The Mill Creek stream channel suffers from legacy impacts of logging and using the stream for log-drives (tie-hacks) from upstream splash damming on forest. Like many streams used as a conveyance ditch for moving timber for the railroads downstream, it was simplified, straightened and stripped of natural structural forcing by beaver dams and wood jams. Although beaver regularly dam the mainstem and side channels on the floodplain, the dams on the mainstem appear to blow out most years. This has left the main channel entrenched, armored and lacking the degree of hydraulic diversity that would support good spawning habitat for native Bonneville Cutthroat trout (migratory and resident) or pools and complexity for Northern Leatherside Chub. In addition, an existing bridge on the Hidden Bear Ranch on Mill Creek limits floodplain flows and constricts high stream flows to the main channel. This disconnect of the floodplain limits water storage and floodplain development while creating excessively high flows under the bridge. This occurrence is evidenced by river cobbles being deposited on the understructure of the bridge during what was likely a debris jam event during spring runoff. Carter Creek is annually dewatered during the summer by an irrigation diversion about one mile upstream from its confluence with Mill Creek. This practices reduces the productivity and use of the stream for all fishes and aquatic life. Carter Creek on forest had a massive landslide that resulted in a debris torrent down the stream about ten years ago. This event eliminated all the beaver dams and the deep pools on the creek in the meadow upstream. Riparian areas and aspens are regenerating well, but beavers have still not returned since this event. Fish passage barriers are present in the form of impassable culverts on Carter Creek. These barriers limit the movement and migration to habitat required at different life stages of fishes. Two fish screens were installed in irrigation canals with WRI funding on the East Fork of the Bear River during 2013 (Hovarka Canal) and 2020 (East Fork Hilliard Canal). The operation and maintenance of these screens has become challenging during the past few years because of an apparent increase in didymo algae. Frequent cleaning of the screens is required to insure fish protection effectiveness. Modifications to the Hovarka screen will be evaluated and implemented to improve operation. In addition, several modifications to the rock cross vane and fish screen on the East Fork Hilliard Canal are required after the first year of operation in 2021. Beaver Creek is a major tributary for the Henry's Fork of the Green River, which contains several core conservation populations of Colorado River cutthroat trout (CRCT). They are listed as a species of greatest conservation need in the Utah Wildlife Action Plan. While there have been no CRCT sampling efforts done in this stretch of West Beaver Creek, recent telemetry data has documented CRCT movement from the lower mainstem Henry's Fork to the upper reaches and into Beaver Creek. There is currently a watershed-wide effort to improve fish passage in the Henry's Fork drainage by replacing push-up style irrigation diversion dams to rock-vane structures in both Wyoming and Utah. This project involves six ranches, including the Hickey family that owns the Wipple diversion. The current structure is a seasonal fish barrier that often spans the entire creek during low flow periods. This project will improve the diversion to a rock-vane structure that promotes connectivity of CRCT, watershed health and species resiliency.

* Increase slow water instream habitats, large woody debris, habitat complexity, and cutthroat trout spawning habitat on about 1.5 miles of Mill Creek * Further connect the stream channel to the floodplain on Mill Creek * Improve hydraulic capacity and floodplain connectivity at a bridge crossing on Mill Creek * Increase summer stream flows on one mile of lower Carter Creek * Install 3 to 4 beaver dam analogs in the Carter Creek meadow affected by the debris torrent * Improve fish passage with the replacement or modification of two culverts on Carter Creek * Operate and maintain fish screens on the East Fork Bear River to protect fish in the presence of increased algal loads * Modify the East Fork Hilliard Canal cross vane and fish screen and Hovarka fish screen to improve diversion practices and fish protection performance * Rebuild the Wipple irrigation diversion to be fish passable and reconnect CRCT populations in the West Fork of Beaver Creek and the mainstem of the Henry's Fork River. * Improve water quality in West Fork of Beaver Creek by reducing sediment loading that results from the annual push-up dam construction and maintenance of the Wipple diversion. *Assess additional streams across the North Slope for future work using same restoration methods in this project.

