible. 10. Increase and protect recreational opportunities such as skiing, hunting, fishing, and others.

By delaying this project, we risk crossing ecological thresholds that will take millions of dollars and decades for the ecosystem to recover. 1. The project area is one of the most at-risk areas in Utah for catastrophic wildfire that threatens human life and infrastructure. The forest condition is nearing an ecological threshold that makes it highly vulnerable to catastrophic fire. Every year that we do not treat the vegetation in the project area the threat and risk increase. 2. Catastrophic wildfire will damage the water quality in the watershed. The damage to streams (i.e., mudflows and sediment loading) would result in lost aquatic habitat and crucial Bonneville cutthroat populations. The damage to aquatic habitat would be severe, and for the Bonneville cutthroat trout, represent crossing an ecological threshold they could not recover from naturally. Previous efforts made by the Division of Wildlife Resources and sportsman's groups to improve trout habitat and populations are at risk. 3. Many wildlife species rely on healthy forests. The loss of habitat from catastrophic wildfire poses a major threat and risk and may lead to decreases in wildlife populations. While Recovering wildlife habitat under current conditions is difficult, but after a large wildfire would be even more prohibitive. 4. Managing noxious weed species (e.g., garlic mustard and myrtle spurge) before they have reached an ecological threshold and out-compete native vegetation is essential to maintain ecosystem function. Once noxious weeds have reached an ecological threshold, control may be impossible. 5. The threat and risk of post-wildfire debris flows in Parley's Canyon is significant. The cost of debris flows can result in major damage (i.e., millions of dollars) to Interstate 80, other roadways, utility corridor and infrastructure. 6. The streams in the project area are moderately degraded and are becoming more incised and losing riparian vegetation. Once these ecological thresholds are crossed in degraded streams, low-tech-process-based restoration cannot be effectively used to restore ecological function of streams. Healthy streams via riparian buffers often mitigate wildfire threat and risk, and can reduce the threat of a large fire occurring.

