Project Need
Need For Project:
The lower San Rafael and lower Price rivers are some of the most perturbed ecosystems in the state of Utah and are currently on the 303D list of degraded waters due to their total dissolved solids concentrations. Also, irrigation is de-watering large sections of the rivers in late summer. The physical condition of the lower San Rafael and lower Price rivers have been severely degraded over time through a combination of impacts including altered flow regimes, stream channel narrowing, instream habitat simplification and non-native vegetation encroachment. Currently, the rivers are not functioning to provide sufficient habitat to support sustainable populations of native fish species and wildlife.
Riparian habitat has also been degraded. Much of the riparian corridors are occupied by thick stands of tamarisk and Russian olive, native vegetation recruitment is low, particularly for cottonwood trees. The lack of sufficient instream and riparian habitat in the lower San Rafael and lower Price rivers threatens the persistence of native riparian vegetation, fish, and wildlife within these important riverscapes. In particular, the San Rafael and Price rivers are home to the flannelmouth sucker (Catostomus latipinnis), bluehead sucker (Catostomus discobolus), and roundtail chub (Gila robusta), collectively referred to as the 'Three Species'. All three species are considered sensitive species throughout their range, and a rangewide conservation agreement was signed by BLM, UDWR, and other interested
parties to manage their conservation in 2006. The three species maintain self-sustaining populations in the upper San Rafael River (above Hatt's Ranch Diversion) and the bluehead sucker and flannelmouth sucker maintain populations in parts of the lower Price. However, roundtail chub have been extirpated from the lower Price River, and the lower San Rafael River is currently considered a sink for populations of these species, meaning that the lower river population is largely maintained by immigration of fish from the upper San Rafael River and from the Green River. In addition, survival of fish immigrating to the lower San Rafael is likely very low due to a lack of available habitat, altered flow regimes including drying, and the presence of non-native fish predators and competitors. Improvement of habitat conditions in the lower sections of these rivers would likely improve survival of immigrating fish, help increase the abundance of populations of the three species, and therefore help ensure the continued persistence of the three species rangewide. The focus of the restoration project will be to improve populations of the three species, native vegetation, and wildlife. However, endangered fishes of the Colorado River Basin, including Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), and bonytail chub (Gila elegans) have also been observed to use both rivers seasonally, such that restoration activities are likely to benefit these endangered species as well.
Improvements to the riparian ecosystem and community is a key part of this restoration. The presence of thick tamarisk and Russian olive stands has likely contributed to reduced establishment of native vegetation across large areas of the riparian corridor, due to shading effects and competition for soil moisture. Replacement of native riparian vegetation, particularly large cottonwoods, by tamarisk has likely further degraded habitat for native fish on the San Rafael and Price rivers by reducing the amount of large wood and wood accumulations in the river, and by reducing dam building materials
and food for beavers. Wood accumulations and large pieces of wood, primarily large cottonwood trees, as well as beaver activity increase channel complexity and provide important fish habitat including scour pools, backwaters, overhead cover, and labile surfaces for food. In addition to benefiting fish, riparian areas in Utah support numerous other wildlife including herpetofauna, birds, and mammals.
Monoculture stands of tamarisk can be relatively detrimental to wildlife as they offer little diversity and minimal foraging opportunity. Removing tamarisk and encouraging heterogeneous native vegetation establishment encourages more diverse wildlife use along the riparian corridor. Multi-age stands of cottonwoods can be particularly important for nesting birds. For example, suitable breeding habitat for the Federally Threatened Yellow-billed Cuckoo is characterized by stands of multi-layered vegetation (especially those with a cottonwood component) of at least 12 acres or more in size. When tamarisk was removed in 2008, and was followed by flooding in 2011, floodplains and wetlands were restored and created across the treatment area and beyond. These floodplains and wetlands are important to maintain in order to continue providing open water, and succulent green vegetation that persists longer through the year in an extremely arid environment. These areas have the potential to provide important drinking areas for bats, which rely on open water upon emerging from daily torpor, as well as increasing insect abundance and diversity for enhanced bat foraging opportunities. In addition, turkey and pheasant populations along the San Rafael river are reliant on green leafy vegetation, insects, and roosting and nesting areas along the river which will be maintained and enhanced by this project.
Having access to water and succulent vegetation later into the year is also critical for large ungulates that rely on the resource. Notably, the San Rafael and Price rivers offer extensive opportunities for restoration because they are largely on public land, and they are remotely located with little anthropogenic activity. This partnership has been experimentally restoring sections of both rivers over the past few years and has learned many lessons to be applied to future work. Areas of the DWR property were previously treated and seeded successfully; however, retreatment is needed to keep new sprouts from becoming established and out-competing the desirable vegetation. Small areas also exist where seeding efforts may be beneficial to reduce the likelihood of noxious weeds from becoming established and provide habitat for turkeys and pheasants. Beaver mimicking BDAs and PALs were installed in low density on the San Rafael, but we learned the densities must be increased by several orders of magnitude. Without restoration, the degradation of these rivers will not be reversed.
Objectives:
FISH HABITAT: The project proposed here is a continuation and refinement of previous phases of comprehensive restoration plans developed for the lower San Rafael River and the lower Price River. The goals of restoration plans are: 1) to recover self-sustaining populations of the three species and other native fish, 2) ensure persistence of native riparian vegetation, 3) to provide necessary and sufficient habitat to ensure persistence of native fish, 4) to increase the activity and abundance of beavers, and 5) to conduct sufficient monitoring of restoration impacts to quantitatively assess whether the restoration actions are accomplishing the restoration goals and objectives and to determine the causes of success or failure. The objective of this project is to increase the spatial extent and local impact of previous restoration efforts on the lower San Rafael and lower Price rivers, to benefit imperiled native fishes and wildlife. For this phase, in the lower San Rafael we propose to increase the density of instream structures (post-assisted log structures - PALS), add large boulders, continue non- native vegetation removal and native plantings, and reintroduce beavers. Beaver re-introductions to initiate the same suite of benefits of natural beaver dams, dramatically increasing channel complexity and water retention. Similarly, for the Price River we propose to increase the density of Beaver Dam Analog (BDA) and PAL structures, reintroduce beavers, and continue non-native vegetation removal and native plantings. The goal of those efforts is to increase habitat heterogeneity to create complimentary habitat needed by native fishes and wildlife. Previous monitoring has indicated positive responses of channel habitat and riparian vegetation to the proposed treatments; however, higher density treatments and over larger spatial extent is recommended with continued monitoring. We also need to continue to monitor non-native removal and native planting plots to assess the effectiveness of different strategies of post-removal processing (e.g., burn piles, no burn) and the survival rates of plants of different strategies of planting. In earlier phases of these projects, these actions were implemented experimentally specifically to guide future efforts, but must be monitored now that more time has passed (last monitored in 2017). TERRESTRIAL WILDLIFE: We hope to benefit terrestrial wildlife through the maintenance and expansion of the restoration footprint started in 2008. Specifically, we hope to 1) create and improve shallow wetland habitat for birds, herpetofauna, and bats 2) create and expand existing multi-storied stands of native vegetation for migratory birds and other wildlife and 3) create connectivity of these areas throughout the project area. In order to address the current threat that noxious weeds pose to the riparian system used by multiple wildlife species, we propose to 1) remove the immediate threat of invasive species through the initial removal of noxious weeds. 2) Maintain previous treatments through retreatment. 3) Increase available understory plant diversity and cover through planting containerized stock and seeding efforts. 4) Provide continued monitoring efforts to ensure desirable results, and conduct further maintenance when it is needed.