Over one hundred years ago, the Mill Creek stream channel crossed an ecological threshold with its use for splash damming and log drives. The stream channel is still simplified, straightened, and structurally starved since these practices occurred. An ecological shift was created at that time and it will likely be impossible to restore stream function and processes on a practical time scale without intervention. Similarly, the landslide and debris torrent on Upper Carter Creek resulted in large effects and changes in the stream's structure and function with the loss of beavers and their dams. It's desired to shorten the timeframe for beaver reestablishment and the stream process and habitat benefits they provide. If the Wipple diversion in Beaver Creek is not improved, the landowners will continue to use the push-up dam resulting in fragmented CRCT populations and increased sediment instream. A diversion dam is listed as a priority threat in the Utah Wildlife Action Plan because they can "include complete dewatering of downstream reaches, habitat and population degradation, fragmentation, and loss..." The diversion construction will take place concurrently with other diversion improvement projects in the area in Wyoming, so equipment and mobilization costs can be minimized if funding is provided at this time.

1) Utah Wildlife Action Plan 2015: BCT and Boreal/Western Toad are both N4 species, Northern Leatherside Chub are an N3 species, and Colorado River Cutthroat Trout are a N2 species. All species will benefit from the restoration and reconnection work proposed. 2) UDWR Strategic Plan: this project will help the UDWR meet its Resource Goal, which is to "expand wildlife populations and conserve sensitive species by protecting and improving wildlife habitat. This project will specifically address objectives 2 and 3 of the UDWR Resource Goal, which are to (1) "increase fish and game populations to meet management plan objectives and expand quality fishing and hunting opportunities," and to (2) "conserve sensitive species to prevent them from becoming listed as threatened or endangered." 3) UDWR Upper Bear River Management Plan (hydrologic unit 16010101): Identifies tie-hacking as a physical issue and suggests a solution to "evaluate potential channel rehabilitation projects, including installation of in-stream structures" [page 9]. It also cites migration barriers and habitat fragmentation as a physical issue and a solution to "provide connectivity as appropriate by modifying diversion structures, improving passage at culverts, etc." Also noted is dewatering as an issue and a solution of "working with private landowners to provide minimum stream flows during the summer months on affected streams..." [page 9]. 4) Bonneville Cutthroat Trout Conservation Agreement and Strategy (signed by all states within historic range): The goal of the BCT CAS is to (1) "ensure the long-term existence of BCT within its historic range [page 2]. This project will also help to address the specific objective of supporting additional BCT conservation populations in the Bear River in Utah [Table 2]. 6) UDWR Rangewide Conservation Agreement and Strategy for Northern leatherside chub: The goal of this effort is to (1) "ensure the long-term persistence of northern leatherside chub within its historic range". Achievement of this goal requires implementation of conservation elements such as to "restore habitat where possible, creating habitat complexity and connectivity for northern leatherside" (page 34). 7) Boreal Toad (Bufo boreas boreas) Conservation Plan. 8) Conservation Strategy for Colorado River Cutthroat Trout in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming: This project will enhance a population of CRCT by maintaining population connectivity and access to a variety of habitats. It meets the goal of assuring long-term viability of CRCT where threats are eliminated or reduced. It also meets its objective of enhancing watershed conditions. The strategy states that "fragmented streams restrict movement between formerly connected populations, leaving small isolated populations that may be more vulnerable to stochastic events that can lead to extinction." It will also reduce the threat of compromised water quality through increased sedimentation caused by a push-up dam.

Trees will be harvested on the Hidden Bear Ranch for the woody debris additions on Mill Creek. Forests on the ranch are composed of thick lodgepole pine stands that have not seen fire in many decades. Previous owners of the ranch implemented thinning practices to reduce fuels and improve conditions for potential wildlfire. Continued harvesting for the stream treatments will continue to improve forest conditions. The addition of wood to the stream channel will also improve the connection to the floodplain and the expansion of its water retaining capacity. This will improve the fire resistance of the riparian area. Although the Wipple diversion in the West Fork of Beaver Creek project will not directly address fire and fuels, it will improve the connectivity of critical tributary habitat and ensures that a core population of CRCT will have access to a broader array of habitats. This improves population resiliency in the event of a fire or flood. Future stream projects will use stream side lodgepole pines which have encroached and died due to beetle kill. These trees will add large woody debris, stream roughness, and fish habitat.

