Invasive, fine textured fuels, primarily consisting of red brome (Bromus rubens) and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), fueled a moderate to high intensity wildfire in the summer of 2020. The Turkey Farm Road fire consumed both the shrub canopy and understory vegetation. Soils within the burn are left exposed to wind and water erosion and are now susceptible to invasion by noxious weeds and to the spread of cheatgrass and other non-native annual species. The soils within the fire area have been mapped and described as part of an official soil survey, completed by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). The Turkey Farm Road fire has been classified as "moderately susceptible" to fire damage for the most part indicating that the soil within the burn has features that are moderately favorable for damage to occur. This rating is also directly related to burn severity, which in this case was moderate to high. Therefore, soils within the burn site could be classified as "moderately" to "highly" susceptible for damage to occur after the fire. Based on these findings, past fire history in similar areas, and visits to the burned area, protecting the watershed values and reducing the erosion potential within wildlife habitat would be a priority for the Turkey Farm Road ESR project, and this project is a follow up to treatments that didn't happen in conjunction to the original project. Additionally, containment and control of invasive, non-native species, such as cheatgrass, which may exacerbate erosion potential and fire frequency and severity that would further degrade habitat is also a very high priority. For these reasons we feel it is necessary to spray the herbicide rejuvra onto this site to help with cheatgrass infestations that have already begun and allow the native vegetation to have the competitive advantage. Specifically the proposal is to treat 2 different types of areas. The first is an area that burned in the turkey farm fire and has shown good recovery with native vegetation well on its way to re-establishing, but early evidence of cheatgrass and red brome re-introduction is also there and we desire to decrease its competition with the recovering native vegetation. The second is intact vegetation directly adjacent to the burned area with significant cheatgrass and red brome encroachment. This will allow us to protect the unburned areas from future fires while enhancing the already existing vegetation.

1. Release re-establishing native vegetation from competition from cheatgrass and red brome. 2. Remove cheatgrass and redbrome from intact native vegetation and reduce likelihood of future fires thereby protecting unburned desert tortoise habitat. 3. Reduce sedimentation and erosion.

Cheatgrass has high probability of returning and re-establishing before other plant species due to the nature of this annual grass. As this happens, other plant species struggle to re-establish, which results in the landscape being dominated by cheatgrass. If the area is not rehabilitated with the application of rejuvra or another cheatgrass control, it is expected that a pattern of more fires similar to the Turkey Farm Road Fire will continue to occur within the area. This will in turn result in additional soil loss due to runoff during storm events post fire. This silt and soil loss ends up in the Virgin River and has negative impacts the the protected and endangered fish species. By controlling cheatgrass and the resulting fire cycles we are in turn helping to protect and preserve from future disturbance the River System in which these fish live. Mojave Desert Tortoise are listed as threatened under the ESA and one of the major threats to their habitat is the reduction of fire return intervals due to the increase of invasives like red brome and cheatgrass. It is important to learn how to rehabilitate burned areas to break that fire cycle as well as to protect unburned areas from moving into that cycle of increased frequency of fires.

This action is consistent with the following land use plans and the Normal Year Fire Management Plan. LUP Name: Red Cliffs National Conservation Area Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan (ROD/RMP). Date Approved December 2016. Other relevant Plans and associated NEPA analyses (copies available at BLM's St. George Field Office): Dixie Resource Area Draft Resource Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement; Oct. 1995, Dixie Resource Area Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement; Sept. 1998, Vegetation Treatment on BLM Lands in Thirteen Western States/FEIS; May, 1991 and associated ROD July, 1991 Vegetation PEIS ROD 2007 The Proposed Action is in conformance with the approved Red Cliffs National Conservation Area RMP/ROD because it is specifically provided for in the following management decisions: 6.6 Native Vegetation Communities Goal- Biodiversity, ecological integrity, and ecosystem resilience are conserved, protected, and restored in the unique native vegetation communities created by the convergence of the Mojave Desert, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau ecoregions. VEG-4: Implement landscape-level fuel breaks and hazard fuel reduction projects in partnership with adjacent federal and state land managing agencies. VEG-5: Design fuel breaks and hazard fuel reduction projects to conserve and protect unburned native vegetation communities, evaluating factors such as vegetation types, seasonal wind direction, and expected fire behavior in project planning. VEG-6: Design fuel breaks to incorporate topographic features, water courses, major ephemeral drainages, road networks, and utility corridors, to minimize new surface disturbances and the loss of native vegetation. VEG-7: Design fuel breaks and hazard fuel reduction projects to utilize those methods that are environmentally sensitive and minimize new surface disturbances. VEG-9: Authorize the use of biological controls, targeted grazing, flaming, hand removal, herbicides, mechanical methods, or a combination of methods to develop fuel breaks and hazard fuel reduction projects (see Table 3 for descriptions of each method).* *Mechanical Mowing, weed-whipping, cutting (chainsaw), and brush removal. Good for small to medium-scale targets, possible negative impacts to habitat by equipment (such as soil compaction, creation of disturbed soils, burrow collapse). Treatment of hazard fuels for fire control. Removal of invasive species as pretreatment before restoration seeding. Cutting to remove exotic tree species. *Herbicides Spraying individual plants or populations, sometimes in conjunction with stump-cutting. Spraying specific project areas. Good for small to large scale projects, cost-effective weed control, essential for eradication of some problematical species. Negative impacts related to potential human and ecological exposures to chemicals. Target spraying to eradicate or control exotic annuals for hazard fuel reduction or as a means to prepare areas for restoration seeding and/or outplantings with native species. 6.9 ES&R and Other Native Vegetation Community Restoration Goal- Biodiversity, ecological integrity, and ecosystem resilience are restored in disturbed and fire-damaged native vegetation communities.