Project Location/Timing Justification (Why Here? Why Now?):
FISH: The proposed project addresses the current degraded instream and riparian habitat that threatens the persistence of native fish and vegetation in the San Rafael and Price rivers. Working to ensure persistence of native fish in these rivers is critical, because they are two of few rivers in Utah that harbors populations of bluehead sucker, flannelmouth sucker, and roundtail chub (San Rafael only) together. In particular, the roundtail chub has been extirpated from many nearby rivers (including the Price and Muddy) and is currently being petitioned for endangered species listing in the lower Colorado River Basin. Thus, ensuring persistence of the roundtail chub in the San Rafael River could help prevent listing of the species in the upper Colorado River Basin; an opportunity to rear roundtail chub on the Price River is under exploration. While the roundtail chub are likely extirpated from the Price River (Chart and Mohrman 2012; Budy et al. 2017), the river is frequently used by endangered Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, and bonytail. Additionally, while non-native fish are present in the Price River, they are not nearly as abundant or diverse as in nearby rivers, and therefore present less of a threat to native fishes. Improving habitat conditions in the Price River could thus provide an opportunity to increase the range of the roundtail chub, as well as increase the abundance of other native fishes. Over the long-term, the threats to native fish and vegetation are likely to continue and worsen without management and restoration of these river systems. For example, a study of the water resources available in the San Rafael River watershed identified areas where additional water storage can be implemented (San Rafael River and Muddy Creek Watersheds Study, Utah Division of Water Resources, 2012), so the flow regime and river habitat is likely to be impacted further unless environmental flows can be incorporated into basin management plans. Thus, undertaking a restoration project will not only help ensure robust populations of native fish in the near-future by addressing immediate threats, but will also help ensure robust populations over the long term by ensuring native fish species are considered in long-term development planning within the watershed. Some of the gains in habitat improvement obtained during the initial phase of restoration on the lower San Rafael are at risk of being lost without further action. In particular, the complex habitat created around beaver-dam analog structures could be lost without additional construction and maintenance of instream structures. Tamarisk removal efforts could also be negated if resprouts are allowed to grow and recolonize cleared areas. Significant investments have been made removing invasive species and restoring native vegetation (5 previous WRI phases & 1.3 million NRCS Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program). This phase will help maintain ecological benefits of past projects. For example, treating resprouts and secondary weeds within old removal sites on DWR and SITLA land will ensure that forage production and native vegetation communities persist long term and not revert back to their previous state. In addition, there is a substantial opportunity to understand whether and why applied
treatments are effective at improving habitat complexity that would be lost without additional monitoring efforts. Understanding the effects of applied treatments will help guide future restoration efforts on the San Rafael, Price and nearby rivers, so that loss of an opportunity to gain this understanding could make future restoration efforts less efficient and effective. Multiple users including agriculture, industry, (power generation) and recreation utilize the water resources of the San Rafael. Actions made now to protect or restore the habitat of sensitive fish species will hopefully prevent their future listing and ensure the continued use of the water resources of the San Rafael and Price rivers. TERRESTRIAL WILDLIFE: On the San Rafael River in particular, turkey populations have struggled due to recent drought. In 2020, the river was essentially dewatered from the first of June to the first of November.
Recruitment of poults into the population has been low as a result of drought, and late freezes on nests. If drought continues, and turkeys do not have enough forage to raise young or survive the winter, the population on this stretch may be at risk. Areas within the project will be seeded and shrubs will be planted to provide turkeys with much needed nutrition. Maintaining previous projects, and extending riparian work will also encourage diverse, leafy vegetation and insects that can be critical in maintaining turkeys in this area. Healthy riparian systems have the potential to support robust and diverse bird populations. However, when systems are dominated by invasive plant species, especially when they form dense monocultures, suitability for birds tends to decrease. This is especially true for certain riparian obligates. Similarly, more diverse stands of native vegetation tend to support a wider invertebrate assemblage than invasive monocultures and thus have the capacity to provide greater foraging opportunities for both birds and bats. For example, stands of multi-layered vegetation have been found to support a greater variety and abundance of large invertebrate prey - one of the factors considered to be limiting for the presence of nesting Yellow-billed Cuckoos.
Relation To Management Plan:
The proposed project is closely related to the following management plans (plan titles are highlighted in all capitals): RESTORATION AND MONITORING PLAN FOR NATIVE FISH AND RIPARIAN VEGETATION ON THE SAN RAFAEL RIVER, UTAH 2013. The plan is intended to guide restoration and management of the San Rafael River over the next 40-50 years and is developed as an adaptive management plan. Goal 1: Recover self-sustaining populations of the three species and other native fish in the San Rafael River (Two tiers) a. Maintain and enhance connectivity between the upper and lower San Rafael River and the Green River. Restoration b: Increase populations of the three species and other native fishes throughout the San Rafael River. Goal 2: Ensure persistence of native riparian vegetation, including willow stands and cottonwood stands with several age classes. Goal 3: Provide necessary and sufficient habitat to ensure persistence of native fish and vegetation Goal 4: Conduct sufficient monitoring of restoration impacts to quantitatively assess whether the restoration actions are accomplishing the restoration objectives and to determine the causes of success or failure. RESTORATION AND MONITORING PLAN FOR THE LOWER PRICE RIVER, UTAH 2018. The plan is intended to guide restoration and management of the Price River over the next 40-50 years and is developed as an adaptive management plan. Goals: 1. Maintain and enhance fish passage throughout the Price River. 2. Provide necessary and sufficient habitat to ensure persistence of native fish and vegetation. 3. Recover and sustain natural habitat-forming processes, such as lateral channel movement, beaver dam-building activity, and inputs of large wood. 4. Provide necessary and sufficient flow to prevent dewatering and recover natural channel movement and other habitat-forming processes. 5. Conduct sufficient monitoring of restoration impacts to quantitatively assess whether the restoration actions are accomplishing the objectives and to determine the causes of success or failure. SAN RAFAEL DRAINAGE MANAGEMENT PLAN- HYDROLOGIC UNIT 14060009 Colorado Pikeminnow, roundtail chub, flannelmouth sucker, and bluehead sucker need special protection from factors which threaten their existence. Objectives are to maintain or enhance populations of these species as well as maintain populations of other native, non-sport fish species. Strategies for maintaining or enhancing these populations include: (1) Work with local, state, and federal authorizes to improve habitat in the lower drainage, specifically the removal of tamarisk (2) Analyze impacts from resource development proposals and mitigate adverse effects Conduct research to fill information gaps