Stream restoration work proposed on Mill Creek will promote water quality. Improving the stream connection to the floodplain will increase sediment storage and retention on the floodplain. Currently, fine sediment deposition is very apparent and widespread in the simplified and straightened main stream channel. Sediment is likely coming from upstream land management practices and past widlfires. Adding large wood to the stream will increase habitat complexity and heterogeneity so that sediment will be deposited in some habitats, but not be broadly deposited throughout the stream. Water quantity will be improved in Carter Creek with the implementation of a water lease. Over one mile of lower Carter Creek can then sustain fishes and other aquatic life year round. The Wipple diversion improvement project will benefit water quality by no longer requiring the producers to operate heavy equipment in the creek annually to build and maintain the diversion. This will reduce sediment loading caused by such a disturbance. The fish-passable structure will improve the passage of debris and sediment during high-flow periods, such as run-off. The existing push-up structure backs-up flows and increases erosion along upstream banks.

Stream alteration permit applications will be submitted to the Utah Division of Water Rights and the Army Corps of Engineers for: 1) Mill and Carter creeks restoration (including habitat practices, culverts, and the diversion rebuild); and 2) West Fork Beaver Creek diversion rebuild. Utah DWR will complete the archeology clearance for the project. Trout Unlimited will work with the Hidden Bear Ranch on the water lease details and submit a change application to the Utah Division of Water Rights. The maximum period of a lease is ten years, where after if the lease is not renewed, then it reverts to its prior irrigation use.

On Mill Creek, we will use low-tech process-based restoration to reverse the legacy logging and tie drive impacts and restore the natural processes of wood accumulation and increase the effectiveness of beaver dam activity on the main channel. There is ample woody material in the form of excess fuel-loading on the uplands on the Hidden Bear Ranch. Some of this is already part of ongoing treatments to reduce fuel loading and improve forest health and the non-commercially viable biproducts make excellent building materials for hand-built low-tech woody debris structures (e.g. post-assisted log structures). The remaining materials will be sourced from conifer encroachment into the valley bottom (where present indicating dryer conditions, less flooding). A field reconnaissance revealed that most of Mill Creek on the Hidden Bear Ranch was structurally starved from a woody debris perspective. We intend to treat these sections with a high-density of woody debris jam (40-60 jams per mile). These hand-built structures are not intended to be permeant fixtures, but instead promote the key processes of natural wood accumulation and beaver dam activity on the mainstem. These processes would accelerate recovery processes of widening and aggrading the entrenched channel and increasing connectivity with the floodplain. At the Hidden Bear Ranch bridge on Mill Creek, we will install two floodplain culverts of about 3 feet diameter within the roadbed approaches to the bridge to increase floodplain connectivity and decrease flood flow routing under the bridge. This will be increasingly important as the connectivity of the floodplain is increased with the proposed low-tech process-based restoration. We will rebuild the existing irrigation diversion on Carter Creek to support a water lease. We will install a rock diversion structure in Carter Creek to create the water elevation necessary to turn water into the canal without the need for the pole and tarp set up this is currently used. We will also install a screw headgate with wing walls that will be used to regulate the water flow into the canal. To measure the leased water back to the stream, we will install a bypass channel from the canal to the creek that will include a measuring flume with an electronic recording device. The bypass channel will also have a screw headgate to regulate the leased water flow to it. We propose to keep more water in the stream during the later portion of the irrigation season (July to September) by leasing water from the Hidden Bear Ranch under Utah state statute. A total of three to four beaver dam analogs in two locations will be built on Upper Carter Creek that was affected by the debris torrent. These structures will be built by hand by Hill Air Force Base personnel. We will replace an undersized culvert on Carter Creek with a larger diameter culvert by embedding the culverts into the stream bed bottom to improve hydraulic capacity and fish passage. Also, an existing culvert on Carter Creek that is currently perched will be reset and embedded into the stream bed to improve passage. Trout Unlimited will hire a seasonal intern to operate and maintain the fish screens on the East Fork Bear River from May through August. During high stream flows and algal loads during May and June, the intern will likely need to clean the screen on a near daily basis. As stream flow and algal loads subside in July and August, then less frequent operation and maintenance will be required. TU will also contract with an engineering firm to assess any modifications to the rock cross vane at the East Fork Hilliard Canal diversion. A construction contractor will provide an excavator to make any adjustments to the diversion structure. Modifications to the fish screen will include an enhanced retaining wall and gravel additions to the maintenance walkway. The Hovarka fish screen may also be modified to facility better operation and cleaning with higher algal loads. For the Wipple diversion on Beaver Creek, a 42" headgate will be installed at the point of diversion to improve water delivery and give the producers the ability to completely shut-off the diversion when not needed. One rock cross vane will be installed downstream of the headgate, using approximately 45CY of rock. Large local cobble will be placed just above the headgate and on the eastern bank to repair existing erosion and narrow the channel.

