As part of the Globally Important Bird Area designation of Gilbert Bay by BirdLife International, Gillmor Sanctuary and other wetlands of the South Shore host many migrant and breeding shorebird, waterfowl, and other waterbird species as it is a major stopover for birds on their way to their northern and southern designations. 25 of the 42 species of shorebirds observed at Great Salt Lake have been documented at the sanctuary, 9 of which nest there. Shorebirds such as: Snowy Plover (Utah Wildlife Action Plan priority species, International Union for the Conservation of Nature near-threatened, declining); Black-necked Stilt and American Avocet (Partners in Fight Priority Species), Black-bellied Plover, greater and lesser yellowlegs, Willet, Whimbrel, Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Long-billed Dowicher, Wilson's and red-necked phalarope, and many of the sandpipers occur regularly. Waterfowl, such as Tundra Swan, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and Ruddy Duck are common migrants and some commonly breed and rear their young during spring and summer. Common water birds include Western and Clark's grebe, American White Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egrets, Black-crowned Night Heron, White-faced Ibis, and American Coot. The fall can be spectacular with 100's to 1000's of shorebirds on their return migration and over 10,000 single day counts of waterfowl staging before continuing further south for winter. In the mid-1980s Great Salt Lake water levels reached a historic high of 4211.8. At this elevation, salt water from Great Salt Lake inundated the South Shore, leaving only the higher elevation uplands unflooded. Prior to this event, tamarisk was largely absent from the area except for areas along the Goggin Drain. Since the early 1990s, tamarisk has dramatically invaded throughout the South Shore of Great Salt Lake, including the sanctuary, where it became established especially around the periphery of some of the water management units and spread into its uplands. Since then, it has invaded much of the uplands around the Goggin Drain, including an area known as Baileys Lake just west of Salt Lake City International Airport. Audubon has partnered with the Utah Conservation Corps since 2012 to systematically and successfully treat tamarisk one area at a time. However, in December 2020, 413 acres of uplands and wetlands were donated to the sanctuary containing approximately 230 acres of tamarisk. Most of these and adjacent upland properties are invaded by dense tamarisk across ownership boundaries degrading habitat and land use function, while posing major water consumption impacts to the lower watershed. Other areas along the western shore of the sanctuary on State Sovereign Lands and other properties contain tamarisk as well. Total tamarisk acreage to treat during Phase I: 511 acres; total acreage of improvement: 850 acres. Additional acreage to be improved during Phase II: 764 acres. The main concerns related to tamarisk invasion are its high evapotranspiration rates compared to other wetland and riparian plant species; diminished water availability for the watershed; diminished and highly altered habitat quality from native plant cover; physicochemical changes in the soil it invades; providing unnatural nesting sites in the treeless Great Salt Lake ecosystem for species like ravens that prey on native wetland birds; shifting what was once high quality forage and shelter for pronghorn and mule deer to poor quality habitat; and the expense needed to control it. In the tamarisk-invaded areas, native vegetation has been replaced by cheatgrass, soft brome, Japanese brome, Russian tumbleweed, bassia, Russian knapweed and other invasive plants more so than other upland. All leading to low value forage for wildlife and livestock. Healthy uplands of the area (composed of grasslands and shrubs) include native species such as alkali sacaton, sand dropseed, indian ricegrass, western wheatgrass, purple three awn, needle and thread, inland saltgrass, Great Basin wildrye, little barley, and scratchgrass, among others. These species are not distributed homogenously, but tend to have patchy distribution. Examples of forbs and small brush associated with the grasslands are: scarlet globemallow, kochia, fleabane daisy, spreading alkali weed, broom snakeweed, Gardner's saltbush, Nuttal's saltbush, seepweed and pickleweed. Greasewood, iodinebush, shadscale, 4-wing saltbush, disperse throughout the grasslands according to the varying levels of soil salinity and alkalinity as well as depth to groundwater. Sagebrush and rabbitbrush are more associated with the oolitic sand dunes, closer the Great Salt Lake shore. Birds nesting in the grasslands include Northern Harrier, Short-eared and Burrowing owls, Longbilled Curlew, Willet, Cinnamon Teal, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Canada Goose, Western Meadowlark, Lark and Vesper Sparrow. Species which nest in locations away from the area, such as Golden Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk and Prairie Falcon forage year round in the South Shore on mammals, especially rodents and jackrabbits and occasionally on snakes. Rough-legged Hawks occur in the winter. Ferruginous Hawks are there during spring through fall with occasional sitings during winter. Additional species use the grasslands during migration, including Chipping and White-crowned Sparrow. Pronghorn are common at the South Shore and mule deer, less so. Pronghorn are known to breed and rear their young and both they and deer find ample forage, water and shelter there. With the development of the Inland Port in Salt Lake City and the Utah State Correctional Facility less than 1 mile away from South Shore wetlands and uplands, the vast resources provided at the South Shore are becoming acutely more important to conserve for these and other species. Improvement of 850 acres by treating 380 acres of tamarisk dominated land will benefit all species mentioned by opening the landscape with cut stump treatment, reducing the risk of predation by eliminating localized perching and nesting sites for avian predators, increasing water availability in the watershed, letting the loped branches decay over time to return nutrients to the system and provide new habitat for wildlife, allowing more sunlight to reach the ground for germinating native vegetation from naturally available seed stock, improving soil quality by stopping salt concentration augmented by tamarisk, and reducing erosion related to surface water runoff into adjacent playas with increased cover of grasses, forbs and shrubs. This project is planned for two phases. The first phase addresses the lowest part of the watershed where it merges with Great Salt Lake. Phase II will move up the watershed toward Baileys Lake, an ancient meander of the Jordan River with high potential habitat value once tamarisk is eradicated.