This project complies with guidance and addresses objectives outlined in the following management plans: 1. The Boreal Toad (Anaxyrus boreas boreas) Conservation Plan (Utah Division of Wildlife Resources 2005) 3.1 Fire Management. 3.1.1 Protect habitats in forest stands adjacent to and within 2.5 miles of breeding sites. 3.1.2 Restrict burns to late fall through early spring during which time boreal toads are inactive in known occupied areas. 3.1.3 Determine impacts of fire through monitoring of known breeding sites. 3.2 Habitat Fragmentation. 3.2.1 Prevent further habitat fragmentation of breeding populations. 3.2.1.a Identify and preserve dispersal corridors. 3.2.1.b Identify and preserve metapopulation structure. 3.2.2. Restore historic dispersal corridors where possible. 3.2.2.a Identify where migration and gene flow among occupied habitats should be facilitated. 32 3.2.2.b Improve habitat conditions in degraded dispersal corridors where appropriate 3.3.1.c Minimize depletion of boreal toad prey base. 3.3.1.d Minimize degradation of bank conditions. 3.3.1.e Minimize degradation of water quality. 3.3.1.f Minimize depletion of emergent and riparian vegetation. 3.9.2 Minimize habitat loss and degradation associated with water management. 3.9.2.a Minimize stream channelization. 3.9.3 Create, restore, and maintain new habitats through water management. 3.9.3.a Create shallow shoreline margins in new impoundments. 3.9.3.b Deepen impoundments to maintain sufficient water levels through metamorphosis. 3.9.3.c Create new wetlands according to boreal toad breeding habitat requirements. 2. Deer Herd Unit 17a Management Plan 1. Maintain mule deer habitat throughout the unit by protecting and enhancing existing crucial habitats and mitigating for losses due to natural and human impacts. 2. Seek cooperative projects to improve the quality and quantity of deer habitat. 3. Provide improved habitat security and escapement opportunities for deer Future habitat work should be concentrated on the following areas.: 4. Quaking aspen forests unit wide. We will be working in the quaking aspen stands to reduce conifer competition. 5. Anywhere along the front that would avert deer from entering cities. By improving the habitat condition up higher in the canyon we will hopefully keep deer from going down into the city. 3. Wildlife Action Plan 1. Under the threats, data gaps, and action section of the plan it identifies a list of Essential Conservation Actions. It states the need to restore and improve degraded wildlife habitats. species and others. 2. The habitat type that this project is located in as identified in the WAP is the aquatic scrub/shrub type, forested aquatics, and riverine. We will be improving the habitat in this key habitat and addressing the threats to this habitat type. 3. The plan identifies sediment transport imbalance as a medium threat to this habitat type and this project will help to reduce sediment transport by stabilizing the banks with vegetation and rocks. 4.It identifies channel down-cutting as a high threat and this project will help to remove the channels in the stream and make a more subtle gradient. This project will raise the water levels to restore the floodplain and reduce this channel down-cutting. 5. The plan mentions a management strategy that this project addresses to help improve this habitat type through 1.( restoring more natural water and sediment flow regimes) WAP Ch. 7-1; Mountain Riparian Habitat, criteria and score totals (ch. 7-8) 3rd highest priority statewide. Ch. 6-15; Western Toad; threat - 4. Statewide Moose Management Plan 1. Population Management Goal: Achieve optimum populations of moose in all suitable habitat within the state. 2. Habitat Management Goal: Assure sufficient habitat is available to sustain healthy and productive moose populations. 3. Recreation Goal: Provide high-quality opportunities for hunting and viewing of moose. 5. Statewide Mule Deer Management Plan Habitat Objective1: 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. 6. Statewide Elk Managment 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. 7. Salt Lake County Integrated Watershed Management Plan 1. Identifies stream restoration as a priority implementation task Pg. 10 This project through the BDA work will help to achieve this task. 2. It identifies Parley's Creek as a priority watershed. 3. The plan identifies improving habitat as a priority. Pg 80 8. Parleys Creek Management Plan http://www.slcdocs.com/utilities/Stream%20Study%20website/Parleys/Final/7_Projects_Parleys.pdf 1. Pg.15 Goal: Improve Riparian Habitat through Control of Invasive Plant Species and Restoration of Native Plant Communities 2. Action: Initiate invasive plant removal/control efforts in city-owned riparian corridor areas, beginning upstream and working downstream, utilizing an integrated weed control strategy. 