As part of the Low-Tech Process Based Restoration of Riverscapes Planning phase on Mill Creek, we will identify riverscape health and fisheries indicators. We will quantify a baseline of those indicators, identify historic (pre logging) estimates, and estimate recovery potential ranges for each. These will form the basis for design of a first phase (this proposal) of treatment and expectations about whether maintenance or additional phases might be necessary to achieve sustainable levels of the processes of wood accumulation and beaver dam activity. We will use the Low-Tech Process Based Restoration Implementation and Monitoring Protocol (https://fmltpbr.riverscapes.xyz/) to monitor riverscape response, and track indicators identified in planning. Most of the riverscape health indicators are easily monitored using rapid field surveys and mapping from high resolution imagery (e.g. UAV flights and/or Google Earth). As part of the LTPBR planning, an Adaptive Management Plan is produced which will elaborate the specific monitoring plan and methods, actionable triggers, and what would constitute "sustainable" maintenance of the processes this proposed project will mimic and promote. The Utah State University Restoration Consortium is planning to continue the collection of monitoring data on this project beyond the first year of this proposal. Data will be collected as part of teaching and training exercises for student classes and workshops. This will provide information to inform an adaptive management process for the project over time and assess any additional treatments beyond phase 1. We will partner with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the U. S. Forest Service to monitor fish densities. Both organizations have existing fisheries monitoring sites in the area, including specifically on the Hidden Bear Ranch and on Carter Creek. These sites will be repeated prior to the LTPBR work using standard backpack electrofishing methods that have been used in the past. These will establish a pre-project baseline in combination with data from past years. These fish monitoring sites can then be repeated post-project to assess changes. We will use a water measurement Parshall flume on the irrigation diversion bypass to monitor the leased stream flows on Carter Creek. An electronic water level sensor will be installed in the flume. These recorded water levels can then be converted to flow rates to assess the timing and delivery of leased flows to the lower one mile of Carter Creek and into Mill Creek. The TU Project Manager will maintain, check, download, and compile all flow monitoring data The Wipple diversion project will be visually inspected for at least 3 years post-construction by Trout Unlimited staff to ensure it is functioning properly for fish passage and the producers. Photos and reports will be submitted to document project success. If the structure's ability to pass fish is questionable, TU will coordinate with DWR to document whether fish are passing the structure or not. TU and DWR plan to include this area in future CRCT sampling efforts to monitor population changes.