(3) Facilitating native vegetation establishment within tamarisk removal areas by continuing to control non-natives using herbicide treatments Objectives and strategies for amphibians are: 2) Maintain or enhance discovered populations of Columbia spotted frogs, northern leopard frogs, and western toads. 3) Maintain or enhance populations or other native amphibians. Strategies: 4) Assist other agencies in planning efforts and the development of protection strategies for amphibian species. Maintain wetland areas in the San Rafael River drainage. LOWER SAN RAFAEL RIVER HABITAT MANAGEMENT PLAN, 2016 The primary objectives of all DWR Wildlife Management Areas are to conserve and protect wildlife populations and habitat, and to provide hunting, angling and wildlife viewing access to the public where they can. This project improves habitat for both sensitive fish species and provides for increased foraging opportunities for upland game. The primary purpose of this specific WMA is to protect habitat and water for indigenous fish species in the Lower San Rafael River and provide recreational opportunities consistent with wildlife values of the WMA. Stream threats-dewatering, sedimentation, lack of stream cover and shade, insufficient stream depth and lack of habitat complexity, high stream temperatures, and turbidity Riparian threats: non-native vegetation encroachment. Upland threats: excess salt and sodium Habitat Improvements Increasing habitat complexity by increasing woody material, riffles and backwater habitats Increasing native vegetation and removing invasive species Increase upland game opportunity through planting food/cover. Weed control, targeting tamarisk removal with secondary weed follow up. Habitat Maintenance Maintain 2008 restoration project- which included whole tree removal on over 15 river miles and 1,050 acres. PRICE RIVER WATERSHED COORDINATED RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN This project fits within the overarching goals of the Price River Watershed Plan. As part of this effort, the Price River Enhancement Committee was formed to address the growing concern of water quality degradation and noxious weed invasion along the Price River (extension.usu.edu/water quality). Their goal was and continues to be (as funds come available), to reduce non-native vegetation and revegetate native riparian vegetation, towards a goal of improved water quality and a healthier riverine ecosystem overall. Watershed Implementation Strategies: 1- Water: Beaver assist structures on Price River 2- Plant: Russian Olive and Tamarisk Removal. Both the Upper and Lower San Rafael River Assessment Units were included on the 2000 UDEQ-DWQ 303(D) LIST OF IMPAIRED WATERS for not supporting the Beneficial Use Class 4-Agriculture for total dissolved solids (TDS) of 1,200 mg/L. This listing required development of a Total Daily Maximum Load (TMDL) report, which was developed for the Price River, San Rafael River, and Muddy Creek and approved by the EPA in 2004. BLM PRICE FIELD OFFICE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN. Soil, Water, and Riparian: Goals: 1) Manage uses to minimize and mitigate damage to soils, including critical soils and biological soil crusts. 2) Prevent excessive soil erosion. 3) Maintain or restore the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the area's soil and waters. Vegetation: Goals: 1) Manage and mitigate activities to restore, sustain, and enhance the health of plant associations, enhance or restore native and naturalized plant species, and enhance biological and genetic diversity of natural ecosystems. 2) Manage BLM projects such that the amount, type, and distribution of vegetation on public lands produce the kind, proportion, and amount of vegetation necessary to meet or exceed management objectives. 3) Protect areas with relic vegetation. Special Status Species: Goals: 1) Maintain, protect, and enhance habitats (including but not limited to designated critical habitat) and actively promote recovery, maintenance, protection, and enhancement of populations and habitats of BLM, non-listed, special status plant and animal species to ensure that actions authorized, funded, or carried out do not contribute to the need for these species to be listed as T&E under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). 2) Assist in managing, conserving, and recovering listed threatened and endangered plant and animal species found within the Price planning area, where appropriate. Fish and Wildlife: Goals: 1) Maintain, protect, and enhance fish and wildlife habitats to support natural diversity and to provide healthy, self-sustaining populations of fish and wildlife species; in order to supply recreational, educational, and scientific benefits and opportunities to the public. 2) Coordinate with federal, tribal, and State agencies to develop information, strategies, and plans to manage fish and wildlife habitat and facilitate the expansion and enhancement of hunting opportunities. Fire and Fuels: Goals: 1) Manage fire and fuels to protect life, firefighter safety, property, and critical resource values. 2) Manage fire and fuels, where appropriate, to restore natural systems to their desired future condition, considering the interrelated social and economic components. Livestock Grazing: Goals: Manage the public lands to promote healthy sustainable rangeland ecosystems that provide livestock forage production and allow the development of necessary livestock management facilities for the orderly use of the livestock industry. RANGE-WIDE CONSERVATION AGREEMENT AND STRATEGY FOR ROUNDTAIL CHUB, BLUEHEAD SUCKER, AND FLANNELMOUTH SUCKER
(2006) The goal of this agreement is to ensure the persistence of roundtail chub, bluehead sucker, and flannelmouth sucker populations throughout their ranges. Conservation Actions: 5) Increase roundtail chub, bluehead sucker, and flannelmouth sucker populations to accelerate progress toward attaining population objectives for respective species. 6) Enhance and maintain habitat for roundtail chub, bluehead sucker, and flannelmouth sucker. Action 6 Strategies: 1) Enhance and/or restore connectedness and opportunities for migration of the subject species to disjunct populations where possible. 2) Restore altered channel and habitat features to conditions suitable for the three species. 3) Maintain and evaluate fish. BEAVER MANAGEMENT PLAN (2017 revision). The goal of the plan is to maintain healthy, functional beaver populations in ecological balance with available habitat, human needs, and associated species. Beaver relocation efforts in the lower Price River will follow the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) beaver management plan, a statewide strategy that, among other measures, encourages relocating nuisance beavers instead of killing them. The latest iteration of the plan uses the Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT) (Macfarlane et al. 2017) to steer its relocation efforts. BRAT has recently been run for the lower Price River using high resolution riparian vegetation data and the model outputs indicate that the restoration reaches can support dam-building beaver. UTAH WILD TURKEY MANAGEMENT PLAN 2014 This plan presents management goals, objectives and strategies for the wild turkey in Utah. It identifies issues and concerns, and specifies strategies to overcome them. A variety of grasses, weed seeds, and green, leafy vegetation are eaten by turkeys. Sedges are important year-round food items where available. Large quantities of insects, particularly grasshoppers, are eaten during the summer. Suitable habitat includes three key
