The Stansbury Mountain range is located in the west desert of Utah. This desert mountain range is home to some of Utah's most prized wildlife species, such as bighorn sheep. You can see movements of bighorn sheep, mule deer, and other wildlife within the project area that I have included in the Images/Documents section, under photos and videos. The bighorn sheep populations on the Stansbury's are reintroduced and are very fragile; we need to do all we can to ensure that they can survive through drought years and have plenty of habitat to be able to expand their population numbers. This project will build artificial water sources (guzzlers and BDAs), which will help increase the amount of water available to bighorn sheep and other big game and wildlife species longer into the dry periods of the year. Guzzlers and BDAs are important to build in areas like the Stansbury's where water is a limited resource. Because of increasing drought, groundwater wells, diversion pipelines, feral horses, and many other demands for water on this mountain, there has been an artificial or man-caused reduction in the available water that would naturally be located on this mountain. Therefore, it is necessary and reasonable for us to also intervene to install artificial water sources to help offset the artificial or man-caused depletion of water that would have historically occurred here. We are proposing to install guzzlers that will capture and store precipitation during the wet months so that there is still water available on the landscape during the dry months. We will place these guzzlers strategically in locations where they will have the most benefit to wildlife. BDAs are another tool that we can use to increase the availability of water during the driest times of the year. BDAs are essentially man-made beaver dams. Beavers historically would have been located in almost every stream in Utah and would have definitely been located on every stream in the Stansbury Mountains. During the early 1800s, there was high demand for beaver pelts, and the Stansbury mountains, being on the direct trade routes from east to west would have likely been an easy place to trap and transport pelts to market. Because of over trapping, beavers were extirpated from this mountain range and many others across America. Once beavers were extirpated from this mountain range and their beaver dams eroded through time, the benefits that their dams would play to the ecosystem would have disappeared and major erosion, flooding, and loss of water would have followed. Beaver dams and their ponds provide miniature reservoirs to store water when it is abundant (winter months) and help to recharge or fill up the underground aquifers and soil. During spring runoff these dams and ponds help to slow the speed that water flows down the mountain and thus reduces the eroding power of high flowing water, which improves the water quality and also protects the soil. By stopping this erosion it reduces channel incisions and allows for more vegetation to grow along the stream banks and provide food for wildlife. Also, by slowing the water down and keeping if from just running down the mountain in the first few weeks of summer, it allows for water to be in the mountains all through the driest months of the year so that livestock and wildlife can access it. By slowing the flow down the mountain it also helps ranchers, farmers, homeowners, and other water users who live down in the valley by extending the time that they have water later into the summer. Without beavers, the water that comes rushing down in the spring hits farmers' and ranchers' land and they either have to use it or lose it. They can only use so much and a lot of water just runs on by and drops down into the ground. To address this problem we humans have spent billions of dollars building massive reservoirs that are a high cost to maintain. These reservoirs also have a much higher surface to depth ratio than beaver ponds and usually don't have any vegetation nearby to shade from the sun, this causes greater evaporation loss on these reservoirs than a small beaver pond. Instead of building more large reservoirs we should take a lesson from nature and restore the natural water storage processes that beavers would play on the landscape. By utilizing man-made beaver dams or restoring beavers we can more effectively store water. By slowing the flow down the mountain it means that water users will have a more steady flow of water later into the summer than they would have otherwise. This can be crucial for both people and wildlife. Until we can restore beavers to the Stansbury mountains we are proposing to build man-made beaver dams (BDAs) to begin to slow that water down as a beaver dam would do. BDAs or beavers don't take water from the watershed they simply extend its