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Trout Unlimited, private landowners, private water rights holders, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Hill Air Force Base, Utah State University Restoration Consortium

The Mill Creek restoration work is intended to provide a template for landowners on other North Slope Uinta streams that have channelized and degraded stream habitat to pursue low-tech process based restoration. It's hoped that the restoration work on Mill and Carter creeks will also provide precedents for other land and water rights holders in the Mill Creek drainage. Mill Creek is a very important stream for migratory cutthroat trout in the Bear River in both Utah and Wyoming. TU conducted a radio-telemetry study from 2011 to 2014. Mill Creek had more radio-tagged cutthroat trout from the Bear River use it for spawning than any other tributary. One cutthroat trout migrated upstream to near the proposed project area on the Hidden Bear Ranch. Utah State University's Restoration Consortium will use the Mill Creek project as a demonstration project and teaching tool. Future monitoring on the project beyond the immediate work proposed herein will be completed through this means to quantify project succession. After the Wipple diversion in constructed, the Hickey family will assume responsibility for structure maintenance. TU plans to continue outreach to other Utah producers in the area to expand the diversion improvement effort and further enhance CRCT connectivity.

Timber harvest and biomass utilization for the stream restoration on the Hidden Bear Ranch will improve sustained use of the forest resources. The improvement of stream habitat and fish use on Mill Creek should improve the use of the stream for fishing. Given that the ranch is about two miles from the forest, then it's possible these activities could also benefit fish and fishing for the public. The improved Wipple diversion structure will benefit multiple stakeholders, including agriculture, fisheries and recreation. The irrigation company will benefit from reduced maintenance time and reliable water diversion, which improves their agriculture operations- primarily livestock grazing. The improved CRCT population health and access to habitats will ultimately benefit fishing recreation on Beaver Creek on Forest Service lands. By including benefits for multiple users, we improve collaboration and open new opportunities with those users in the area.

07/01/2023

06/27/2024

2024

On Hidden Bear Ranch a total of 42 instream structures were built comprised of 31 felled tree logs, 5 grip-hoisted tree logs, 3 channel spanning PALS (post-assisted log structure), 1 bank attached PAL, 1 mid-channel PAL, and 1 assisted log structure (Figure 2). Even though a wide diversity of structures were built, most structural forms consisted of three types: channel-spanning, mid-channel, and bank-attached. Channel-spanning structures were designed to increase lateral aggradation of sediment to form plunge or dam pools. Mid-channel structures were designed to increase longitudinal deposition of sediment to form mid-channel bars or islands. Bank-attached structures were designed to widen the channel and form scour pools or bank-attached bars. Additionally we installed two 36 inch culverts on either side of the road to reconnect the floodplain. The Whipple Diversion Improvement Project was completed in December 2023. This project, located on the West Fork of Beaver Creek, reconnected approximately 2 stream miles for native Colorado River cutthroat trout passage in the Henry's Fork River system. Irrigators historically used heavy equipment instream throughout the irrigation season to restructure a channel-spanning gravel berm. This structure was replaced with a rock cross-vane for improved fish passage. A headgate was installed for improved water control and local cobble was placed along the eastern bank to reduce erosion and restore channel function. Project construction was completed mid-December to reduce impacts to the surrounding soils and vegetation. We also employed a fish screen tender for the 2024 irrigation screen to ensure that fish screen operation continued in spite of the high algae loads. The irrigators in the area did not start taking water until Mid may and our fish screen tender visited the sites on a weekly basis to ensure continued operation. A total of four BDAS were also built on the Carter Creek Portion of the Hill AFB by Air Force Base personnel. These BDAS are instrumental in controlling debris from a recent landslide that occurred in Upper Carter Creek.

We were able to complete nearly every portion of the project including the LTPBR on Mill Creek, fish screen tender, and rebuilding a diversion on Beaver creek to all for fish passage. We were not able to complete the work on Carter Creek as the land was sold in the Winter of 2023 and our discussions of the project with the new land owner did not progress fast enough to complete the work. Reports for the LTPBR work and the rebuild of the diversion on Beaver Creek have been uploaded into the documents section.

The Mill Creek LTPBR project was just the start of LTPBR work that will be occurring in the 3-5 years in the Upper Bear River Watershed. We are currently working with the USFS to implement an additional 35 miles of work throughout the five sub basins of the Upper Bear. This work will be both on and off forest with a large focus on Mill Creek and its tributaries. During this process we will re-evaluate the Hidden Bear project and perform maintenance as necessary. Additionally we will be replacing five additional culverts to increase connectivity of the system.