The 2018 Goose Creek fire burned 132,220 acres within the Grouse Creek drainage and threatened the entire communities of Grouse Creek and Etna, Utah. The increase of juniper and woody plants was a factor in the severity and intensity of the Goose Creek fire. This project is intended to reduce standing woody material and decrease the threat of high severity wildfire to the rural community of Grouse Creek. Additionally, the project will increase resiliency of the vegetative community, expand sagebrush habitat, and provide additional forage for livestock and wildlife. In 2007, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) completed a project entitled, Spatial Modeling of the Cumulative Effects of Land Management Actions on Ecological Systems of the Grouse Creek Mountains--Raft River Mountains Region, Utah. The project was designed to help land managers understand the impacts of past management activities and predict the outcome of future management decisions. The final report concluded that the ecological departure from reference conditions for areas of Wyoming big sagebrush were 99%. Reference conditions include geographic distribution, biophysical setting, vegetation composition, disturbance regimes, structural vegetation classes (i.e., early, mid-development & closed, mid-development & open, late-development & open, and late development & closed) and their dynamics, and the mean fire return intervals for surface, mixed severity, and replacement fire. Knowledge of ecological departure from a range of reference conditions provides a critical context for managing sustainable ecosystems. Among other things, sagebrush systems within the analysis area have changed substantially due to increased juniper densities and the presence of cheatgrass in the understory. This increased fuel loading potentially increases fire threat to the nearby community of Grouse Creek.

1) Mitigate fire, conifer expansion, and invasive species, which are major threats to the sage brush habitat. 2) Increase available soil water for other plant species by removing competition from trees. 3) Create, expand, and/or improve habitat for greater sage-grouse that could be occupied immediately after treatment. 4) Retain areas where appropriate for movement and thermal cover of mule deer and other wildlife species. 5) Reduce crown fire potential and fuel loading by decreasing juniper cover to less than 5% immediately post treatment. 6) Improve ecosystem resiliency and meet habitat objectives defined by the BLM Utah Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment by increasing perennial grass and forb cover >10% and >5% respectively by 3 years post treatment.

Due to large-scale fire suppression through the past century, pinyon and juniper have moved downslope, into sagebrush communities. Continuing variability in climate could further allow conifer expansion, as drought tolerant conifers are able to exploit open spaces left by other native species. Greater sage-grouse are a species of concern across their range. Conifer expansion and infilling has been identified as a threat to greater sage-grouse; therefore, the removal of these conifers could help create and improve habitat for greater sage-grouse. This project focuses on juniper removal as a means to maintain healthy sagebrush habitat. Sagebrush habitat is at risk of being lost due to excessive juniper, subsequent wildfire, and high potential for cheatgrass invasion. High severity wildfire could lead to an Increase in cheatgrass and loss of perennial native species. This project will decrease the risk of crossing an ecological threshold and high severity wildfire by reducing fuel loading and promoting the growth of sagebrush and perennial understory species which are critical to maintaining ecosystem function and resilience.