availability, improve its quality, and transform its destructive energy into a productive force of creating stream habitat diversity. Water will be more accessible to plants, insects, fish, amphibians, birds, big game, livestock, etc. as well as humans downstream. The BDAs we are proposing will provide great benefits for bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, and maybe even make it possible to reintroduce moose someday. The BDAs will make it so we can reintroduce Bonneville cutthroat trout to streams that would not be able to sustain fish life without them. We may be also able to reintroduce species of Columbia spotted frog or boreal toads. On the west side of the mountain, we have had multiple wildfires that have completely taken out all of the shrub species and replaced them with invasive cheatgrass or other no native competitive grass species. There is also the construction of a large solar farm which has taken out hundreds of acres of crucial shrub habitat. These events have caused us to cross ecological thresholds that depend on human intervention to restore or mitigate for. To restore the shrub component we are proposing to plant sagebrush seed and seedlings adjacent to the solar farm and in areas that have burned. Shrub species are an important part of bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, jackrabbit, and cottontail diets, especially in the winter months. By restoring shrubs we will in turn increase lagomorph and rodent populations which are an important food source for golden eagles and other raptors that nest in this area. We have seen golden eagles struggling to provide enough food for their chicks to survive, and nesting failures, which is likely attributed to the loss of shrubs and golden eagle prey. Golden eagles and many other raptor species are threatened by many things from disease, habitat loss, wildfire, led poisoning, vehicle collisions, powerlines, and other human-caused impacts. Because of these threats, there is a need to do projects like this to offset these threats to benefit golden eagles and other raptor populations. The next portion of this project is to push back encroaching pinyon and juniper (PJ) from areas that should be largely shrub or grassland-dominated. Pinyon and juniper (PJ) encroachment is another example of how humans have messed up the ecosystem and where mother nature can't fix the problem on her own, at least within a reasonable time. We have put wildfires out over the past 100 years which would naturally have helped keep late seral species like PJ from spreading and taking over early seral species like grasses and shrubs. PJ outcompetes these other vegetation types and without wildfire to reset the clock, they would take over the entire landscape and create nothing but a monoculture of PJ. Fortunately, here in Utah we have been actively cutting back this encroaching PJ. We utilize the experetise of multiple biologists through the WRI program to identify the most appropriate locations to remove this PJ. On this project the USFS specialists and UDWR biologists have collaborated with many other partners to identify where we need to remove PJ from on the Stansbury's to restore it to a more healhty and balanced system. BY doing this project to remove PJ we will help prevent us from further crossing an ecological threshold towards a complete loss of plant, insect, bird, and mammal species within this area. The invasion of pinyon-junipers, if left unchecked, will limit resources (water, light, and nutrients) available to understory vegetation. As resources become limited, the result is a loss of understory vegetation, an increase in soil loss through soil erosion, and degradation of bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, and other wildlife habitat. In addition, pinyon pine and juniper encroachment are affecting the fire regime condition class in sage-steppe and grassland habitats. As fuel densities increase and the landscape changes from sage-steppe and grassland system to juniper-dominated vegetation, there will be an increase in the intensity/severity of a wildland fire should ignition occur. This increased fire severity could lead to an additional loss of crucial shrub species that provide food for big game in the winter. This projects' plan to reduce PJ will improve the fire regime condition class by reducing the impact of wildland fire caused by encroaching PJ and reduce the threats to the ecosystem, the watershed, and even human life and property. In conclusion, there are many negative impacts that humans have had on our ecosystems. These impacts are very evident in the Stansbury Mountain range. Because of the high value, the Stansbury mountains provide to wildlife and to humans and because of the great risk to cross ecological thresholds we ask that this project be funded this year.