9. Snyderville Basin Special Recreation Open Space Management Guidelines 2019 10. Summit Park Forest Stewardship Plan 2018: Manage forest resources in the best interest of forest health, which should minimize losses associated with injurious insects and diseases. Detection and monitoring will be key components in minimizing forest pest impacts. Maintain or enhance wildlife use and habitat. Maintain favorable aesthetics by means of preventing large scale tree mortality. Adhere to the Forest Legacy Deed of Conservation Easement parameters. Actively manage to reduce the control/spread of noxious weeds, found throughout the property. 11. Snyderville Basin Special Recreation Trails Master Plan 2019: (3) Provide and support a diversity of trail experiences: Objective 3C: Beyond the types of trail uses accommodated, consider a variety of user objectives in the planning, design, and construction of new trails. Objectives could include: Nature-viewing, Escape, Solitude, Challenge, Risk, Fun, Play, Exercise, Connectivity, Socializing. (4) Develop a sustainable trail system in an environmentally responsible way: Objective 4A: Secure and budget sufficient, dependable annual maintenance funding for the community-wide trail system. Seek out partnerships with other organizations to share and leverage trail maintenance resources. 12. Summit County Code: 10-4-3: Critical Lands, 10-4-7 (A): Fire Protection Fuel Breaks/Vegetation Manipulation: Hazardous fuels in the form of native vegetation will be cleared around structures and around the perimeter of the development to assist in wildfire prevention measures. This fuel break is not intended as a complete vegetation clearing firebreak. 13. Summit County Snyderville Basin General Plan: Goals: (1) Preservation of open space, view corridors and scenic mountainsides, (2) preservation of Critical Lands (as defined in Section 10-4-3 of the Code) natural resources and the environment, including clean air and water. Community Vision: (1) Open Space, (2) Recreation, (4) Wildlife, (6) Critical Land Protection, (7) Water Conservation and (11) Natural Resource Preservation. Policy 5.22: Wildfire Management. Policy 5.23: Wildlife 14. Utah Administrative Code R68-9 (Utah's Noxious Weed Act): Utah Noxious Weed Act and the Summit County Code, Title 4, Chapter 4. The Act states that local governments are directed to take the necessary steps to manage the noxious weeds within their jurisdiction and provides specific authorization for local enforcement. 15. Utah Forest Action Plan 2016: Distribute materials to community members, individual landowners, public officials, interagency partners and media for further dissemination and outreach. Increase participation in state and national programs including Utah Living with Fire, Ready, Set, Go!, Firewise USA and Fire-Adaptive Communities. Use all available management tools, including forest industry, to restore and maintain healthy ecosystems. 16. Treatments lie within Central Region UPCD/UWRI focus areas. 17. UDWR Strategic Management Plan Objective R2 Maintain existing wildlife habitat and increase the quality of critical habitats and watersheds throughout the state. Objective R4 Decrease risks to species and their habitats through integrated implementation of the WAP, Objective C6 Increase hunting and fishing opportunities 18. Utah Shared Stewardship Agreement (May 2019) - Project is within Shared Stewardship priority areas. We have applied for Shared Stewardship as well and working with USFS and FFSL to do this. Meets objectives to reduce hazardous fuels. Forest Wide Goal Wasatch Cache NF 1. Watershed Health Maintain and/or restore overall watershed health (proper functioning of physical, biological and chemical conditions). Provide for long-term soil productivity. Watershed health should be addressed across administrative and political boundaries. Sub Goal's 2b, 2i. Objective to Desired condition 3.b, 3.c. 2. Biodiversity & Viability Provide for sustained diversity of species at the genetic, populations, community and ecosystem levels. Maintain communities within their historic range of variation that sustains habitats for viable populations of species. Restore or maintain hydrologic functions. Reduce potential for uncharacteristic high-intensity wildfires, and insect epidemics. To achieve sustainable ecosystems, meet properly functioning condition (PFC) criteria for all vegetation types that occur in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. Focus on approximating natural disturbances and processes by restoring composition, age class diversity, patch sizes, and patterns for all vegetation types. Sub Goal's 3.d, 3e, 3n, 3s. Objective to Desired condition 3.b, 3.c. 3. Fire and Fuels Management Wildland fire use and prescribed fire provide for ecosystem maintenance and restoration consistent with land uses and historic fire regimes. Fire suppression provides for public and firefighter safety and protection of other federal, state and private property and natural resources. Fuels are managed to reduce risk of property damage and uncharacteristic fires. Sub Goal's 4a,4d. Objective to Desired Condition 4.a.