The proposal is related to 14 management plans and policies containing multiple objectives. 1) Box Elder Resource Management Plan (BLM 1986), as amended: a) While the action is not specifically mentioned in the original plan, Wildlife Program Decision 6 (forage use) and Decision 7 (protect habitat values) apply to the action and the action is specifically mentioned in the 1998 Salt Lake District Fire Management Plan Amendment. 2) Salt Lake District Proposed Fire Management Plan Amendment (BLM 1998): a) Alternative 2-Proposed Action/Integrated Fire/Resource Management Plan (page 7-8) specifically mentions the action, and is consistent with the objectives identified above to emphasize greater use of vegetation management to meet resource management objectives. b) This project is within the Fire Management Unit B04 26. Within this Unit, vegetation management would include a wide variety of management activities including mechanical manipulation, seeding to less flammable and more desirable species, fuel break establishment, and other strategies which will improve the fire regime condition class. Treatments will be located in areas where they will reduce the threat of large uncontrolled fires, create small mosaics of impacted area to increase "edge effect" and improve wildlife and plant diversity, and mitigate impacts to local wildlife. 3) Utah Greater Sage-Grouse Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment (BLM 2019): a) Objective SSS-1: Enhance or improve GRSG habitat (e.g., through restoration or rehabilitation activities) within PHMA that has been impaired or altered. b) Objective SSS-3: In PHMA, where sagebrush is the current or potential dominant vegetation type or is a primary species within the various states of the ecological site description, maintain or restore vegetation to provide habitat for lekking, nesting, brood rearing, and winter habitats. c) Objective SSS-4: Within PHMA, increase the amount and functionality of seasonal habitats by: i) Maintaining or increasing sagebrush in perennial grasslands, where needed to meet the Habitat Objectives for Greater Sage-Grouse (Table 2-2 in the Utah Greater Sage-Grouse ARMPA), unless there is a conflict with Utah prairie dog. ii) Reducing conifer (e.g., pinyon/juniper) from areas that are most likely to support GRSG at a rate that is at least equal to the rate of encroachment. iii) Reducing the extent of invasive annual grasslands. iv) Maintaining or improving corridors for migration or movement between seasonal habitats, as well as for long-term genetic connections between populations. v) Maintaining or improving understory (grass, forb) and/or riparian condition within breeding and late brood-rearing habitats. vi) Conducting vegetation treatments based on the following 10-year (decadal) acreage objectives: For the Rich population area for mechanical treatments the objective is 40,700 acres; for annual grass treatments the objective is 6,800 acres. vii) Outside PHMA (in adjacent opportunity areas) improve and restore historical GRSG habitat to support GRSG populations and to maintain or enhance connectivity. d) Objective SSS-5: Participate in local GRSG conservation efforts (e.g., the appropriate State of Utah agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and local working groups) to implement landscape-scale habitat conservation, to implement consistent management to benefit GRSG, and to gather and use local research and monitoring to promote the conservation of GRSG. e) MA-VEG-1: In PHMA, where necessary to meet GRSG habitat objectives, treat areas to maintain and expand healthy GRSG habitat (e.g., conifer encroachment areas and invasive annual grasslands). f) MA-VEG-2: Remove conifers encroaching into sagebrush habitats, in a manner that considers tribal cultural values. g) MA-VEG-4: In PHMA, include GRSG habitat objectives in restoration/treatment projects. Include short-term and long-term habitat conditions in treatment objectives, including specific objectives for the establishment of sagebrush cover and height, as well as cover and heights for understory perennial grasses and forbs necessary for GRSG seasonal habitats (see Objective SSS-3). h) MA-FIRE-3: In PHMA, fuel treatments will be designed through an interdisciplinary process to expand, enhance, maintain, or protect GRSG habitat. 4) Rangeland Health Standards and Guidelines for Healthy Rangelands. BLM Utah State Office (1997). Standard 3: a) Desired species...are maintained at a level appropriate for the site and species involved. As indicated by: frequency, diversity, density, age classes, and productivity of desired native species necessary to ensure reproductive capability and survival. 5) Utah Conservation Plan for Greater Sage-Grouse (UDWR 2019): a) Conservation goal: Protect, maintain and increase sage-grouse populations within the established SGMAs throughout Utah. b) Habitat Objective: Protect, maintain and increase sage-grouse habitats within SGMAs at or above 2013 baseline disturbance levels. c) Conservation Strategy 2: Implement the actions outlined in EO/002/2015 and related MOUs, along with the Governor's Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy, relevant sections of State code, and the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, to reduce the size, severity and frequency of wildfires in and adjacent to SGMAs: i) 2A. Coordinate across relevant state agencies to ensure maximum conservation and risk reduction benefit to sage-grouse populations on all land management projects, prescribed fires, and fire suppression actions in and adjacent to SGMAs. d) Conservation Strategy 4b: Work with federal, state and private landowners to protect an average of at least 5,000 acres annually of the highest-priority habitats identified in 4(a) through voluntary conservation covenants, leases, easements, transfers, acquisitions or other legal or regulatory tools. e) Conservation Strategy 4c: Using Utah's Watershed Restoration Initiative (WRI), remove conifer as appropriate in areas protected in 4(b) to ensure that existing functional habitats remain intact. Conservation Strategy 4e: Increase sage-grouse habitats by using the WRI--and other state, federal and private partnerships--to restore or create 50,000 acres of habitat within or adjacent to occupied habitats each year, in addition to those acres identified in 4(d). 6) Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) Conservation Objectives: Final Report. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Denver, CO. February 2013: a) General Conservation Objectives: 1. Stop population declines and habitat loss. 2. Implement targeted habitat management and restoration. b) Specific Conservation Objectives: 1. Retain sage-grouse habitats within PAC's. 3. Restore and rehabilitate degraded sage-grouse habitats in PAC's. c) Conservation Objective: Maintain and restore healthy native sagebrush plant communities within the range of sage-grouse d) Conservation Objective: Remove pinyon/juniper from areas of sagebrush that are most likely to support sage-grouse (post-removal) at a rate that is at least equal to the rate of pinyon/juniper incursion. i) Prioritize the use of mechanical treatments. ii) Reduce juniper cover in sage-grouse habitats to less than 5% but preferably eliminate entirely. iii) Employ all necessary management actions to maintain the benefit of juniper removal for sage-grouse habitats. 7) Utah Wildlife Action Plan. DWR Publication Number 15-14, State of Utah, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife Resources, Effective 2015-2025: a) The proposed action supports mitigating threats to Lowland Sagebrush including: i) Promoting policies and management that allow fire to return to a more natural regime. ii) Promoting policies that reduce inappropriate grazing by domestic livestock, feral domesticated animals, and wildlife. iii) Promoting and funding restoration that reduces the Uncharacteristic class, including cutting/mulching/chaining of invading pinyon and juniper trees, herbicide or mechanical treatment of non-native invasive species such as cheatgrass and secondary perennial weed species, and rehabilitation of burned areas following wildfire. iv) Promoting management that includes seeding a diversity of grasses, forbs and shrubs that will lead to increased resiliency and resistance in the plant community. 8) Utah Mule Deer Statewide Management Plan 2019-2024. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources: a) Section IV Statewide Management Goals and Objectives. This proposal will address Habitat Objective 2: Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 500,000 acres of crucial range by 2024 (see pages 19 and 20). i) Strategy B: Work with land management agencies, conservation organizations, private landowners, and local leaders through the regional Watershed Restoration Initiative working groups to identify and prioritize mule deer habitats that are in need of enhancement or restoration. ii) Strategy D: Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat with emphasis on drought or fire damaged sagebrush winter ranges, ranges that have been taken over by invasive annual grass species, and ranges being diminished by encroachment of conifers into sagebrush or aspen habitats, ensuring that seed mixes contain sufficient forbs and browse species. iii) Strategy F: Encourage land managers to manage portions of pinion-juniper woodlands and aspen/conifer forests in early successional stages. 9) Utah Mule Deer Unit #1 Management Plan: a) Pinyon-juniper encroachment on summer and winter range in Unit 1A is increasing resulting in less forage and increased fire risk. b) Additional threats and losses to deer summer and winter range in the West Box Elder area is the reduction in habitat quality due to the loss of critical browse species (sagebrush, bitterbrush etc). c) To address habitat quality and degradation, habitat improvement projects have been, and will continue to be planned throughout the unit. Through annual grass control and shrub plantings, and pinyon-juniper thinning/removal on summer, winter, and transitional range in West Box Elder. d) In critical winter range habitat, Pinyon-Juniper expansion is a crucial aspect of winter browse species loss. Projects that address the removal of P/J from these areas are of high importance and should be addressed whenever possible. e) These projects should be done on public and private lands when the opportunity is available. Addressing these needs on private land is crucial as a large majority of winter range falls on private lands. All tools that are available should be considered, such as chaining, lop and scatter, bullhog removal, and chemical removal as well. In accomplishing the removal of P/J on private land, private landowners' needs should also be considered. f) Devil's Playground, Emigrant Pass, and Warm Springs Hill, Park Valley and Rosette. Projects on the east side of the Grouse Creek Range and south slope of the Raft River range should be focused on removal of encroaching pinyon-juniper, and reestablishing understory with summer and winter browse species as well as species of plants that can be used in the spring by wintering deer. 10) West Box Elder Coordinated Resources Management Plan: a) Vegetation cover is managed to promote infiltration and recharge. Continue On-going Public and Private Pinyon/Juniper Treatments. b) To maintain momentum, continue on-going treatment efforts, using mechanical means as well as fire to remove encroaching pinyon/juniper and reseeding areas with shrubs, grasses, and forbs, and ensure maintenance of areas treated in the past. c) Recognize and publicize successful treatments in maps, on websites, and in end-of-season press releases. d) Winter Rangeland Improvement. Implement Forage Improvements. Based on the results of the forage assessment, seek funding for recommended improvements. Start with projects on private land to avoid extended timeframes associated with NEPA review and other agency procedures. 11) The Utah Smoke Management Plan (1999, 2006 revision): a) By using mechanical mastication this plan will accomplish Goal #5, Use of alternative methods to burning for disposing of or reducing the amount of wildland fuels on lands in the State (p3). 12) State of Utah Hazard Mitigation Plan (March 2011): a) This plan accomplishes statewide goals including, 1) Protection of natural resources and the environment, when considering mitigation measures and 2) Minimize the risk of wildfire (p12). 13) A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy Implementation Plan (U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service 2002): a) 1) Improve fire prevention and suppression; 2) Reduce hazardous fuels; and 3) Maintain and restore fire adapted ecosystems. 14) Secretarial Order 3336 -- Implementation Plan: Rangeland, Fire Prevention, Management and Restoration. a) Section 7b(iii) -- Expand the focus on fuels reduction opportunities and implementation b) Section 7b(iv) -- Fully integrate the emerging science of ecological resiliency into design of habitat management, fuels management, and restoration projects.