Overall goal is to 1) improve nesting and foraging habitat for shorebirds (eg., Snowy Plover, Long-billed Curlew, Willet, Black-necked Stilt and American Avocet) and waterfowl (eg., Cinnamon Teal, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Canada Goose, etc.) and summer range for mule deer and pronghorn throughout the South Shore of the lower Jordan River watershed; and 2) improve water quality and quantity of adjacent wetlands for the many species of shorebirds, waterfowl, wading birds and other wildlife that use them. Objectives: 1) cut stump and treat with herbicide of all young and mature tamarisk; 2) pull tamarisk seedlings along shorelines; 3) map all areas treated to document acreage and location for follow-up treatment; 4) photodocument before and after treatment in representative areas; 5) Coordinate with working partners to accomplish objectives; 6) submit project summary report documenting successful treatment acreage and follow-up treatment plan, and 2nd year treatment plan.

Without management intervention, the dense stands of tamarisk will likely not revert back to an open landscape of native vegetation. Further, they will continue to expand in aerial cover. Since most shorebirds require open landscape to view oncoming predators, adjacent playa wetlands will likely not provide safe and inviting habitat. Presence of dense tamarisk degrades habitat and water quality for waterfowl as well by outcompeting native desired vegetation for forage and nesting as well as increased potential for erosion. Additionally, tamarisk consumes very large quantities of water per day (up to 200 gal per mature tree) via evapotranspiration. With predicted declining precipitation trends due to a changing climate and increasing water use demand, we need to proactively manage the lower Jordan River watershed of the South Shore to conserve water for wetland and upland habitat by removal and control of this invasive species. That Governor Cox declared the state of Utah in extreme drought in 2021 is a significant warning for water security for managed lands. Dense tamarisk stands do not provide quality habitat for pronghorn or mule deer. Without treatment, tamarisk stands will not revert to native grasslands and shrubs required by both species. Of particular concern is the encroaching development related to the Inland Port and Utah State Correctional Facility. These facilities are being developed on some of the last remaining open land in Salt Lake City and County and certainly that near Great Salt Lake. With the development comes a long list of negative impacts toward wildlife and natural resources, emphasizing the importance of improving the project area as wildlife has increasingly less available habitat in the area. South Shore grasslands are important nesting grounds for Long-billed Curlew (not ranked in the WAP but may be locally at risk from increasing disturbance from encroaching development and the drought), Burrowing Owl (S3B, N4B, N4N), and nesting waterfowl and other shorebirds. We have observed a decline in both Long-billed Curlew and Burrowing Owl in recent years at the sanctuary. This was noticeably evident in 2021 where we had zero curlew offspring and only 2 out of 17 previously active Burrowing Owl nests. Thus it is very important to take steps to increase the value and area of grasslands of the South Shore.