The combination of an essential watershed, high recreation use, and a high to extreme wildfire risk rating according to UWRAP designated Parley's Canyon a priority area for WRI and the Shared Stewardship program. In these high priority areas, fire has been suppressed to such a degree, the resulting stand dynamics is dominated by disease and insect infestation full of dead and down and dying conifers that are prone to catastrophic wildfires This is extremely concerning for people who live in communities in Lambs Canyon, Summit Park, Jeremy Ranch, Park City, and Mount Aire. Interstate 80 along with a major utility corridor provide access to and from Salt Lake City and coincides with the northern boundary of the project. Billions of dollars in commerce, infrastructure, and private property damage could occur. In the instance of a wildfire, both public and firefighter lives would be at risk. This project will begin the process of thinning the forest and reducing the fuel loads in order to reduce the fire danger and make it safer for fire fighters, communities and commerce to occur or pass through the project area. This project will also pave the way for future fire risk reduction efforts including possibly controlled burns through the USFS. The BDAs and stream restoration will also help increase riparian wet areas and green vegetation which will act as green strips or fire breaks to slow and stop catastrophic fire spread.

The project area is of high value and a priority for funding within WRI and Shared Stewardship given its location within Salt Lake City's protected watershed, which provides drinking water to millions of people and feeds into the Parley's Water Treatment Facility. Parley's Creek is an impaired water (303d List Cause of Impairment e.Coli and is of high recreational value). The importance of the watershed to so many users makes this project high value. Protecting the quality and quantity of water resources has both instream benefit as well as downstream benefit to millions of users. Forest management (e.g., thinning conifers) will reduce wildfire risk. Wildfires would cause soil erosion and debris flows that would degrade water quality. This would be extremely detrimental to the water quality for millions of users in Salt Lake City. Using low-tech, process-based restoration to improve stream health will capture sediment and improve water quality. Healthy streams also store more water in the watershed longer and increase the quantity of water throughout the year. Improvements due to forest thinning: Toll Canyon Creek and the greater Summit Park area all drain into the East Canyon Creek (Weber watershed). There is evidence that healthy riparian corridors can serve to halt the spread of wildfires. In-tact, healthy riparian corridors are more resilient to wildfires because riparian vegetation such as willows and cottonwoods thrive after disturbance. In-tact root systems in riparian corridors stabilize streambanks and are more resilient to flooding (i.e., down-cutting and incision), if and when post-fire rains erode into waterways. Conversely, degraded riparian corridors are not resilient to wildfire; they will require extensive efforts to restore vegetation and hydrologic function (i.e., deep incision and down-cutting). Riparian habitats can be resilient to wildfire and generally do not require extensive restoration (Halofsky and Hibbs 2009). A dense stand of degraded vegetation along a streambank could result in high fire severity burning, severely impacting the ability for natural recovery.

The first phase of this project funded the cultural surveys on USFS lands and supported compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). All NEPA requirements were completed on 03/2021. We will acquire individual stream alteration permits (PGP010) and any necessary municipal permit requirements for each low-tech process based stream restoration implementation.

Forest Management The project includes cut, pile, and burning of dead or dying conifer in strategic areas that have been impacted by infestation and disease, mostly targeting species in areas of high use or travel corridors. Most of these activities will be done on USFS lands, starting in Lambs Canyon, in order to create defensible space and increase ingress and egress to and from the area. FFSL, USFS, and contractors will cut and chip along the access road in Lambs Canyon and within the neighborhood of Summit Park. In the Snyderville Basin recreation area above Summit Park work will continue from the previous years to cut, pile, and chip the remaining acres with contractors. At the mouth of Lambs Canyon and along the highway in Parley's Canyon oakbrush will be masticated to reduce fire risk to or from USFS lands. cultural surveys will continue on the SLC Corp. and SBRD lands for future mastication work of oakbrush. Weed Control Best management practices for garlic mustard include an integrated pest management strategy of both chemical and manual control, combined with active monitoring, and persistent surveillance. Plants are self-pollinating and germinate throughout the growing season, therefore requiring constant monitoring and at least two chemical applications per season, with manual control of bolted flowering plants prior to seeding. Chemical applications to rosettes include a mix of metsulfuron and 2,4-D, and should be applied in both the spring and fall. Best management practices for myrtle spurge include both manual removal and chemical control in the early spring prior to seed dispersal. In areas where plants are growing on steep slopes and where manual removal could increase erosion, chemical control is preferred using a mix of 2,4-D and dicamba with a surfactant. If the plants can be removed manually with limited disturbance to soils, best management practices include removing at least four inches of the root with care not to get the sap in the eyes or on skin. Manual removal will be a preferred form of management, given that myrtle spurge if often found growing under, around, and interspersed with scrub oak and other native plants. Additionally, removal of burdock from Lambs Canyon will be a goal, and will be performed with contractors to spray with herbicide. Low-tech, Process-based Stream Restoration Low-tech structures (i.e., beaver dam analogs and post-assisted log-structures) will be constructed using the methods described in Low-tech, Process-based Restoration of Riverscapes (Wheaton et al. 2019). Untreated wooden fence posts approximately 3-4" in diameter will be used in construction. Posts will be driven into the stream bed with a gas or hydraulic post pounder. The posts will extend approximately one meter above the channel bed and be spaced approximately 0.5 - 0.8 meters apart, and driven to a depth of approximately one meter into the streambed. Then, native vegetation, rocks, and mud will be weaved between the posts to create a structure that will resemble a beaver dam. The structure will slow water flow, but allow fish to pass through. The structures will be placed 10-30 meters apart within the stream reaches. After a year the health of the stream will be evaluated, and future actions can be planned. Additionally, willows or other native plants may be planted at the restoration sites to improve the establishment of riparian vegetation.