The purpose of this project is to achieve the following objectives: 1. Increase the amount and availability of water to both wildlife, livestock, and humans. 2. Improve water quality by reducing erosive processes. 3. Increase big game and other fish and wildlife populations by improving habitat conditions. 4. Conduct projects that will prevent the ecosystem of the Stansbury mountains from further crossing ecological thresholds. 5. Achieve objectives that are outlined in natural resource management plans, such as increasing big game populations through habitat improvements. 6. Reduce fire risks that may further damage habitat quality, infrastructure, and threaten life and property, 7. Capitalize on previous investments made by the WRI program to conduct cultural surveys and NEPA by completing the projects that permitting and NEPA were done for. 8. Partner with multiple agencies and landowners to do a landscape-scale project that will have actual benefits to the watershed. 9. Protect sustainable uses of the land, such as livestock grazing and hunting, by ensuring that the watershed and wildlife populations are healthy.

The invasion of pinyon and juniper trees into areas once dominated by grass, forbs and shrubs increases the risk of losing key areas for wildlife habitat and increases the risk of catastrophic wildfires in the project area. Removal of the juniper will reduce the intensities of wildfire by increasing growing space for sagebrush, grass and forbs. The reduced fire intensities and impacts of wildfire to the landscape will improve the soils and the future management of natural ignited fires. If it continues to move toward Phase 3 and the remaining understory is lost, the results will be devastating to the deer herd. It will be more likely that animals will not survive the winter and population numbers will decline. Livestock grazing is also an important part of the livelihood of residents of this watershed. These threats reduce the quality of the range for livestock grazing.

This project will address the following objectives and strategies in the following management plans. 1) Wasatch-Cache National Forest Plan - Meets riparian, fuels, wildlife and rangeland management objectives 2) Utah Shared Stewardship Agreement (May 2019) - Meets the Agreement parameters for working across multiple ownerships including State, Private and Federal lands. 3) Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership Strategy - Meets NRCS and US Forest Service management direction for conducting landscape restoration activities across federal and private lands. 4) RANGE-WIDE CONSERVATION AGREEMENT AND STRATEGY FOR BONNEVILLE CUTTHROAT TROUT (Oncorhynchus clarki utah). Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Publication Number 00-19, Salt Lake City, UT. -The West Desert BCT GMU is considered the most imperiled of the 4 BCT GMU's due to limited habitat availability. Any opportunity to expand BCT populations within this eco-region are encouraged. North and South Willow Creek are currently holding populations or brown trout and rainbow trout, respectively, once habitat is improved in these systems and threats are reduced, BCT will be reintroduced. 5) Mule Deer Unit 18 Mgt Plan Objectives/Strategies: a) Reduce expansion of Pinyon-Juniper woodlands into sagebrush habitats and improve habitats dominated by Pinyon-Juniper woodlands by completing habitat restoration projects like lop & scatter, bullhog and chaining. b) Condition of winter ranges is a long-term problem. c) Fire and encroachment by pinyon and juniper trees results in the loss of forage production, diversity and quality. d) Cooperate with federal land management agencies and private landowners in carrying out habitat improvement projects. e) The primary concern on the studies within the subunit is the abundance of weedy annual grass species (cheatgrass), particularly on the lower elevation sites. This plan addresses the condition of winter range in the project area by dealing with PJ expansion, condition of winter range by planting browse species, reducing fuel loads, coordinating with Federal land management agencies, and mitigating weedy annual grass species. 6) Utah DWR Statewide Management Plan for Mule Deer Objectives/Strategies: a) Programs that provide incentives to private landowners to manage their properties for mule deer and other wildlife are critical to the success of the state's deer management program. b) Conserve, improve, and restore mule deer habitat throughout the state with emphasis on crucial ranges. c) Maintain mule deer habitat throughout the state by protecting and enhancing existing crucial habitats and mitigating for losses due to natural and human impacts. d) Work with local, state and federal land management agencies via land management plans and with private landowners to identify and properly manage crucial mule deer habitats, especially fawning, wintering and migration areas. e) Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 500,000 acres of crucial range by 2019. f) Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat with emphasis on drought or fire damaged sagebrush winter ranges, ranges that have been taken over by invasive annual grass species, and ranges being diminished by encroachment of conifers into sagebrush or aspen habitats, ensuring that seed mixes contain sufficient forbs and browse species. g) Continue to support and provide leadership for the Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative, which emphasizes improving sagebrush-steppe, aspen, and riparian habitats throughout Utah. This plan addresses improving and restoring Mule deer habitat, by working in cooperation with partners, mitigating invasive annual species, ensuring that seed mixes contain sufficient forbs, and browse species, and improving sagebrush-steppe. 7) Utah Wildlife Action Plan: a) Mountain Shrub (page 53) project addresses key threats (pg 55) to this habitat; * Continuing the use of appropriate methods for reducing the spread and dominance of invasive weeds and annual grasses, including "early detection -- rapid response" programs. * Continuing the development of new plant materials (especially native forbs) and restoration techniques suited to this habitat. b) We will also be improving the Aquatic Forested habitat types (pg57) Promoting policies that maintain or restore natural water and sediment flow regimes. * Promoting policies that reduce inappropriate grazing by domestic livestock and wildlife. * Promoting policies that reduce inappropriate siting of roads in riparian zones. * Continuing the use of appropriate methods for reducing the spread and dominance of invasive weeds, including "early detection -- rapid response" programs. c) Aquatic Scrub/Shrub (pg59) project addresses key threats to these habitats (pg 58 and 60) Promoting policies that maintain or restore natural water and sediment flow regimes. Promoting policies that reduce inappropriate siting of roads in riparian zones. Continuing the use of appropriate methods for reducing the spread and dominance of invasive weeds, including "early detection -- rapid response" programs.