ingredients: trees, forbs and grass. Trees provide food, daytime loafing and escape cover, and most important--nighttime roost sites. Grasses and forbs provide food for adults and are especially important to poults as an environment in which they can efficiently forage for insects. Wild turkeys require diverse vegetation for foraging and often use fruit-bearing shrubs, insects, grass, forbs, and legumes for foraging. The Rio Grande turkey (Rio) is found in cottonwood river bottoms often associated with Gambel's oak and green leafy plants. High Priority Issues- H3-Insufficient winter habitat Concern A. Starvation during severe winter. Important considerations for winter habitats are food and roosting cover. Medium Priority Issues- M1-Insufficient access to hunting and viewing opportunities. M4 Low quality and quantity of breeding and summer habitat. Goal A Objective 2. Increase wild turkey habitat, quality and quantity, by 40,000 acres statewide. Strategy d. Conduct habitat improvement projects in limiting habitat UTAH STRATEGIC PLAN FOR MANAGING NOXIOUS WEEDS The purpose of the Utah Strategic Plan for Managing Noxious and Invasive Weeds is to strengthen, support, and coordinate private, county, state, and federal weed management efforts in Utah (Whitesides 2004). The Strategic Plan is designed to promote the implementation of comprehensive, economical, and ecologically based integrated weed management programs. The plan highlights the known and extensive impacts on invasive plants including the costs to society. In addition, the plan highlights that the "best weed management practices utilize a well-organized and cooperative program" such as the one proposed herein, and addresses three key elements of the plan: B. Mapping and Monitoring, D. Control - Integrated Weed Management, and E. Restoration UTAH MULE DEER STATEWIDE MANAGEMENT PLAN (2019) This document provides overall guidance and direction for managing Utah's mule deer populations. Habitat Objective 2: Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 700,000 acres of crucial range by 2026 Strategies. Continue to support and provide leadership for the Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative, which emphasizes improving sagebrush-steppe, aspen, and riparian habitats throughout Utah. EMERY COUNTY GENERAL PLAN Wildlife: The county encourages the agencies to develop biological resources management plans that provide for the enhancement of native fish, game and nongame species, promote fishing and hunting on public lands, and provide a private property compensation program for certain damages created by wildlife. Water Quality and Hydrology: The county supports land use practices which promote proper ground cover to prevent erosion. The county will promote practices which will decrease the growth of noxious weeds, phreatophytes, and high consumptive vegetation, and will favor practices which increase erosion preventing ground cover. STATE OF UTAH RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN Fire Management: The state supports the Watershed Restoration Initiative to encourage reduced wildfire acreage and suppression costs, reduced soil loss from erosion, reduced sedimentation and storage loss in reservoirs, improved water quality and yield, improved wildlife populations, increased forage, reduced risk of additional federal listing of species under the Endangered Species Act, improved agricultural production, and resistance to invasive plant species. Wildlife: 1) Expand wildlife populations and conserve sensitive species by protecting and improving wildlife habitat. 2) Increase current populations or establish new populations of wildlife in all suitable habitat within the state as outlined in approved management plans. 3) Provide a diversity of high-quality hunting and viewing opportunities for wildlife species throughout the state. 4) Protect existing wildlife habitat and improve 500,000 acres of critical habitats and watersheds throughout the state by 2025. 5) Conserve sensitive species to prevent them from becoming listed as threatened or endangered. 6) Produce and maintain the desired vegetation for wildlife and domestic livestock forage on public and private lands. Fishery: 1) The state will seek to protect, conserve, and improve Utah's fish and aquatic wildlife and the habitats upon which they depend. 2-The State supports ensuring the persistence of the diversity of native fish and aquatic wildlife in Utah while at the same time providing excellent opportunities for anglers and other recreationists. T&E Species: 1) Work with stakeholders and partners to continue to implement recommendations from the Utah Wildlife Action Plan 2015--2025 to conserve sensitive species and their habitat. 2) Identify and minimize the threats to sensitive or federally listed species to ensure healthy and robust populations of threatened, endangered, and sensitive species can exist in Utah. 3) Restore 75,000 acres of critical habitat for sensitive species each year through the Watershed Restoration Initiative and by partnering with other governmental and nongovernmental entities. Water Quality and Hydrology: 1) Cooperate in the protection, restoration, enhancement and management of water resources in the State of Utah to the extent of each agency's authority, expertise, and resources. Wetlands: 1) The state supports the use of mechanical treatments, controlled burns, livestock grazing, and other tools to control invasive plants and other plant species that compromise wetland health, in accordance with best available practices. 2) The state will coordinate with groups responsible for protecting and managing wetlands, including public and private wildlife managers, regulatory agencies, and interested stakeholders. Riparian Area: 1) Active management should be used to improve and enhance riparian resources to provide for appropriate physical, biological, and chemical function. 2) Prioritize and manage riparian areas to attain desired future conditions for riparian related resources (e.g. fishery habitat, water quality, wildlife and livestock forage, and soil stability). 3) Riparian areas and wetlands should be managed for the mutual and maximum benefit of wildlife, livestock and special status species. 4) The state supports the use of structural and non-structural improvements in unstable water courses to restore riparian areas properly functioning/desired future conditions. 5) The state will engage with federal land manage agencies to support active management of healthy riparian areas on federal land. 6) The state supports the removal of invasive species from riparian areas on public lands. Floodplain and River Terrace: 1) Restore floodplain connectivity for threatened and endangered species that rely on these locations in areas outside human habitation while preserving the health and safety of residents. 2) The state supports implementing active management and restoration projects on federal lands to restore sinuosity, vegetation, and floodplain function which mimic the natural hydrologic system in suitable areas. Noxious Weeds: 1) Alongside treatment, the establishment of healthy ecosystems is the most effective way of preventing the spread of noxious weeds. 2) The state of Utah supports proactive management of noxious weeds. Effective management by federal, state, and private entities is vital to protect agriculture, rangelands, and private property. 3) The state supports the removal of noxious weeds from affected areas and rehabilitation of affected areas post treatment. Weed treatments and rehabilitation must occur on federal land as well, to prevent the spread of weeds from public to private and state land. Livestock and Grazing: 1) The state supports rapid removal of all invasive plant species and noxious weeds on both public and private lands. UTAH WILDLIFE ACTION PLAN (2015-2025) The plan pinpoints threats, limiting factors and crucial data gaps. The plan also provides strong, clear guidance for improving habitats and strengthening wildlife populations. It is a strategic tool that, if fully implemented, can help reduce and prevent listings under the Endangered Species Act. All three of the protected and imperiled "three species" and the three endangered big river fishes are listed under the plan as "High" risk (please see Table 8). Threats to these fishes are identified in the 'Species' section below and include habitat loss for all impacted fishes. The restoration work proposed herein aide in reducing many of these threats and will simultaneously help fill data gaps. Beavers are identified in many places in the WAP including under the Objective "Inappropriate
Fire Frequency and Intensity", for which a potential conservation action is to "Increase cover and extent of native riparian vegetation by restoring beavers on the landscape, where social and environmental factors permit (per Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool)." In addition, under the Objective "Channelization / Bank Alteration (direct, intentional)", a potential conservation action is to "Increase cover and extent of native riparian vegetation by restoring beavers on the landscape, where social and environmental factors permit (per Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool)." Beaver restoration is a key objective of this proposal. Threats to the following WAP species of greatest conservation need are being addressed by this project: Bluehead Sucker, Flannelmouth Sucker, Roundtail Chub, Colorado Pikeminnow, Bonytail, Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Golden Eagle, Kit Fox, Spotted Bat, and Great Plains Toad. Threats to the following Key Habitats are also being addressed by this project: Desert grassland, Aquatic Scrub/Shrub, Aquatic Forested, Riverine, Emergent, and Open Water.