The project will be monitored for success in the short and long term and will be reported back to WRI. Forest health monitoring will consist of repeat photography at designated points and the use of vegetation plots to determine stand density and species composition. Each vegetation plot will estimate both over-story and under-story vegetation change for percent cover, stand density and species richness. Monitoring will occur before treatment, both one-year and five years after treatment. Stream Restoration: Effectiveness of stream restoration (e.g., BDAs) will be monitored using the Rapid Stream-Riparian Assessment (RSRA) survey. The RSRA generates a score for water quality, hydrogeomorphology, fish and aquatic habitat, riparian vegetation, and terrestrial wildlife habitat. This method was selected because it is both a time and cost-efficient means to monitor restoration projects. Salt Lake County is committed to collecting long-term water quality data in Lambs Canyon. We will compare pre-treatment data to post-treatment. BDA monitoring Pre and post- restoration Rapid Stream-Riparian Assessment (RSRA) monitoring survey has already been conducted on 15 streams across Utah, including five sites with two or more years of post-restoration monitoring. This data shows how the system has changed over two years following BDA implementation. In 2020, we began monitoring of bats prior to installation of beaver dam analogs (BDAs) and will continue this monitoring this year to monitor whether BDAs improve the area for bats, including Little Brown Myotis (Myotis lucifigus), a SCGN in the 2015-2025 Wildlife Action Plan. monitor for bats continues and follows the protocol for the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat), which uses stationary acoustic devices, and potential mist-netting to detect bat activity. We plan to set acoustic monitoring equipment at sites were BDAs were installed in 2020 as well as sites where new BDAs are planned for installation, to try to determine if bat activity differs between sites. Data collected from the grid encompassing the project area will also be included in the nationwide NABat program. Monitoring actions for garlic mustard include an integrated pest management strategy of both chemical and manual control, combined with active monitoring, and persistent surveillance. Plants are self-pollinating and germinate throughout the growing season, therefore require constant monitoring and at least two chemical applications per season. The East Canyon Watershed Committee and the Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District (SBWRD) has been collecting stream flow and temperature data with five U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gages over the past 18 years and have compiled a large volume of baseline data. This has been supplemented by efforts from the Utah Division of Water Quality and Trout Unlimited to collect additional stream temperature data. Unfortunately, the costs of maintaining the USGS gaging stations continue to increase. This project proposes to support the continued collection of this important data by developing a 10-year agreement with SBWRD and WRI. TU will continue to collect supplemental stream temperature data, and is in the process of conducting an analysis of this data to develop priority water conservation actions. Amphibian Monitoring To assess conditions for boreal toads, we will do pre- and post-project aquatic habitat surveys based on Utah's standardized field protocol. The data will be included in the long-term dataset managed by Sageland Collaborative, Hogle Zoo, and Utah Geologic Survey. Based on results, boreal toad re-introduction sites will be selected and prioritized. Utah's Hogle Zoo and Sageland Collaborative will coordinate with regional biologists to prioritize survey locations for breeding boreal toads in and around Parley's Canyon to increase understanding regarding habitat conditions, how they may be improving, and potential surrounding areas that may be considered as part of the meta-population connected to Parleys Canyon. These efforts are necessary to the eventual planning for possible repatriation of toads in Parley's Canyon in the future. Historic toad locations, regional biologist recommendations, and analysis of existing GIS layers indicating potentially suitable breeding habitat conditions will be used to prioritize survey locations around the Parley's Canyon project area. Recommended survey locations will be separated by no more than seven kilometers from the project area (and less than five kilometers in areas of steeper terrain). Biologically relevant boundaries to surveys will be based on the existing boreal toad migration limits in the scientific literature. Newly prioritized survey locations will be added to Sageland Collaborative's community science field visit calendar if the locations are appropriate for engaging the community where others may be surveyed by Sageland Collaborative biologists and interns. Additionally, Sageland Collaborative will be conducting amphibian aquatic habitat assessments of potential boreal toad breeding habitats adjacent to the 2020 beaver dam analog installation sites. Citizen Science Monitoring for Future Treatments Sageland Collaborative will work with the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest to develop a community science supported data gathering project to monitor pre- and post-fire/fuels treatments in the Central Wasatch area, as work extends to canyons beyond Parley's. Together, we will develop a monitoring strategy for FY24 based on standardized data gathering regarding aspen stand conditions, pre- and post-treatment fuel loading and other potential field methods based on USFS aspen, watershed, and habitat conditions and fire resilience assessment needs. In FY23, Sageland Collaborative will produce a community science engagement strategy document for USFS to review, a schedule for engagement of the community scientists in data gathering efforts, and training materials and presentations necessary for project implementation in FY24.