This project will address the risk of catastrophic fire. This is a primary concern for all partners involved in this project and is one of the primary focuses of the USFS in their participation with this project. The project area is located in high and very high threat level on the fire threat index. The city of Grantsville is located just to the north of our treatments and this project will help reduce the threat to this community as well as protect their valuable waters systems. The encroachment of juniper elevated the fuels loading to a level that will lead to a catastrophic fire if not addressed. The vegetation treatments in this proposal will lower that risk significantly and help protect critical habitat for big game and ensure intact rangelands for long-term sustainability and productivity for State and Federal livestock permit holders. By doing the shrub restoration work we will maintain healthy stands of shrubs and native plants to prevent annual grasses from establishing that can increase the fuel load and dryness of plants that increase fire risk. We will be planting forbs as well that will serve as strips of greener vegetation that will also help reduce fire spread. The BDA work will help expand the flood plain and areas of greener riparian vegetation. It has been shown in other places that streams with beavers dams have been able to slow or stop the spread of fire and create refuges for wildlife to escape.

The quality and quantity of water within a watershed dominated by juniper can be significantly reduced by this species. Riparian areas and mesic meadows are important habitat features for wildlife and livestock distribution through the watersheds dominated by juniper. Removal of juniper will improve ground water supply and increase soil moisture resulting in improved sustainability and distribution of aquatic and riparian habitats associated with streams, wetlands, springs, seeps, and mesic meadows. BDAs will further support riparian ecosystems by promoting connectivity between Davenport Creek and adjacent mesic soils. By having a healthy diversity of age class shrubs it will prevent a mono-culture of old decadent plants which can die off and result in invasion of weedy plants such as cheatgrass. Cheatgrass will absorb all of the available water and decrease the plant diversity. By doing this project there will be more available water for native understory plants to increase diversity. This will also help prevent cheatgrass from establishing and creating an unnatural fire regime that will result in greater increases in erosion and sedimentation that will reduce water quality. This project will build artificial water sources (guzzlers and BDAs), which will help increase the amount of water available to bighorn sheep and other big game and wildlife species longer into the dry periods of the year. Guzzlers and BDAs are important to build in areas like the Stansbury's where water is a limited resource. Because of increasing drought, groundwater wells, diversion pipelines, feral horses, and many other demands for water on this mountain, there has been an artificial or man-caused reduction in the available water that would naturally be located on this mountain. Therefore, it is necessary and reasonable for us to also intervene to install artificial water sources to help offset the artificial or man-caused depletion of water that would have historically occurred here. We are proposing to install guzzlers that will capture and store precipitation during the wet months so that there is still water available on the landscape during the dry months. We will place these guzzlers strategically in locations where they will have the most benefit to wildlife. BDAs are another tool that we can use to increase the availability of water during the driest times of the year. BDAs are essentially man-made beaver dams. Beavers historically would have been located in almost every stream in Utah and would have definitely been located on every stream in the Stansbury Mountains. During the early 1800s, there was high demand for beaver pelts, and the Stansbury mountains, being on the direct trade routes from east to west would have likely been an easy place to trap and transport pelts to market. Because of over trapping, beavers were extirpated from this mountain range and many others across America. Once beavers were extirpated from this mountain range and their beaver dams eroded through time, the benefits that their dams would play to the ecosystem would have disappeared and major erosion, flooding, and loss of water would have followed. Beaver dams and