Fire / Fuels:
Russian olives alter the structure of plant communities by increasing vertical and horizontal canopy density, increasing fuel continuity, and creating volatile fuel ladders (Zouhar et al. 2008, Katz and Shafroth 2003). Tamarisk and Russian olive can form dense, fire-prone thickets that develop into monospecific stands because of vigorous root sprout growth following fire. The potential for more extreme fires will intensify as the density and cover of the tamarisk and Russian olive encroachment increases. By reducing the hazardous fuel load this will reduce the possibility for fire events. Increased fire frequency and intensity favor tamarisk and Russian olive re-establishment over less fire-adapted native riparian species, such as willow and cottonwood, which are slower to re-sprout post fire (Zouhar 2003). With the last 15 years of tamarisk beetle activity dead tamarisk biomass has increased significantly greatly increasing the potential for high intensity fire. The entire lower San Rafael riparian corridor, aside from the few previous treatment areas, is connected by dense riparian vegetation. If a fire were to start in this corridor, it has the potential to burn a large portion of the riparian corridor and destroy old growth cottonwoods that are used by many species of wildlife and create shading for the desert stream. This area is a significant distance from nearby towns and there would be significant lag time for a fire to be noticed and for firefighters to respond. In addition, riparian bottoms are difficult to navigate so getting proper equipment to this remote riparian corridor would mean that there could be significant damage to this riparian system before there was full fire suppression. Studies have shown that expanded wet areas that beaver dams create provide a buffer that slows the spread of the fire. By both removing old dead and dying tamarisk and increasing the amount of riparian area in the corridor there is likely to be an increase in more fire resilient native riparian vegetation. It is possible that this could help slow any future wildfires within the river corridor. This area has seen a dramatic increase in recreation in 2020 which is only increasing the possible ignitions within the river corridor. 2020 overall was the highest recorded year for human started wildfires in the State of Utah which were frequently catastrophic to important ecosystems. The lower San Rafael is an important habitat for T&E fish species that come upstream from the Green River and loss of the riparian corridor would have negative impacts to these fish species. Continuing this restoration work is more important now with increased recreation uses in the San Rafael desert raising the potential for human caused fires, and with more frequent drought years making fuels drier for a longer portion of the year.
Water Quality/Quantity:
The San Rafael and Price rivers are currently on the 303D list of degraded waters due to their total dissolved solids concentrations. These rivers also are dewatered in dry years by upstream water withdrawals for irrigation. The proposed project will use BDAs and PALS to essentially provide the same function as beaver dams; in that the structures will impound water, capture/settle/stabilize stream supplied sediment, increase water levels and corresponding water table, improve water quality and quantity, and aid in establishment of riparian vegetation on banks and adjacent floodplains. Dam building by beaver has been shown to influence stream hydrology and water quality in a number of important ways primarily by altering the amount, and timing of delivery of water and sediment (Naiman et al., 1988; Gurnell, 1998; Pollock et al., 2003). Ponding upstream of beaver dams slows water velocity encouraging deposition of fine sediment (Butler and Malanson, 1995; Pollock et al., 2007) in the pond itself and during high flows onto the adjacent floodplain. Beaver ponds can act as long-term sinks for both suspended and bedload sediment (Green and Westbrook, 2009). By increasing the water and sediment retention times within beaver ponds (or BDAs), many common excess nutrients and contaminants (e.g., bacteria, nitrogen, phosphorus and herbicides) can be removed from the water column. This occurs through deposition, microbial decomposition, chemical transformation and filtering. Additionally, some contaminants adhere to clay-sized particles which are more likely to be trapped and stored behind beaver dams and deposited on the floodplain. Increasing the amount of water in the stream and adjacent riparian zone also has the added benefit of attenuation of bacteria and nutrients through hyporheic exchange and plant uptake (Schade et al., 2005; Tonina and Buffington, 2009). In concert with the San Rafael and Price River restoration and monitoring efforts, two Utah Department of Water Quality monitoring stations have been reactivated through coordination with UDEQ and BLM; one near the highway 24 bridge (ID 4930290), the other at Chaffin ranch (ID 4930270) directly below the project area. Three Utah Department of Water Quality monitoring stations have been reactivated on the Price River through coordination with UDEQ and BLM; upstream of Helper Utah (ID 5930810), the Price River Road Crossing (ID 4932260) , and near Woodside (4931650). BLM is collecting monthly water samples at those locations since November 2018 following UDWQ protocols. BLM is collecting monthly water samples at those locations since November 2018 following UDWQ protocols. The samples are analyzed for Nitrates, Nitrites, Phosphorus, TDS, along with several metals including aluminum, selenium, boron, among others. All this data is available through DEQ. As discussed within the Relation to Management Plans section, the project may increase loads of TDS in the short-term (5-10 years) due to destabilization and erosion of bank materials, a known, albeit minor, component of TDS loading in the San Rafael and Price rivers. However, over the long term (>10 years), loads are expected to decline through the project reaches due to increases in river-floodplain connectivity and retention of water and sediments in beaver ponds, oxbows, and floodplain depressions. Reductions are predicted to be small in magnitude, the major sources of TDS loading to the San Rafael and Price
rivers being irrigation return flows and natural loading from groundwater and monsoon-derived sediment inputs, but nonetheless significant. Water quantity will be improved in the lower San Rafael and lower Price rivers by changing the timing of water delivery by increasing the amount of water retained in ponds, off-channel wetlands and floodplain soils. This attenuation water will increase stream flows during the critical dry portions of the water year.
Compliance:
Compliance related to federal land will be completed before project work begins. The proposed project follows all NEPA and permitting requirements. The NEPA process was completed under the initial phase of restoration, including a Biological Opinion (BO) from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (approved NEPA document and BO are attached). State and Army Corps permits were also obtained during the first phase of restoration and will cover project activities proposed under this extension (stream alteration permits attached).
Methods:
MODELING: We identified priority conservation and restoration reaches by developing a detailed model of vegetation that classified native vs. non-native vegetation. We conducted multiple field visits and used expert opinion to validate the model. We also used riverscape characteristics from the Valley Bottom Extraction Tool (VBET) (http://rcat.riverscapes.xyz/) to identify reaches based on geomorphic breaks (primarily changes in valley width), geologic transitions, measures of instream habitat complexity (e.g., instream large wood density), and a strong gradient in riparian vegetation density. Based on these criteria, we identified restoration reaches. We also ran, analyzed and ground verified the outputs of the following geospatial modeling tools: Riparian Condition Assessment Toolbox (RCAT), and Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT) (https://brat.riverscapes.xyz/) to assess the current riparian conditions of the lower San Rafael and Price rivers and the feasibility of doing beaver/BDA related restoration. These model outputs were used to help identify: 1) an impetus for restoration, 2) potential limiting factors, 3) risks to human infrastructure associated with restoration and 4) sites where restoration would have the greatest gains to habitat improvement. INSTALLATION OF INSTREAM STRUCTURES: For