UDWR Habitat Restoration Biologist, Robby Edgel, has been coordinating efforts between multiple landowners and interest groups in Parley's Canyon to bring a landscape scale watershed restoration project. USFS, Bekee Hotze (Salt Lake District Ranger), Guy Wilson (USFS), Scott Frost (USFS) and Brian Trick (Wasatch Front Area Manager) from FFSL, Dax Reid (FFSL), Robert Sanders (FFSL), and Scott Zeidler (FFSL), have been involved in planning the Shared Stewardship/Forest Health aspects of the project on USFS lands in Parley's Canyon. They have been instrumental in educating the public and planning the work to be done in the canyon. They also have been heavily involved in collaboration on the project proposal to apply for funds through WRI and the Shared Stewardship program. Jessica Kirby (former Open Space Management Supervisor for Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District, currently Public Lands Manager for Summit County) has been the lead in planning all the work around Summit Park, Pinebrook and gaining public support and funding from the County. Through her efforts Summit County has become a significant partner and has already contributed over $450,000 to this project. She has been working with agency partners to plan fuel treatments around Summit Park. She also has been partnering with Trout Unlimited and Sageland Collaborative to plan BDA work in Toll Canyon and East Canyon. She has also gained funding through the NRCS to do work. Rose Smith and Mary Pendergast from Sageland Collaborative are partnering on this project to help with the monitoring of stream health and amphibian species. As well as helping to get volunteer labor to build BDAs and help manage contractors. They are extremely supportive of this work and are helpful in gaining public support. And they have helped us coordinate working Marshall Wolf and Rhea Cone with USU and the Swaner preserve to do BDAs in East Canyon and Kimball Creek. In addition, Sageland Collaborative will partner with the FS to develop a monitoring strategy for future fire/fuels treatments in the Central Wasatch area beyond Parley's Canyon that may be implemented in FY24. Patrick Nelson from Salt Lake City Utilities/Watershed Management has been a collaborator and as landowners in the canyon and owner of water rights SLC is also very supportive of our efforts to do work in the canyon. Bob Thompson, the Salt Lake County Watershed Manager has been contacted as well about this project and is very supportive of it and will continue to be a partner in helping to monitor water quality and in developing the project moving forward. Sage Fitch, the Salt Lake County Bee and Noxious Weeds Program Manager has been involved in planning the weed control aspects of the project for garlic mustard and myrtle spurge. UDOT, SLC open lands, and the BLM have also been contacted about doing weed control on their lands and they are supportive. The community of Forest Home owns about 640 acres in Lambs Canyon. They are extremely supportive of our efforts and have written Bill Stocksdale has written a letter of support that is attached. Letters of support for the multi-year project include: * Utah Division of Wildlife Resources -- Robert Edgel * Summit County -- Tom Fisher and Glenn Wright * Summit County Fire Warden -- Bryce Boyer * Melissa Early -- Weber River Watershed Committee and Utah Department Agriculture * Sageland Collaborative --Rose Smith and Mary Pendergast * Trout Unlimited -- Paul Burnett * Summit Park Home Owners Association * Pinebrook Masters Association and Home Owners Association * Utah State University Extension -- Darren McAvoy * U.S. Forest Service - Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest

This project is part of a multi-year effort to improve watershed health. We will continue to monitor the outcomes of this project in the long-term to evaluate results and inform future management. We will continue to monitor Noxious Weeds, insect infestations, and the success of stream restoration efforts to reach objectives and will make any future repairs or adjustments as needed to ensure their success. The Forest Service will follow the understory treatments with an overstory treatment of dead and dying conifers, once piles from the understory treatments are burned. The Forest Service is also building future areas of lop and scatter work. USFS will continue to work with the UDWR to build upon these improvements to benefit the habitat and reduce fire intensity in this area. There may be further work to introduce boreal toads as well as other native species in future initiatives depending on the results of surveys and the overall effectiveness of planned actions.

This project will improve many sustainable uses of the area. As outlined in the description of what sustainable uses are it identifies recreation as a sustainable use. This project will greatly benefit recreational uses such as hunting and fishing by increasing opportunity for these activities. It will also benefit the experience that mountain bikers, hikers, snowshoers, cross country and downhill skiers will have by ensuring its resiliency to fire, infestation and disease. The overall experience will be improved beyond it simply remaining accessible. There will be an increase in forage availability by reducing the canopy cover and allowing more light to enter the forest floor. Additionally, BDAs will increase forage and disperse water. This project will also combat garlic mustard from spreading and reducing forage quality. This will largely be a grazing benefit for wildlife since most of the project area is in a protected watershed where livestock grazing is not allowed. There are, however, areas near Swaner Preserve and East Canyon Creek where is livestock grazing activities occur. Also, there is grazing allowed by goats in SBRD to reduce fuels near Summit Park. This project has complete NEPA that will be helpful in allowing for timber harvest in the future or other biomass utilization. Parley's Canyon and the surrounding ski resorts are important recreation areas, from skiing, hiking, fishing, camping, golfing, to hunting given its proximity to Salt Lake City. The extended archery hunt is extremely popular in this area and hundreds of hunters are able to have quality hunting experiences. Bonneville cutthroat are found in these waters and this project will help improve angler opportunity. Hogle Zoo has expressed interest in using this project to help educate the public and this will provide an increased opportunity for wildlife viewing. A large part of Utah's economy is driven by this recreation, and protecting this watershed will help preserve those sustainable uses and continue to support the economy.

