The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR), Southeastern Region staff are seeking a drainage-scale stream habitat assessment in the Huntington Creek drainage. Huntington Creek is a former Blue Ribbon fishery that was devastated by fire in 2012. The Seeley fire burned large portions of the watershed, leading to degraded stream habitat conditions and the extirpation of fish from much of the stream. Restocking efforts (Brown Trout and Colorado River Cutthroat Trout) have taken place since 2014; however, little to no natural reproduction has been observed and the fishery is maintained by continued stocking. Consequently, the UDWR would like to use a drainage-scale habitat evaluation to identify limiting factors responsible for poor natural recruitment to the fishery. Of particular interest to managers are quantifying the current availability of spawning substrates to stocked fishes and whether barriers to movement may be preventing fish from moving into suitable spawning reaches. The completed habitat assessment will guide future trout management work in Huntington Creek.

The goal of this assessment is to inform future trout management in Huntington Creek. Specific objectives that relate to this goal are to: 1) Identify factors limiting natural reproduction (e.g., lack of spawning gravels) and recruitment (young-of-year nursey habitat) to the fishery. 2) Identify barriers to fish movement throughout the watershed that limit dispersal from stocking locations and prevent movement into remaining suitable spawning habitat. 3) Evaluate quantity and quality of aquatic invertebrates for food availability.

The Huntington Creek drainage contains several small isolated populations of Colorado River cutthroat trout. Native cutthroat are found in Tie Fork, Crandall, and Scad Valley Creeks. These native cutthroat trout populations play a critical role in the UDWR Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Conservation and Management Strategy. A population of Colorado River cutthroat trout in Nuck Woodward Creek was extirpated by the Seely Fire and its after effects. Maintaining or improving fish habitat within the mainstem will provide, refuge and security for long term persistence of fish populations when fires, droughts, and habitat changes displace fish. If sufficient connectivity is not maintained within a watershed between mainstem and tributary habitats the threat of extirpation increases.

State of Utah Resource Management Plan. This plan specifically talks about maintaining fisheries and riparian areas. This project will help to achieve the following objectives *The State will seek to protect, conserve, and improve Utah's fish and aquatic wildlife and the habitats upon which they depend. *The State will seek to provide for the varied demands of fish and aquatic wildlife recreationists. *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. *Encourage the use of flood structures, dams, catch basins, gully plugs, and reseeding of grass ways to help reduce erosion during and after storm events. *The State supports implementing active management and restoration projects on federal lands to restore sinuosity, vegetation, and to re-seed/revegetate burn areas as soon as possible post-fire to mitigate sedimentation in streams and riparian areas *Active management should be used to improve and enhance riparian resources to provide for appropriate physical, biological, and chemical function. *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). *The State supports the use of structural and non-structural improvements in unstable water courses to restore riparian areas properly functioning/desired future conditions. *The State will engage with federal land manage agencies to support active management of healthy riparian areas on federal land.

Riparian areas can act as a fuel break. Since riparian areas are green and have high fuel moisture throughout the whole growing season unlike the uplands which can be very dry and flammable at time of the year. The uplands areas within the Huntington Creek drainage are characterized as moderate to moderate/high in the Utah Forestry Fire and State Lands Wildfire Risk Portal.

The Seeley fire resulted in portions of Huntington Creek downcutting, the result of this erosion is large pulses of sediment being transported downstream. As a tributary to the San Rafael, sediment flows during flooding are carried through to the main river channel. The San Rafael River is currently 303(D) listed as an impaired waterbody with a Total Maximum Daily Load for Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). Reduction in erosion and trapping sediment to agrade the streambed will effectively reduce the amount of both suspended and dissolved solids. Adding complexity and roughness to a stream through large woody debris (log structures) has been shown to trap sediment and promote healthy sediment transport. Aggrading the streambed through these activities will reduce the salt loading and TDS in lower Huntington Creek and the San Rafael River.

A stream alteration permit with Utah Division of Water Rights was received in 2021 for stream restoration projects. Previous project proposed sites are on USFS land, USFS and have completed NEPA compliance.

1. Design a sampling plan that identifies stream habitat availability and barriers to movement (in relation to trout) throughout the entire Huntington Creek drainage. 2. Implement the sampling plan during late summer & fall 2022 and collect data relevant to the project goal and objectives. 3. Organize and upload digitized raw data to a UDWR shared drive that can be easily accessed by UDWR biologists. 4. Provide a final report (spring 2023) detailing key findings in relation to the stated objectives. Provide recommendations on habitat improvement projects that address natural recruitment to the fishery. 5. Create a GIS-based database with reach-scale habitat conditions and barriers identified throughout the Huntington Creek drainage.

Yearly fish population surveys have been completed on Huntington Creek since 2002. According to the DWR Southeast Region Strategic Sampling Plan, the Huntington Creek drainage was scheduled to be surveyed in 2020. This will allow biologists to collect pre-project fish population data. A drainage wide fish population survey is scheduled again in 2026, allowing biologists to collect post-project fish population data. Additional electrofishing sites will be added to estimate fish densities and metrics of fish health before and after project implementation. Other monitoring data collected will include a summary of macroinvertebrates, and channel monitoring including cross sections and longitudinal profiles. Channel monitoring will occur before and after construction and after flood events.

Manti LaSal Forest is the land manager within the project area and are supportive of improved angling opportunities and improving ecological conditions in the project area. Trout Unlimited has been involved with this project from the beginning and is supportive of improved trout habitat and angling opportunities. UDWR has developed this project and would like to see improved fish habitat, additional angling opportunities and overall healthy ecological conditions.

The purpose of this assessment is to guide future trout management in Huntington Creek. Specific management implications include: 1) Guide future location planning of habitat restoration work. 2) Guide the removal of barriers to movement based on prioritized habitat suitability. 3) Guide decisions on future stocking locations by taking into account suitable habitat and barriers to movement. 4) Guide decisions on future trout management by taking into account suitable habitat and barriers to movement.

Fishing has historically been a primary recreational activity in the canyon, improving fish habitat and holding more fish near access areas will boost recreation. Restoration of a resilient population of CRCT in Huntington Creek is dependent on the success of restoring aquatic functional tributaries. Additionally, brown trout populations that frequently exceeded 2,000 fish per mile were essentially wiped out below the fire scar. Fish densities and distribution must be significantly increased to restore a sustainable fishery in Huntington Creek. Huntington canyon is an open allotment, livestock is found within the canyon. There will be no changes for the permittee.

07/01/2022

01/22/2024

2024

The Division of Wildlife Resources contracted Eco Logical Research to conduct the assessment on Huntington Creek. They provided a findings and recommendation report at the end of the assessment.

Eco Logical Research completed multiple field trips to Huntington Creek to collect data on stream function and assess fish migration. Field data collection was delayed due to extreme and prolonged runoff in spring 2023. The project was extended into FY24 because of the delay in data collection. All data was compiled and presented to UDWR staff via Zoom Meeting in December 2023. A preliminary report was provided in December 2023 and a final report will be submitted in January 2024.

The Huntington Creek Aquatic Habitat Assessment Finding and Recommendations Report will provide stream restoration recommendations to DWR staff.