the instream structure component of this project we proposed using a low-tech process-based restoration (LT-PBR) (https://ltpbr.restoration.usu.edu/manual) approach). The associated restoration actions will include the installation of simple, hand-built, low-tech structures (BDAs and PALs) constructed of natural materials that mimic their natural counterparts (i.e. beaver dams and large woody debris) to slow water, capture sediment, and increase the channel complexity on which healthy aquatic and riparian-wetland ecosystems depend. Unlike many traditional restoration actions, the focus with process-based restoration is on outcomes that are indicative of overall riverscape health and natural processes. These processes are explicitly biophysical and range from leveraging the energy of floods to do work, to harnessing the resistance of riparian vegetation for building resilience, to letting beaver dams and beaver dam analogs slow the stream flow. These restoration actions in and of themselves are not the solution. Rather they are intended to initiate processes and nudge the system towards the ultimate goal of building resilient, self-sustaining riverscapes that provide the desired resource values. The design and installation of BDA structures is a relatively simple, cost effective, and non-destructive restoration approach. BDA structures are constructed of untreated, sharpened lodgepole fence posts, approximately 3-4" diameter, driven into the active channel and inset floodplain using a hydraulic post pounder. Posts extend no more than 1 m above the active channel bed, which is within the 0.5 to 1.5 m typical height range of natural beaver dams. For a single structure, posts will be spaced approximately 0.5 - 0.8 m apart, and driven to a depth of approximately 1 m into the streambed. Following installation of the post line, willow and or juniper stems and branches will be woven in between the posts to create a semi- permeable structure that closely resembles a natural beaver dam. The willow/juniper weaving acts as a dam, but is also designed to be passable to fish, and is consistent with adult and juvenile fish passage criteria. In addition to weaving willow among the post line, BDA structures will be reinforced by placing cobble, gravel, and fine sediment at the base of the structure, a technique very similar to the way beavers build natural dams. BDA's should last until the pool behind the dam fills with sediment and is colonized by woody riparian vegetation (typically < 5 yr. depending on sediment sources and the flow regime). Maintenance of BDA structures is typically required annually unless beaver take over
maintenance of structures. Maintenance usually consists of replacing posts and filling in holes in the dam crest with additional willow or sediment and rocks. Once beavers are reestablished, they may be able to maintain the structures. PALS are designed to mimic naturally occurring large woody debris in a stream and increase in-stream roughness and structural elements. PALS alter stream hydraulics (i.e., depth and velocity) and are placed within a stream to create a geomorphic response. In general, PALS rely on high flows in order to affect desired geomorphic changes. They also tend to use larger diameter materials, more characteristic of large woody debris commonly found in a natural stream. PALs can be built with or without posts, they can be channel spanning, located in the middle of the channel, or be attached to a bank, similar to BDA construction. BDAs and PALS will be strategically placed in the Price and San Rafael to mimic the form and function of beaver dam complexes and large woody debris. Each structure will be designed with defined objectives for triggering and/or maintaining geomorphic and hydraulic processes leading to river restoration. We will rebuild or maintain the 45 woody instream structures installed in Phase I (Project ID: 4551) located within a 2.9 mile restoration reach on the Price River (Woodside BLM land). We will also rebuild or maintain the 40 PALS built in Phase II (Project ID: 5300) along 1.5 km of the San Rafael River near Moonshine Wash, and the 40 PALS near Highway 24 along the San Rafael River. Based on lessons learned during previous efforts, individual instream structures used in isolation are unlikely to achieve the goal of restoring a process that is self-sustaining and therefore, we aim to achieve a density of between 20 -- 40 structures per km. Specific densities will vary based on local conditions and logistic considerations. The planning, design and implementation of low-tech structures is flexible and can be adapted to on-the-ground field consideration to maximize the efficiency of design and construction. We will use a hydraulic post-pounder (see attachments) to install 6-8 ft untreated wooden posts to provide required stability for building PALS. Because the San Rafael and Price rivers lack abundant woody material necessary for building a large number of structures we will source and transport juniper associated with juniper removal projects to the restoration sites. Juniper has been successfully used to build PALS and other instream structures along numerous stream restoration projects in Utah, Idaho, and Oregon. Instream structures will be designed to force the creation of scour pools and bank attached bars. Results from previous restoration indicate that instream structures that do not span the channel were the most effective and efficient way to increase topographic complexity. As such we will build bank-attached PALS (alternatively referred to as 'constriction dams' or 'bank- blasters'). These structures require less material because they do not span the entire channel, and are easier and less time consuming to construct. Also, unlike BDAs, which are designed to force an upstream pond at the time of construction and therefore require significantly more fill material, PALS are not designed to force dam pools, but rather to force geomorphic changes at higher flows, and therefore require less time to build. PALS are not intended to be permanent structures, and we expect that a portion of our structures will breach or blow-out due to the highly variable, and flashy flows in the San Rafael and Price rivers. We plan on building a high-density of structures (see above) in anticipation of the loss of some structures. In general, the construction of a single PALS in the San Rafael or Price river requires a crew of four approximately 30 -- 60 minutes, once materials have been staged at the appropriate locations. NONNATIVE VEGETATION REMOVAL: We will also remove 151 acres of nonnative vegetation on private land along the restoration reaches of the Price River. The first treatment is to mechanically remove the tamarisk at or below the soil surface with a track excavator using a grapple attachment. After removal tamarisk are stacked and left to dry for the purpose of burning at a later time. Once the piles have been removed we will use various implements to plant native seed into the treatment area. Cottonwoods and willows will also be planted along the river in key locations. The years following mechanical removal hand crews and small equipment will be utilized to conduct cut stump treatments (using Garlon4) in areas not accessible to the excavator and also foliar application of imazapyr (Arsenal) or similar herbicide to treat re-sprouts. Spraying will occur in the late summer or early fall when the herbicide will be most effective. This process of removal and reseeding requires multiple years to complete. We have several treatment areas that are in different stages of the treatment described above. BEAVER: We will continue to relocate beavers to the sites where BDAs/PALS are being constructed, study the recolonization process, and identify the most effective (in terms of restoration and cost) combinations of passive restoration techniques and beaver reintroduction strategies. In 2022, we anticipate capturing 20-50 individuals in each group (resident and translocated). Comparisons will be made between beaver translocations prior to (this is already done as part of Phase I-II) and after BDA installations. We will also survey the sites for additional information on available forage, dams, and new dam building activity. Please also see the relevant monitoring section below. ROCK ADDITIONS: Observations of habitat heterogeneity in the San Rafael and Price River are often associated with large boulders that have fallen off cliffs into the river, causing the channel to move and creating pools, riffles, and backwaters. Thus, we propose to add large boulders to restoration reaches with a track hoe as access permits.