09/08/2022

07/08/2023

2024

Forest Health Management 1. This project included the cut, pile, and burning of dead or dying conifer in strategic areas that have been impacted by infestation and disease, by targeting species in areas of high use or travel corridors. We started this cut and pile work in the fall of 2022 and had to finish in the spring of 2023 because of early snow. We completed 158 acres of cut and pile in Lambs and Mill Creek canyons (See map). 2. Snyderville Basin Recreation District completed some pile burning from previous years' work above Summit Park during the winter of 2022-2023. 3. DWR/USFS/and SLC Utilities worked together to plan and contract mastication work of oakbrush along I-80 in Parley's Canyon. This was a very visible project to the public and we worked hard to provide outreach by doing media events and placing informational signs up along the highway and at parking lots. We ended up masticating the oak brush in a mosaic pattern to create a shading effect to hopefully slow the re-growth. We also sprayed a combination of roundup and ammonium nitrate on freshly cut oak brush stumps on several areas on SLC properties to suppress and help reduce the re-growth of oak brush. Mastication began in October of 2022 and was shut down for snow in late November. Work started back up in May of 2023 and was completed by early June of 2023. We masticated a total of 654 acres. 390 acres on SLC-owned lands and 264 acres on USFS lands. FFSL, USFS, and contractors completed a cut and chip along the access road in Lambs Canyon and within the neighborhood of Summit Park. In the Snyderville Basin recreation area (above Summit Park), work has continued from previous years to cut, pile, and chip the remaining acres with contractors. 4. In April and May of 2023 we contracted a spray crew to spray 138 acres of myrtle spurge. We used a mixture of 6 oz per gallon of roundup pro, .1 oz of telar, and .1 oz per gallon of LI 700 surfactant. We found that with the higher rate of 6 oz of roundup that we were being more effective at killing the myrtle spurge. 5. In the fall of 2022 we built BDAs in Mcleod Creek and in upper Parley's Creek. (See map for areas where we built BDAs) 6. Amphibian surveys and other monitoring of stream health was completed by Kayleigh Mullen at Hogle Zoo and Mary Pendergast at the Sageland Collaborative. No boreal toads have been detected at our restoration sites. We hope to conitnue to monitor in the future as we continue to improve the riparian habitat and hopefully we will see more amphibian species. (See documents for reports) 7. The Pinebrook HOA contracted work to be done to burn 14 acres of old piles and they used the Lone Peak Hot shot crew to cut and chip 62 acres in Spring of 2023. 8. Snyderville basin burned old piles on 131 acres surrounding Summit Park community in the winter of 2022.

The project goal was to improve the overall health of the Parley's Canyon watershed including riparian, stream, wetlands, and upland sites. To accomplish our landscape-scale goal, we relied on coordination and planning between many stakeholders including landowners, government entities, and non-profit organizations. For over 100 years, the watershed has been degraded due to wildfire suppression, diseases and insect infestations, livestock overgrazing, and noxious weed promulgation. Restoration work was needed to return the watershed to a resilient ecological function. In addition to improving watershed health, the project area serves as an important destination for recreation in the region (e.g., skiing, hiking, fishing, camping, and hunting). A large part of the area's economy is driven by recreation and protecting this watershed will help preserve those sustainable uses. One hundred years of successful fire suppression has resulted in an accumulation of dead fuels on the ground, raising the likelihood that in the instance of a wildfire, the effects would be of a catastrophic level. This is concerning for people who live in Lambs Canyon, Summit Park, Jeremy Ranch, Park City, and Mount Aire. The cost associated with property damage could be extreme, not to mention the potential risk to the lives of residents and firefighters. Additionally, the long-term effects from a catastrophic wildfire would have downstream consequences to water users in the Salt Lake Valley, as well as the associated infrastructure costs to reduce erosion, maintain potable water, and make the area safe again for recreators could be prohibitive. This project minimized threats by reducing the fuel loads, building fire breaks, and creating defensible space. Insect infestations from beetles and the non-native insect balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae) in the conifers are of great concern, and the older age class of the watershed makes it more susceptible to these infestations. By removing mature and dying trees, this improved the forest's resilience to insect infestations, while also mitigating wildfire risk. The aspen in this watershed are also beginning to die from disease, insect infestations, and are being outcompeted by conifer trees. The completion of this project imroved the health of aspen components by thinning conifers stands, thereby improving wildlife habitat.

This project is part of a multi-year effort to improve watershed health. We will continue to monitor the outcomes of this project in the long-term to evaluate results and inform future management. We will continue to monitor Noxious Weeds, insect infestations, and the success of stream restoration efforts to reach objectives and will make any future repairs or adjustments as needed to ensure their success. The Forest Service will follow the understory treatments with an overstory treatment of dead and dying conifers, once piles from the understory treatments are burned. The Forest Service is also building future areas of lop and scatter work. USFS will continue to work with the UDWR to build upon these improvements to benefit the habitat and reduce fire intensity in this area. There may be further work to introduce boreal toads as well as other native species in future initiatives depending on the results of surveys and the overall effectiveness of planned actions.