their ponds provide miniature reservoirs to store water when it is abundant (winter months) and help to recharge or fill up the underground aquifers and soil. During spring runoff these dams and ponds help to slow the speed that water flows down the mountain and thus reduces the eroding power of high flowing water, which improves the water quality and also protects the soil. By stopping this erosion it reduces channel incisions and allows for more vegetation to grow along the stream banks and provide food for wildlife. Also, by slowing the water down and keeping if from just running down the mountain in the first few weeks of summer, it allows for water to be in the mountains all through the driest months of the year so that livestock and wildlife can access it. By slowing the flow down the mountain it also helps ranchers, farmers, homeowners, and other water users who live down in the valley by extending the time that they have water later into the summer. Without beavers, the water that comes rushing down in the spring hits farmers' and ranchers' land and they either have to use it or lose it. They can only use so much and a lot of water just runs on by and drops down into the ground. To address this problem we humans have spent billions of dollars building massive reservoirs that are a high cost to maintain. These reservoirs also have a much higher surface to depth ratio than beaver ponds and usually don't have any vegetation nearby to shade from the sun, this causes greater evaporation loss on these reservoirs than a small beaver pond. Instead of building more large reservoirs we should take a lesson from nature and restore the natural water storage processes that beavers would play on the landscape. By utilizing man-made beaver dams or restoring beavers we can more effectively store water. By slowing the flow down the mountain it means that water users will have a more steady flow of water later into the summer than they would have otherwise. This can be crucial for both people and wildlife. Until we can restore beavers to the Stansbury mountains we are proposing to build man-made beaver dams (BDAs) to begin to slow that water down as a beaver dam would do. BDAs or beavers don't take water from the watershed they simply extend its availability, improve its quality, and transform its destructive energy into a productive force of creating stream habitat diversity. Water will be more accessible to plants, insects, fish, amphibians, birds, big game, livestock, etc. as well as humans downstream. The BDAs we are proposing will provide great benefits for bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, and maybe even make it possible to reintroduce moose someday. The BDAs will make it so we can reintroduce Bonneville cutthroat trout to streams that would not be able to sustain fish life without them. We may be also able to reintroduce species of Columbia spotted frog or boreal toads.

Mastication being proposed comply' s with NEPA, including SHPO concurrence that is already done. Shrub planting NEPA has been underway for a couple of years now and will be completed in the next couple of months and shrub planting will begin for the previous phase of this project this spring of 2022. Cultural surveys have already been completed in previous phases of this project. The NEPA to be able to do BDAs on USFS has been completed for all BDAs forest wide.

Juniper Removal: We will first fly seed on the bullhog treatment areas. Then we will use bullhogs to masticate the juniper within the designed treatment areas. These operations will be contracted out through the State and the FS will monitor implementation. Shrub Restoration: We will use a dozer with a harrow on the back that makes a 2' wide scalp to remove grass competition. The bare soil will reduce competition from grasses and allow for naturally seeding to occur. We will also broadcast shrub and forb seed and use dribblers to augment the amount of seed and diversity of species. We will be planting two-year-old shrubs with vexar mesh protectors to help increase survival. These plants will be planted with volunteer help from sportsmen and other groups as well as hired contractors and paid seasonals. BDAs: BDAs will be built with contractors and DWR staff and Sageland Collaborative volunteers. We will pound posts into the stream bed about 2' apart. Then weave natural branch materials between posts. Guzzlers: Guzzler tanks and apron materials will be flown in with a helicopter to desired locations. We will then hike to locations with volunteers to dig a hole for the tank and assemble the aprons.