Gillmor Sanctuary Management and Conservation Plan: Overall goal is to provide the natural diversity of wetland habitat to support the ecological requirements for all species of birds that occur on Great Salt Lake with a focus on shorebirds. Adaptive management is the tool used to attain a continuum of diverse habitats: 1) adaptively managing the vegetation/lack of vegetation in each water management unit based on target acreage set for each unit; 2) adaptively managing water to provide dynamic varying water depths and to make the timely availability of a macroinvertebrate foraging base for shorebirds. Tamarisk management: Extensive progress has been made in opening up the landscape by treating and pulling tamarisk. Continued efforts will conserve shorebird and other wildlife habitat for the long term at the sanctuary. Indefinite monitoring for new outbreaks of Tamarisk will be necessary as it is prevalent in the South Shore. The threat of loss of saline mudflats and sparsely vegetated shorelines will be abated by controlling tamarisk saplings. The threat of loss of native grasses and shrubs in Gillmor Sanctuary uplands is heightened by tamarisk invasion. Controlling outbreaks will abate the threat of habitat loss for shorebirds, waterfowl and other wildlife. Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Habitat Management Plan: emphasis on priority birds including shorebirds, adaptively managing vegetation to maintain target shorebird and other waterbird habitat. Interestingly, the plan includes silt management details that parallel Gillmor Sanctuary water management strategies for conservation of shorebird habitat: "the silt is not only high in nutrients, but can bury highly saline soils, thereby "freshening" soils and providing optimum germination and growth conditions". Reducing erosion by converting tamarisk stands to grasslands and shrubs complies with this guidance. Intermountain West Joint Venture Shorebird Conservation Plan: to facilitate the long-term conservation of key avian habitat in intermountain and western ecosystems throughout Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Focuses on habitat of all bird species, including shorebirds, waterfowl, raptors, and other families of birds that rely on habitat in the intermountain west. Gillmor Sanctuary lies within the plan area and has a complimentary conservation mission. Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network: mission is to conserve migrating shorebirds and their habitats through a network of key sites across the Americas, with sites extending from Canada, through the United States and Mexico and into South America. Gillmor Sanctuary lies within the plan area and has a complimentary conservation mission. Antelope Island State Park Wildlife Management Plan -- 1 of the 5 core vision elements aligns with Gillmor Sanctuary management and conservation planning for the project area: Implementing policies to attain healthy, sustainable populations of diverse, native plant and animal communities for the non-consumptive beneficial use of the public. Although the sanctuary is not managed for the beneficial use of the public, it is managed to sustain populations of diverse native plant and animal communities. The proposed tamarisk project will contribute toward reverting the project area back to a native dominated plant community that will better support native animal species and livestock. As does the sanctuary, Antelope Island provides a crucial resting stop for thousands of migratory birds each year and its management is focused on sustaining a vibrant ecosystem for birds and other wildlife, including big/upland game species.

While the immediate risk of fuel loading and continuity of hazardous fuels is substantially high, risk will gradually become much lower as loped branches decompose. Treating beyond the sanctuary boundary where dense tamarisk extends into neighboring properties will have a much greater impact than treating the sanctuary alone. The proposed action will protect sensitive and critical wildlife habitat (playa and other wetlands and wildlife that used them as well as grasslands that will develop as a result) and reduce the risk of high to extreme fire danger substantially. (Please see current fire hazard map in documents.) Both Golden Eagle (M) and Ferruginous Hawk (M) are also listed under L3 Inappropriate Fire Frequency and Severity under L2 Fire and Fire Suppression. No major wildfires have occurred in at least 30 years and probably much more. The stand of tamarisk we propose to treat extends well to the east of the sanctuary on privately held and other land and there is an abundance of cheatgrass throughout. We have observed a notable increase in local fires as close as the Salt Lake International Airport (5 miles away) with increasingly hot, dry and windy summer months, posing a risk to our upland habitat that supports these birds and other wildlife. Reducing fuel loading and continuity of hazardous fuels will help protect wildlife and livestock using the South Shore.