Fire is a significant threat to sagebrush habitat and juniper is a major driver of high severity wildfire into sagebrush systems. Greater sage-grouse regularly occupy the surrounding area, and this project will help protect and preserve approximately 2,700 acres of habitat by decreasing fuel loads and fire potential. Although the proposed project area appears to be within historic values of fire regime, the condition is highly departed from historic norms. Removing juniper trees and seeding with perennial species will promote improvements in condition class and restore vegetation to align with desired conditions.

There is growing evidence that removal of conifers can increase available soil water and snow retention (Deboodt et al. 2005, Kormos et al. 2016, Roundy et al. 2014). In a water limited area such as the Grouse Creek Valley, removing juniper could result in increased available soil water by as much as 6-20 days. This additional water results in more vigorous understory plant growth with leads to greater ecosystem resiliency and increased forage for wildlife and livestock. In areas where understory species are depleted, removing the junipers and seeding perennial grasses and forbs could decrease run-off and erosion and increase soil infiltration.

NEPA has been completed for this project. A cultural resource inventory on the proposed treatment area will be completed prior to implementation.

Up to 100% of existing juniper will be removed through mastication and lop & scatter. Trees with old-growth characteristics will be avoided. The work will be contracted and will likely occur fall 2023. Areas where understory species are lacking will be aerially seeded with a perennial grass/forb mix prior to mastication. Corridors beneficial to mule deer will be identified will be and retained for movement and thermal cover. Treated areas that overlap with pinyon jay core areas (Tack 2021) and identified with local researchers and feathered into the landscape, areas of pinyon if identified, would not be treated.

Because most of the project area is within previous bullhog treatment, multiple monitoring plots have already been established. Additional tri spoke plots will be established and read within 1st entry units. Vegetation and ground cover data will be collected using the line-point intercept method and nested frequency. Photos will be taken and a qualitative site condition assessment completed. Data will be collected pre, 1, 3, and 5 years post treatment. Songbird occupancy surveys will be conducted pre-,two years -, and five years post treatment.

BLM is the primary project proponent but has received input from UDWR and SITLA regarding treatment methods and design. Approximately 30 acres of SITLA are proposed for treatment. BLM has submitted a Range Improvement Application to SITLA for their review and approval. The West Box Elder Coordinated Resource Management Group has reviewed the project and voted to support it. Coordination with permittees will occur to ensure that seeded areas are rested for a minimum of two growing seasons.

This area will be maintained as sagebrush habitat. Potential threats could include noxious weed invasion, cheatgrass invasion, cross country OHV use, and re-invasion of juniper trees. Periodic visual inspection, photo points, and vegetation monitoring will occur to assess current conditions and track trends over time. Slashing young juniper trees could be implemented as soon as 10-15 years after the project to increase the longevity of the proposed treatment.

Where pinyon/juniper dominates they outcompete understory vegetation for water and nutrients. Over time, these understory species become less productive and vigorous and eventually die out. Removing juniper releases understory grasses and forbs from competition which increases plant vigor and rangeland productivity. Pinyon/juniper removal treatments alone help increase forage quantity and quality for livestock but are especially effective when combined with seeding perennial grasses and forbs where depleted. These treatments will increase forage value within the Dry Canyon allotment. These treatments will also help support recreation and hunting by maintaining healthy sagebrush ecosystems which are critical to wildlife.

11/11/2023

11/21/2024

2025

In fall 2023, a hand crew with chainsaws cut juniper regrowth and trees smaller than 12 inches in diameter at root collar on 905 acres. In fall 2024, multiple machines were used to mulch juniper on 744 acres. Aerial seeding with a grass, forb seed mix was completed on all acres prior to mastication.

This project was designed to expand and protect sagebrush habitat near Grouse Creek, Utah. Some of the area had been previously thinned but this project removed trees from earlier treatments and expanded into adjacent areas, including lands managed by SITLA. This area is particularly important habitat for greater sage-grouse and mule deer. Summitt Forests Inc. out of Ashland, Oregon was awarded the lop and scatter contract for $57.15/acre. The majority of the cutting was small trees and whips and they were able to complete 905 acres in 7 days using a 12 man crew. The contract specified leaving trees greater than 12 inches diameter at root collar. Seven-hundred-forty-four acres were identified for mastication. Of the 744 acres, 397 had been thinned by mastication previously. All acres were aerially seeded prior to mastication by Hammond Helicopter for $16.50/ac. The seeding was completed in one day (November 8). Retroscape Inc. was awarded the bullhog contract for $266/ac and completed the work using two machines. The contractor worked efficiently and the work was finished on time and within specs.

This area will be managed as sagebrush habitat in the long term. The treatment area will be maintained over time by removing juniper regrowth. Vegetation monitoring will continue to occur for at least 5 years post-treatment. If necessary, herbicide may be used throughout treated areas to control cheatgrass and noxious weeds. Rest from grazing will occur for a minimum of two growing seasons following the aerial seeding and mastication treatment.