Monitoring:
Our overall monitoring strategy is fully developed in the attached Restoration Plans (Laub et al. 2013 [See Table 4], Laub et al. 2020, also please see Laub et al. 2018). These plans are developed to assess changes in the river and associated vegetation, fish, and wildlife populations as a result of restoration actions. Monitoring will be used to determine whether the project objectives are being met and may inform alterations to the restoration plan if objectives are not being met. Careful monitoring will also yield information on the relative success of different restoration efforts, reasons for their success or failure, and the cumulative impacts of different restoration actions over the watershed scale. Monitoring will thus ensure that lessons learned from the project will be transferable toward restoration of other rivers in the region. FISH: As an overview, for fish, we plan to maintain at least one permanent PIT-tag detector on each river, preferably two as two are currently in place and operating. Maintaining the detector will provide an indication of whether overall fish use of the rivers change as restoration proceeds. We will continue to measure fish diversity, abundance, and distribution at established restoration and control sites (see the Plan) to determine whether overall fish abundance and community composition is changing over time. Determination of whether any changes are due to restoration or natural causes can be made by examining trends in abundance data from the Green River and other nearby rivers, such as the White River. Abundance monitoring will be initiated at sites where restoration will be conducted if there is not already an established site. Resurveys will be conducted once every year following restoration. Fish monitoring will continue in at least one identified conservation reach. Fish habitat use (e.g., BDA-associated) will be recorded. Portable stationary PIT-tag detectors (wagon wheels) will be placed in particular habitats and will record any tagged fish or beaver that occupies the habitat. In using the wagon wheel method, detectors can also be placed in natural habitat units similar to those monitored in the restoration reach. Fish will be sampled via single-pass canoe electrofishing where feasible. In reaches too deep for safe electrofishing, trammel nets will be deployed. Both trammel nets and electrofishing allow for non-lethal sampling of imperiled native fishes. All fish will be identified to species and measured in the field, and all native fishes larger than 130mm will be implanted with a PIT tag. All fish will be returned to the location of capture following recovery. VEGETATION: To assess effectiveness of restoration on-ground monitoring will be conducted to track changes in coverage and structure of native vs. nonnative riparian vegetation. In treatment and control reaches, a series of 11 transects will be established and a point-intercept method used to assess coverage and structure of vegetation. In addition, belt transects will be used to determine density of focal woody species -- cottonwoods and Russian olive. Tamarisk and willow are also species of interest, but experience on the San Rafael River indicates that these species are abundant enough that changes in their coverage extent could be determined from the line-point method. Belt transects are needed for cottonwood because they are much less dense. A belt transect method will likely also be useful for monitoring changes in Russian olive. RESTORATION EFFECTIVENESS MONITORING: For low-tech process-based restoration (LT- PBR) effectiveness monitoring we plan to use an approach that was recently developed by Utah State University (USU) and the BLM. This approach employs both field-based structure-level observations and analysis of drone imagery. Drone imagery surveys will capture large-scale changes (e.g. inundation extent and type mapping [free flowing, overflow, and ponded]) and riparian/upland mapping. This monitoring approach focuses on tracking inundation type and area; because these are important indicators of riverscape health that are directly modified by LT-PBR structures and beaver dams. The percent and type of valley bottom inundation and/or riparian or upland not only are direct measures of the quantity of aquatic habitat present within the stream corridor, but can be viewed as proxies for hydrogeomorphic and ecological characteristics and processes that are essential to riverscape health such as channel floodplain connectivity and water residence time. For this application, an FAA licensed drone pilot will collect full coverage images for each of the restoration sites at low and high flow discharge before and after restoration is implemented. With these sets of images, we will assess geomorphic and floodplain changes associated with changes in discharge as well as to track changes over time related to restoration actions. Specifically, we will assess: valley bottom extent, changes to the surface water extent and channel width, changes to the number of high flow channels vs. low flow channels. We will also assess inundation extent and type mapping and compare their extents through time. We will assess the nature of flow overbank vs channelized flows. Assessing these changes in flow type through time is important to track changes in lateral connectivity. Riparian and upland extent -- pre and post restoration will be assessed. Our field-based approach will focus on collecting information on restoration structures and natural wood accumulations and will assess the condition, function, and influence (hydrological and geomorphic) of instream structures. This monitoring approach explicitly links low-tech restoration treatments, in this case beaver dam analogues and post-assisted log structures, to reach scale metrics and ultimately the entire project area. The effects of restoration actions or beaver dams will be measured in the field and have impacts at multiple spatial scales, ranging from the scale of individual low-tech structures to the entire valley bottom. Field based data collection is also aimed at identifying specific processes that are important indicators of restoration progress towards the target condition. The field method will consist of censusing all restoration structures in the field by walking the streams and making observations at all structures. Specifically, we will collect: 1. Presence-absence -- Is it there? If present -- is it as designed -- for example, structures may have moved to the side of the channel, the material is still in place, but not engaged in the same way, but has the potential to engage with flows. 2. Structure condition - Is the structure blown out, breached, moved or buried (more than three-fourths of crest height sediment accumulation)? Is there additional accumulation of LWD on the structure? Has the structure been taken over by beaver? 3. Geomorphic response -- At each structure we will assess: Erosion and deposition. Distribution of geomorphic features at each structure: pool (scour or dam), cutbank, uniform bed aggradation or degradation; bar deposition (mid or point): range of substrates exposed -- patchiness or not? Evidence of overbank deposition/flow --at each structure. 4. Natural beaver dams and accumulations of LWD. If LWD accumulation occurred, did large wood accumulate on an existing structure, or elsewhere? 5. Total number of structures through time, both restoration and natural structures. 6. Condition of beaver dams -- intact, breached, or blown out -- and active or inactive. We will monitor lodges to help understand whether beavers are expanding or not. As riparian and instream conditions improve as a result of this proposed restoration project the recovery of the threatened fish might also begin to improve and fish sampling will occur to evaluate this assumption. Similarly, with an improvement in riparian condition we expect in the coming years that habitat conditions will become
favorable for establishment of beavers who will take over the maintenance of the BDAs. Monitoring will continue for 3-5 years after structures are installed. If monitoring shows that water and riparian conditions are improving due to the implementation of the restoration plan, we will add more structures in subsequent phases to increase the spatial extent of restoration. It is worth noting that LT-PBR projects, like this, may not influence the extent of active channel or active floodplain unless aggradation is rapid, incision is relatively limited, or beavers move into restoration areas. If incision recovery is slow, assessing the trajectory of restoration by making observations that relate to specific geomorphic processes at the structure scale is critical in assessing the effectiveness of restoration and understanding how long it may take to reconnect the floodplain and restore the riverscape. BEAVER: While BDA installation may achieve similar results to beaver translocation in the short-term, these structures require costly and time-consuming maintenance if they are intended to be sustainable. Several studies have found that beavers will use BDAs and PALS as starter structures on which to build their dams. While some important information has been gained about the best practices for beaver relocation, there is still considerable uncertainty regarding timing, density, minimum number, age structure, mate selection, family structure, and retention, particularly when translocation is accompanied by BDAs (as herein). Baseline data have been obtained at the Phase I-II sites on the Price River related to resident and translocated beavers; these data provided valuable information about the efficacy of translocations and survival rates of translocated beavers relative to resident beavers, without BDAs. The combination of beaver translocation and BDA installation may be synergistic - the BDAs will provide enough quality habitat to encourage the beavers to colonize the area, and in turn the beavers will maintain the BDAs. The Price River restoration project will be the first to combine these strategies. In the next phase of our beaver translocation assessment, we are focusing on translocation success and progress towards restoration goals with translocated beavers and high density BDA's installed and individual beaver behavior, as the inconsistency of beaver translocation success may be due in part to differences in individual behavior of beavers. Behavior can be an important factor in predicting establishment of individuals after translocation (Bamber et al., 2020; May et al., 2016; Sinn et al., 2014). Behavior that is consistent across time (i.e. temperament, behavioral type, or behavioral syndrome) often correlates with survival, body growth, and fecundity and influences an individual's ability to thrive in a new environment (Cote et al., 2008; Fraser et al., 2001; Page et al., 2019). However, whether behaviors correlate with survival and site fidelity after translocation varies across species and has not been assessed for beavers. We will monitor to determine whether translocated beaver behavioral types assessed in captivity correlate with survival and site fidelity after release. We will capture, tag, and monitor resident and translocated beavers on the Price River; we anticipate capturing 20-50 individuals in each group. Beavers for translocation will be captured on public and private properties in many regions of Utah where they are considered a nuisance. When possible, entire colonies or pairs will be translocated together. Trapping methods will follow the UDWR Protocol for Live Trapping, Holding, and Transplanting Beaver (UDWR, 2017), and all beavers of adequate size will be tagged (radio and PIT tags). Four behavior metrics will be assessed while beavers are in holding: aggressiveness, reactivity/tameness, exploration/avoidance, and boldness-shyness. After release, beavers will be tracked, new dam building will be documented, and vital rates will be estimated. More details on methods are available in Dodden 2021. This monitoring and assessment will provide a framework for the combination of beaver translocation and BDA installation as a stream restoration strategy and provide valuable information on the use of behavior assessment in tailored beaver translocation.