Gillmor Sanctuary and other managed wetlands of the South Shore lie directly adjacent to and / or use water sourced from the lower Jordan River through a network of canals. Currently, the lower Jordan River is designated as impaired for dissolved oxygen (DO) and other parameters including dissolved copper, E. coli, OE bioassessment (observed versus expected macroinvertebrate community), Total P, and total dissolved solids. We have been monitoring wetlands within the sanctuary for shorebird and other waterbird use, DO and macroinvertebrates, and have documented good water quality in the areas we currently manage. "Water quality standards associated with this beneficial use protect warm water fish species and other wildlife that depend on an aquatic environment (waterfowl, shorebirds, and the aquatic organisms in their food chains). DO in surface water is used by all forms of aquatic life and is a critical measure of water quality and ecological health" (Jordan River DO TMDL Research Synthesis 2020). The shallow basins of our wetland systems in the South Shore provide much more surface area for water to absorb oxygen from the atmosphere then when it is in a channelized system, and aquatic organisms (microbes, phytoplankton, zooplankton, algae, macroinvertebrates) quickly establish an ecosystem. Biochemical cycles associated with the aquatic life, particularly biological oxygen demand, oxygen production, and nutrient cycling, are supported and the quality of the source water vastly improves. Wetlands are known to be important for water quality improvement and habitat for aquatic life. These improvements tie into beneficial use support for wetlands of Great Salt Lake. The proposed tamarisk treatment areas are adjacent to a very large playa system of an ancient Jordan River delta. One of them is on land recently donated to the sanctuary. Uplands are interspersed throughout these wetlands (some of which have developed marshes and wet meadows) and are used for livestock grazing. The proposed tamarisk treatment will lead to improved vegetative cover of the former understory as salts are leached from the soil and seeds from existing native seed banks germinate with improved exposure to sunlight. Increased vegetative cover (grasses, forbs and shrubs) will reduce erosion from surface water runoff into the playas (a natural source of water for playas) and reduce the risk if silting in these shallow wetland basins. As mentioned above, tamarisk is also known to consume very large quantities of water per day (up to 200 gal per mature tree) via evapotranspiration. Once we reduce the high water demand by controlling tamarisk, the wetlands will have higher water storage capacity, which will help conserve water in a time of drought, and help recharge groundwater stores, which will better support upland vegetation. Overall, both uplands and wetlands will be better suited to provide high quality habitat for shorebirds, waterfowl, mule deer, pronghorn, other wildlife and livestock. Two habitat requirements of shorebirds are open landscape allowing good visibility of oncoming predators and open (mostly unvegetated) shallowly flooded mudflats providing forage of macroinvertebrates within reach. For example, water that isn't too deep for standing shorebirds to prey on their food base. Herbicide treatment of cut tamarisk stumps will open the landscape adjacent to the wetlands providing security to shorebirds in the wetlands and adjacent uplands, and will reduce excessive water demand away from the wetlands making it a more viable habitat to support macroinvertebrates for shorebirds and other waterbirds. By reducing the excessive water loss from tamarisk consumption, the natural hydrologic storage capacity of playas and other wetlands will increase and it will help prevent the wetlands from drawing down too quickly. If the water draws down too quickly, there is massive macroinvertebrate mortality and the habitat quality and area becomes significantly reduced for birds that depend on macroinvertebrates for prey.

Not applicable - we are not disturbing the soil, thus will not be unearthing cultural resources, we will not be dredging or filling wetlands.

1) cut stump and treat with herbicide of all young and mature tamarisk by contract work -- crew will use loppers, brush cutters, chainsaws and herbicide; they will camp on site while they complete each hitch; 2) pull tamarisk seedlings along shorelines by Audubon staff and volunteers; 3) map all areas treated to document acreage and location for follow-up treatment -- included by contracted crews; 4) photodocument before and after treatment in representative areas -- included by contracted crews; 5) Coordinate with working partners to accomplish objectives -- Audubon to lead coordination; 6) submit project summary report documenting successful treatment -- Audubon to lead and coordinate. 7) plan following year treatment areas for remaining tamarisk in Phase I (first treatment) and plan survey and re-treatment of any stems that are still alive from FY23 treatment. We have demonstrated 100% success with this approach at the sanctuary.

Long-term monitoring will be conducted by Audubon staff and volunteers. Project completion reports from the contracted crews will be incorporated into a GIS database to identify treated areas to re-visit for follow-up monitoring. We consistently revisit areas treated during a previous year to search for missed individual plants or branches and treat them on the spot. We also monitor for newly germinated individuals, which typically occur along shorelines of our managed areas. Audubon will continue to coordinate with volunteers in subsequent years to pull new saplings that develop and avoid re-establishment of tamarisk at the sanctuary. We will also organize volunteer assistance and coordinate with partnering land owners to monitor their treated areas as well. Any re-sprouting or missed branches will be treated on the spot by Audubon staff. Photodocumentation will be an important tool in monitoring the success of the project. (Please see example 2021 UCC project completion draft report with photos of the project area in Documents sections.)