Cheatgrass is known for its frequent fire cycles, and by slowing the spread of this invasive grass you also lessen the chance of a fire happening in this area. This project would reduce the risk of a wildfire. This project is an FRCC class 2 currently and by treating with the prescribed methods we are hoping that it will move towards a FRCC class 1. This project is also going to protect several values at risk in the area including but not limited to the WUI interface with the adjacent community of Washington City transmission lines and infrastructure that runs around and through this corridor, as well as critical desert tortoise habitat.

This project is located in the Upper Virgin River drainage where the natural flow of water runs through the town of St. George, Utah and eventually to Lake Mead, Nevada. This restoration project will stabilize the topsoil, prevent erosion and soil loss, and reduce negative water quality effects of the Virgin River due to silting and erosion. Establishing and supporting a healthy plant community is critical to reduce erosion and protect the Upper Virgin River Basin, and will, with a normal water absorption rate and normal precipitation in the area, serve to recharge the aquifer in a very arid desert location. These water systems are prone to flash floods during precipitation events and burned areas contribute significantly to sedimentation in these flash events. Re-establishing and/or protecting areas of unburned habitat will help mitigate the sedimentation and erosion during these flash flood events.

Treatment will be occurring exclusively on state owned lands. There is also no ground disturbing activities planned. As such there is no NEPA or Archeology component required prior to implementation. Rejuvra, which initially was marketed as Esplenade, was rebranded as Rejuvra due to a label change allowing for use in grazed areas making it available for a more broad use.

We plan to contract the application of the chemical to the site by means of helicopter application. DWR will purchase the chemical and provide it to the company that will be applying it. We plan to apply the chemical at the label rate (7oz/acre) to control the cheatgrass.

These treatment will be monitored each year for five years (2022-2026) and an annual monitoring summary report will be completed by early September each year. A number monitoring studies in conjunction with the BLM adjacent will be established. These sites will be established in both the chaining treatment and non-chaining treatment aerially seeded sites using the AIM method, and we plan to have some of these sites fall within this rejuvra treatment area to be monitored.

Extensive discussions have occured with multiple partners in regards to this project. We have worked with SITLA on a similar project where we applied rejuvra on an unburned state section at T-Bone Mesa during the turkey farm fire rehab and seek to continue that partnership with protecting these other unburned or re-establishing state lands. We have also discussed the use of the same idea on BLM lands with BLM staff and while they are not yet authorized to conduct similar treatments they are excited about its use on state lands and working toward authorization on BLM. Finally, Washington County has also been a good partner. They have been treating transmission corridors, trails, roads, and other right of ways in similar ways to protect from the risk of fires starting on these corridors and have expressed a desire to contribute financially to this project as well.

The decision of the RMP for the purpose of the Red Cliffs NCA is the following: To conserve, protect, and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations the ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural, educational, and scientific resources of the National Conservation Area; and to protect each species that is located in the National Conservation Area; and listed as a threatened or endangered species on the list of threatened species or the list of endangered species published under... the Endangered Species Act of 1973. (OPLMA Section 1974 (a)) These are the goals and guides for the management of this areas presently and for the foreseeable future. Specifically, the NCA will be managed to enhance habitat for the desert tortoise. Promoting vegetation that is beneficial to provide forage and cover for this species is way management practice to accomplish this goal. Also establishing fire resistant and resilient plant species will help in the purpose of the Red Cliffs NCA. This is the management plan for the Red Cliffs NCA, and these SITLA and State Owned Lands are managed for the most part under the same management plan, with the exception that they are more flexible on the practices that are allowable and as such this is why we are able to use Rejuvra on these lands were they are currently prohibited on the Federal BLM lands that are part of the Red Cliffs NCA.

The uses for this area are the following: To be a reserve for wildlife particularly for the threatened desert tortoise. To preserve cultural/historic sites. Also it is recreational area for public use with a trail system for biking, hiking, and horse back riding. As range land the area serves as a watershed resouces when vegetation conditions are healthy and functioning. When soil erosion is mitigated and water from precipitation inflitrates soil the range land is functioning properly.