OTHER MONITORING: The BLM will conduct 6 surveys in the project area using their Assessment Inventory, and Monitoring protocol (AIM). These surveys gather quantitative chemical, physical, and biological data within a statistically valid framework. These surveys can be repeated in future years as part of a larger long-term monitoring effort. Several water quantity, water quality, fisheries, and vegetation studies have been and will continue to be conducted on the San Rafael and Price rivers. Multiple agencies and local governments have provided funding and support for these studies. For our purposes these data continue to help us better understand the San Rafael and Price system and guide our restoration efforts in this system and in other similar tributaries (please see attached monitoring report, Laub et al. 2018). We will continue to monitor and update this adaptive monitoring report as we implement this phase of the project.
Partners:
The project lead agency is the BLM, and several partners will contribute to the project, including: 1. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR), 2. Utah State University (USU), 3. Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) 4. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 5. Youth Conservation Corps (YCC), 6. Desert Fish Habitat Partnership (DFHP), 7. The Nature Conservancy (TNC), 8. Bureau of Reclamation (BoR), and 9. US Fish and Wildlife Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program (USFW PFW). BLM and UDWR have been involved in funding, planning, implementation, and monitoring of all phases of the San Rafael and Price River restoration projects, and some of the work proposed in this plan will be conducted on UDWR lands. USU has been involved in development of the overall San Rafael and Price restoration and monitoring plans, development of detailed riparian vegetation map, beaver translocation study, ongoing fish, habitat, and effectiveness monitoring and is fully involved in the implementation and monitoring of the project. A USU master's student will complete the beaver reintroductions and study. USU personnel will continue to be involved in restoration implementation and will lead monitoring efforts of channel and habitat changes. SITLA will assist with burning piles of tamarisk and herbicide treatments or tamarisk resprouts. The USGS currently operates a flow gauge within the project reach, and this gaging will continue through the proposed project period. The YCC have assisted with plan implementation, students have been involved with monitoring of channel and habitat changes and groundwater impacts have been conducted by USU personnel. DFHP, has contributed funding to current habitat work on the Price River. TNC, assisted with the development of the Price River Restoration plan and securing flows for the lower Price River. The BoR has contributed considerable funding to previous beaver reintroductions on these rivers, the previous study of their fate and dam building activity, to developing a better understanding of the habitat formation on the San Rafael at Cottonwood Wash to guide restoration, and to funding the Olsen Reservoir project that will ensure long term ecological flows for the lower Price River (see Future Management for details). BoR has also provided the equipment and personnel for up to four permanent passive pit tag antennae and many small mobile units, which provide critical monitoring data for both fish and beavers. USFWS PFW will work with the private landowner to coordinate habitat restoration work on private lands. USFWS will also contribute some funding for the private lands work. USFWS will coordinate with restoration team to cross boundaries and work on adjacent private lands.
Future Management:
One activity that will be ongoing as part of the broad restoration plans and that will help ensure the long-term success of the current project is to coordinate with stakeholders in the watershed to provide ecological flows. Providing both low flows and flood flows (after needs of water users are met) will help maintain habitat and create new habitat through natural river processes. Ongoing efforts to restore Olsen Reservoir are directly tied to habitat work on the lower Price River. One purpose of storing water at Olsen Reservoir is to provide an emergency pool of water that can be strategically released during summer months to maintain flows in the lower Price River where BDA and PALS construction and invasive riparian species removal are planned (WRI Project 4551). Water released from Olsen Reservoir will be measured at the Woodside USGS stream gauge, ensuring base flows will benefit the habitat restoration proposed by this project. This emergency pool would directly benefit native fishes and the invertebrate community of the lower Price River, and thereby indirectly benefit the native and endangered fish community of the larger Green River. Securing ecological flows combined with BDA's will increase water access to the floodplain as well as improve water table conditions that will increase the success of restoring native riparian communities. Non-native fish control and fish passage improvement are also planned as part of the broader restoration plans and will help ensure native fish populations will be present to use restored habitat. Any future cottonwood establishment sites will be protected from cattle grazing until trees are large enough to resist browsing and trampling. The proposed project are phases of larger habitat restoration efforts where we are extending successful restoration activities to other sections of the rivers to help ensure that habitat is improved throughout the lower San Rafael River and lower Price River corridors. BLM, through federal regulations and agency policy, is mandated to maintain and/or improve land health, riparian and water quality conditions, and meet rangeland health objectives; and to adaptively manage BLM resources and actions when resources are negatively impacted or degraded. These BLM policies ensure that these BLM lands where these restoration actions are planned will continue to be protected and managed to insure riparian and rangeland health. The portion of the project within the Lower San Rafael Wildlife Management Area will be protected long-term through the habitat management plan and according to the UDWR Land Use Rule R657-28. The private landowners will enter into a contract with USFWS. As part of the landowner agreement with USFWS the landowner agrees to leave the habitat restored in place for a 10-year period and during that time will work with the USFWS biologist to monitor needs, success, and any adaptive management.
Sustainable Uses of Natural Resources:
The proposed project has the potential to improve forage for domestic livestock. Tamarisk removal will allow native grasses, forbs and most importantly willows, cottonwoods and other desirable woody riparian vegetation to establish in areas where dense tamarisk stands previously out competed desirable vegetation that livestock would utilize. This area is within an active BLM grazing allotment, it is grazed during the winter months. Removing invasive woody vegetation will facilitate the re- establishment of perennial grasses, native forbs, and shrubs that have much higher forage value than tamarisk. Targeted revegetation and broadcast seeding will accelerate the recolonization of native grasses in selected areas where native grasses are sparse in habitat adjacent to treatment sites. Creating a diverse vegetative community allows for diverse diets and at times can create better winter foraging conditions for livestock. Substantial growth of native grasses in previous tamarisk removal areas has already been observed (Moonshine Wash Project). With the tamarisk cleared there is better access to the river for watering and can distribute livestock across the allotment and the riparian area more efficiently. This phase will include spraying noxious weeds within previously treated areas, which will allow for desirable vegetation to establish in those areas. In our experience, whole tree removal when done properly removes the roots has limited the amount of re-sprouts greatly adding to the long- term sustainability of the project creating a long term benefit for livestock. There will be seeding on the DWR WMA, the WMA is not currently grazed so seeding will not need to be rested. Areas on BLM lands will be revegetated in future years and at that point those areas will be protected from grazing livestock until it is established. Previous projects removed tamarisk from SITLA lands between Dugout Wash and Spring Canyon, this phase will include tamarisk resprout treatment and pile burning on SITLA to maintain and enhance the wildlife and grazing benefits already gained. Monocultures of tamarisk and Russian Olive can impede access to the river and recreational activities. Below Woodside on the Price River thick tamarisk and Russian olive stands will be targeted for removal so that access to the river will be enhanced, providing a better experience for people looking for lesser-known public lands where they can enjoy solitude hiking or floating along the river. Providing access to quality recreational areas is critical to the sustainability of recreation on public lands. The seeding and retreatment that will occur on DWR properties will benefit efforts that the division has taken to release upland game, providing the public opportunity for recreational hunting. These activities will also provide benefits for turkey that inhabit the DWR property providing the public hunting and wildlife viewing opportunities. Additionally, numerous birds and amphibians can be found and heard along the riparian area. This project creates access into these areas for non-consumptive wildlife users.