Pinyon/Juniper Treatments We will take photo points before and after at a few select locations. We will monitor the project for greater than 1% of Phase 1 pinyon/juniper re-establishment in year 3 and 5 post treatment. If re treatment becomes necessary we will pursue retreatment options. We will use photo points before and after project implementation to determine the success of these plantings. geomorphology, fish/ aquatic habitat, riparian vegetation, and terrestrial wildlife habitat. BDAs: We will take photos before and after at BDA locations and repeat this photography over time to show changes in vegetation and stream dynamics. We will also utilize drone footage to mar the area before and after. Guzzlers: We will use wildlife cameras to monitor widlife use of the guzzlers. Shrub Restoration: We will establish survival plots where we will identify where plants were planted and monitor whether they survive over time.

Nancy Williams with the BLM has been a huge partner on helping to get the NEPA completed to be able to do the shrub restoration work. We have had several meetings with BLM wildlife biologists and plant/range specialists to plan this project and work through the NEPA. The USFS is taking the lead on doing the PJ removal work on their lands. They have identified treatment areas and will help manage contractors. The new wildlife biologist is helping us to work through the permitting for the BDAs in Davenport. Ethan Hallows from SITLA is working with us on placing the guzzlers on SITLA owned lands. partners will include the DNR, DWR, NRCS, WDARM, and private landowners. Sageland Collaborative biologists visited the site, mapped locations for BDAs, and will complete necessary stream alteration permits and monitoring before and after BDA installation.

PJ treatments: Maintaining these open areas in future years may be necessary. Cost effective treatment strategy of lop and scatter or managed fire techniques will be utilized. Managed fires may also be utilized and grazing will continue in allotments. The area will be managed according to the Uinta National Forest Land Management Plan and Grazing Allotment Plan which includes a rest rotation grazing system. BDAs: We will continue to do more BDAs and fix the ones we built over several years until desired objectives are achieved. Shrub PLanting: We will continue to monitor survival and make adjustments and do additional plantings for many years to come. Guzzlers: We will monitor guzzlers frequently to ensure that they are still functioning properly.

Juniper Treatments Projects will result in improved overall rangeland condition resulting in improved herbaceous quality, quantity, and distribution of perennial grasses and forbs that will in turn benefit wildlife and livestock operations. BDAs will help disperse water and increase the amount of available water and vegetation for livestock. It will also benefit fish and big game populations which will increase hunting and fishing opportunities. Guzzlers will increase water across the landscape for wildlife, which will improve hunting opportunity.

08/01/2023

06/25/2024

2024

In October of 2022, we hired a contractor to begin a 1,090 acre pinyon and juniper mastication project, utilizing bullhogs . Prior to bullhogging, we flew seed on the 1,090 acres of bullhog area with a fixed-wing aircraft. The bullhog work was delayed because of early snow depths until March of 2023. They completed 890 acres of bullhog by June of 2023 and then we had to shut them down for fire danger. They came back on May 15, 2024, and finished the remaining 200 acres of bullhog work by June 15, 2024. We hired a helicopter company to fly 4 guzzler tanks and apron materials in October 2023. We went and dug the holes and installed the tanks in November of 2023. The tanks filled with moisture over the the winter and then in July of 2024 we went and built the aprons on the four guzzlers and installed fencing around the guzzlers that needed it. In November 2023, we planted 2,000 shrub seedlings and approximately 10 acres of seeding with the mad max planter on the west side of the Stansbury Mountains. In the spring of 2024, we planted another 5,000 seedlings and another 10 acres of seeding.