Richard Mingo, Utah Reclamation and Mitigation Conservation Commission (UMC): UMC has funded a substantial portion of the sanctuary through land purchase, water flowage easements, and water rights ($1,950,000) and contributes $50K / year towards our salaries to manage their properties; they are very supportive of our work and this project. Figure 1 shows a total of 19 land transactions to date that altogether include land and water managed as the South Shore Preserve, which includes Audubon Gillmor Sanctuary and Mitigation Properties. Land and water rights owned by the Conservation Commission are anticipated to one day be turned over to National Audubon Society as outright owner and land manager. Thus UMC is a truly vested partner that wants the Gillmor Sanctuary and adjoining South Shore Preserve to succeed. Funding from NRCS, UMC and two private funding sources collectively contributed $350,000 to design and construct a water delivery system at Gillmor Sanctuary. Colton Norman, Rio Tinto Kennecott: supportive of our managing their property as part of Gillmor Sanctuary has a legal lease of the land. He is also very supportive as a partnering land owner to have additional properties adjacent to the sanctuary be included in the tamarisk treatment area. Please see copy of email from Colton included in documents. Charles Gillmor, G-Bar Ventures: land owner of property within the sanctuary that is managed by Audubon, grazes cattle at the sanctuary and on his adjacent property. Charles fully supports the project and has equipment to clear loped branches off his land outside the sanctuary. Ed Gillmor, Edward L. Gillmor, Jr. properties: land owner within and adjacent to the sanctuary. Ed fully supports the project and contributed to the idea of moving further up the watershed during Phase II. Jake Deslauriers and Greta Schen, Utah Conservation Corps (UCC), have worked with us over the last several years successfully controlling tamarisk on the sanctuary with their youth crews and have provided helpful guidance on this proposal. They have an excellent understanding of the sensitive nature of our land and birds and are excellent to coordinate with. Keith Hambrecht, Forestry Fire and State Lands (FFSL), is collaborating with us on treating Phragmites that borders on State Lands and on our property in the Lee Creek area and northward toward the sanctuary on UMC lands. Tamarisk in the western shore of the sanctuary borders State Lands, which also has tamarisk and is included in the project area. Keith is very supportive of our proposed work and will continue to collaborate with us (please see letter of support in Documents section). Patty Nelis, Salt Lake City International Airport, is fully supportive as a partnering land owner. The airport owns parcels that are mitigation wetlands for previous runway expansion and in the Bailey's Lake area of the watershed. Treatment of tamarisk on their properties would contribute to improving the watershed habitat and water quality functions for wildlife. Most of the work on their land would occur during Phase II. Chris Brown, TNC and manager of Kennecott's Inland Sea Shorebird Reserve just south of the sanctuary, is always very supportive and interested in collaborating on management planning with us.

Following completion of Phase II, which will address up to an additional 764 acres of tamarisk, Audubon will take the lead in implementing a long-term monitoring plan. This management planning effort for subsequent years will assess progress or lack thereof in an adaptive manner by Audubon staff and volunteers. Audubon has been contracting youth crews from UCC for several years to treat tamarisk for 3 weeks at a time. As part of the future management planning, we will contract with UCC for any necessary follow-up treatment of this proposed large project and coordinate with partnering land owners for additional funding needs. We have an existing GIS database of past work, which we use to revisit and monitor, and will continue to add to it for future monitoring and treatment efforts. By including more land owner partners in this project, a greater impact will be achieved for the lower Jordan River watershed in the South Shore, and monitoring and spot treatment of the entire project area will keep any subsequent outbreaks at a manageable level. Coordination and communication with neighboring partners will be key to successfully improving uplands and wetlands.

One of the landowner agreements at the sanctuary allows for 35 cow/calf pair of cattle for approximately 6 months of the year (mid Nov - mid May) in exchange for flowage easements. This same landowner has adjacent property included in the project area that is also grazed by cattle. Improving the project area by cut stump and herbicide treatment of tamarisk will provide the same forage benefit for cattle as it will wildlife, such as mule deer, pronghorn, and other wildlife including birds. Additionally, Gillmor Sanctuary is a sanctuary for shorebirds and other wildlife and as such, is not open for public use. However, we regularly conduct stakeholder tours (including policy decision-makers) for environmental and conservation causes (importance of water quality and quantity for GSL wetlands and wildlife, protecting conservation lands and wildlife, protection from disturbance issues related to encroaching industrial development, etc.), and research to broaden the understanding of saline wetlands systems and their management, and share the knowledge we gain through outreach. The success of this project and overall improvement of the lower Jordan River watershed in the South Shore will be very noticeable to those we engage with and we will highlight the project to emphasize the importance of the health of sub-watersheds of Great Salt Lake.