The Stansbury Mountain range is located in the west desert of Utah. This desert mountain range is home to some of Utah's most prized wildlife species, such as mule deer and bighorn sheep. You can see movements of bighorn sheep, mule deer, and other wildlife within the project area from our wildlife tracker images that I have included in the Images/Documents section, under photos and videos on this database. The bighorn sheep populations on the Stansbury's are reintroduced and are very fragile; we needed to do all we could to ensure that they could survive through drought years and have plenty of habitat to be able to expand their population numbers. This project was planned to build artificial water sources (guzzlers), which will help increase the amount of water available to bighorn sheep and other big game and wildlife species longer into the dry periods of the year. On the west side of the mountain, we have had multiple wildfires that have completely taken out all of the shrub species and replaced them with invasive cheatgrass or other no native competitive grass species. There is also the construction of a large solar farm which has taken out hundreds of acres of crucial shrub habitat. These events have caused us to cross ecological thresholds that depend on human intervention to restore or mitigate for. To restore the shrub component we planted sagebrush seed and seedlings adjacent to the solar farm and in areas that have burned. Shrub species are an important part of bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, jackrabbit, and cottontail diets, especially in the winter months. By restoring shrubs we will in turn increase lagomorph and rodent populations which are an important food source for golden eagles and other raptors that nest in this area. We have seen golden eagles struggling to provide enough food for their chicks to survive, and nesting failures, which is likely attributed to the loss of shrubs and golden eagle prey. Golden eagles and many other raptor species are threatened by many things from disease, habitat loss, wildfire, led poisoning, vehicle collisions, powerlines, and other human-caused impacts. Because of these threats, there is a need to do projects like this to offset these threats to benefit golden eagles and other raptor populations. The last portion of this project is to push back encroaching pinyon and juniper (PJ) from areas that should be largely shrub or grassland-dominated. Pinyon and juniper (PJ) encroachment is another example of how humans have messed up the ecosystem and where Mother Nature can't fix the problem on her own, at least within a reasonable time. We have put wildfires out over the past 100 years which would naturally have helped keep late seral species like PJ from spreading and taking over early seral species like grasses and shrubs. PJ outcompetes these other vegetation types and without wildfire to reset the clock, they would take over the entire landscape and create nothing but a monoculture of PJ. Fortunately, here in Utah we have been actively cutting back this encroaching PJ. We utilize the experetise of multiple biologists through the WRI program to identify the most appropriate locations to remove this PJ. On this project, the USFS specialists and UDWR biologists collaborated to identify locations where we need to remove PJ on the Stansbury's to restore it to a more healthy and balanced system. By doing this project to remove PJ we helped to prevent further crossing of an ecological threshold towards a complete loss of plant, insect, bird, and mammal species within this area. The expansion of pinyon-junipers, if left unchecked, will limit resources (water, light, and nutrients) available to understory vegetation. As resources become limited, the result is a loss of understory vegetation, an increase in soil loss through soil erosion, and degradation of bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, and other wildlife habitat. In addition, pinyon pine and juniper encroachment are affecting the fire regime condition class in sage-steppe and grassland habitats. As fuel densities increase and the landscape changes from sage-steppe and grassland system to juniper-dominated vegetation, there will be an increase in the intensity/severity of a wildland fire should ignition occur. This increased fire severity could lead to an additional loss of crucial shrub species that provide food for big game in the winter. This projects helped to reduce PJ densities to improve the fire regime condition class by reducing the impact of wildland fire caused by encroaching PJ and reduce the threats to the ecosystem, the watershed, and even human life and property. In conclusion, there are many negative impacts that humans have had on our ecosystems. These impacts are very evident in the Stansbury Mountain range. Because of the high value, the Stansbury mountains provide to wildlife and to humans we completed this project to address those concerns.

PJ treatments: Maintaining these open areas in future years may be necessary. Cost effective treatment strategy of lop and scatter or managed fire techniques will be utilized. Managed fires may also be utilized and grazing will continue in allotments. The area will be managed according to the Uinta National Forest Land Management Plan and Grazing Allotment Plan which includes a rest rotation grazing system. Shrub PLanting: We will continue to monitor survival and make adjustments and do additional plantings for many years to come. Guzzlers: We will monitor guzzlers frequently to ensure that they are still functioning properly.