The Santaquin, Mona benches, and Spencer Fork WMAs have needs for shrub restoration. From fires and historic agriculture practices the shrub component has been lost or degraded. These shrub species are important for big game in the winter and many other wildlife species. Improving mule deer and elk winter range on these WMAs is important to reach the primary objective of these wildlife management areas and the objectives in the Central Mtns. Nebo unit Deer and Elk management plans. Small mammals and other upland game will benefit from the additional shelter and food provided by shrubs. This will benefit their populations and in turn benefit predators like golden eagles that depend on these species for food. The Uinta/Wasatch National Forest has approximately 178 acres of planned mechanical treatments coinciding with city and private land within the West Creek - Current Creek and Footes Canyon - Salt Creek watersheds located near the east bench of Nephi City with forest service land adjacent. This area is identified in a Shared Stewardship UWRI Focus area and CFLRP priority area. Total acreage for the private land project is 322 acres within the Nephi City watershed. Juab Special Service Fire District fuels crew will create shaded fuel break within the critical Aquaphor collection to reduce vegetation and high intensity fire potential. This PJ removal work will also benefit wildlife by protecting and enhancing the understory vegetation that most wildlife use for food and shelter.

1. Increase the amount of shrubs to provide more food for wintering big game. 2. Maintain a diversity of age classes of shrub plants to increase resilience of native shrub community. 3. Protect sagebrush and other shrubs for sage-grouse, pheasants, quail, and other WAP species. 4. Improve health of watershed by restricting establishment of weed species. 5. Help reduce fire risk from allowing cheatgrass to establish. 6. Utilize mechanical treatments to take up to 30% to 70% vegetation within identified treatment areas of approximately 500 acres on Forest Service and Nephi city lands under 30% slopes. 7. Maintain and or improve ingress egress routes to private land and dispersed FS recreational opportunities. 8. Reduce the increasing threat of high intensity uncharacteristic wildfire to the soils. 9. Improve and or maintain wildlife habitat.

If the entire shrub community is lost from the multitude of threats it currently faces, we will cross an ecological threshold that will result in large losses of wildlife populations that may be impossible to get back in our lifetimes. This project will go on the offensive against these threats and restore sagebrush to areas where it has already been lost so that we don't hit the point where the wildlife that depends on it dies off. Through fire suppression, historic livestock over-grazing, and changes in climatic conditions, Pinyon/Juniper have encroached into areas once dominated by sagebrush (Tausch 1999). When Pinyon/Juniper canopy cover and tree density reaches certain levels, they outcompete other vegetation, and the diversity and density of understory vegetation (shrubs, grasses, and forbs) decline. This removes an important component of food and shelter for elk, mule deer, sage-grouse, sage sparrows, and small mammals, and rodents. If left untreated Pinyon/Juniper will continue to grow and increase costs of treatment in the future and the loss of understory vegetation. Treating the oak stands by breaking them up will help provide a fuel break to slow down a catastrophic fire which allows invasive weeds to take over causing habitat damage.

Utah Statewide Mule Deer Management Plan Habitat Objective 2: Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 500,000 acres of crucial range 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 (Figure 6). d. Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat with emphasis on drought or fire damaged sagebrush winter ranges Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Strategic Plan. Goal A: Conserve, protect, enhance and manage Utah's wildlife. Obj. A-1:Maintain populations of harvestable wildlife species at species or drainage management plan objective levels through 2003. Obj. A-2:Increase the distribution and/or abundance of 10% of the 1998 classified state sensitive species by 2003. Obj. A-4: Maintain distribution and abundance of all other naturally occurring wildlife and native plant species through 2003. Goal B: Conserve, protect, enhance and manage Utah's ecosystems. Obj. B-1: Increase the functioning of 10% of the currently impaired ecosystems. Obj. B-2: Prevent declining conditions in both impaired and currently functional ecosystems The Habitat Management Plan for this unit states: Goal III, objective 1 "Maintain key forage species on winter range" This project will help meet some of the Habitat management strategies listed * Improve sagebrush and bitterbrush habitats with seed and/or seedling transplant projects. * Utilize mechanical treatments to enhance sagebrush seedling establishment in over mature sagebrush stands. Wildlife Action Plan 1. The project area occurs within the sagebrush steppe type which is one of the key habitats identified in the WAP. This area supports mule deer (S4), elk (SNA) and numerous other species of concern also inhabit the area including neotropical birds and raptors. WRI Focus Areas The proposed treatments lie within Central Region UPCD focus areas. Santaquin City Community Wildfire Protection Plan: 1) Community will work with county, state and federal fire officials to decrease fuels on adjacent public lands to reduce wildfire intensity, and impact in and around the community. 2)Fuels reduction project east of Exit 242 near shooting areas on DNR land. 2003 Forest Plan Uinta NF: 1) Sub-goal-2-1(G-2-1) The fuel management aspect of the fire management program is emphasized through application of hazard reduction activities. 2)Sub-goal-2-8 (G-2-8) Ecosystem resilience is maintained by providing for a full range of seral stages and age classes (by cover type) that achieve a mosaic of habitat conditions and diversity to meet a variety of desired resource management objectives. Recruitment and sustainability of some early seral species and vegetation communities in the landscape are necessary to maintain ecosystem resilience to perturbations. 3)Sub-goal-2-25 (G-2-25) Maintain stable and upward conditions in big game winter range habitats and improve downward trend sites. 4)Objective-2-17 (O-2-17) By 2018, complete 1,000 acres of big game winter range habitat improvements to reach desired future conditions. Statewide Turkey Managment Pan III. ISSUES AND CONCERNS High Priority: Urgent and Important Issue H2. Insufficient Winter Habitat Concern A. Starvation during severe weather. Concern B. Winter overutilization of urban and agricultural areas Objective 1.Stabilize populations that are declining outside of natural population fluctuations; especially through catastrophic events (i.e. following fires, severe winters, etc.). Strategy c: Conduct habitat projects to address limiting factors. Objective 2.Increase wild turkey habitat, quality and quantity, by 40,000 acres statewide by 2020.Strategy d:Conduct habitat improvement projects in limiting habitat(s). Objective 1.Decrease the number of chronic material damage complaints per turkeys by 25% by 2020. Strategy Improve habitat to draw wild turkey populations away from conflict. Nephi is the only municipality receiving water from this management area. This project will help meet FW-Goal-2 Biologically diverse, sustainable ecosystems maintain or or enhance habitats for native flora and fauna, forest and rangeland health, and watershed health by accomplishing the following sub-goals. (G-2-1) The fuel management aspect of the fire management program is emphasized through application of hazard reduction activities. G-2-4 Priorities to protect property and natural/cultural resources are determined based on relative values to be protected, fire management costs, and risks to human (including firefighter) safety. G-2-8 Ecosystem resilience is maintained by providing for a full range of seral stages and age classes (by cover type) that achieve a mosaic of habitat conditions and diversity to meet a variety of desired resource management objectives. Recruitment and sustainability of some early seral species and vegetation communities in the landscape are necessary to maintain ecosystem resilience to perturbations. G-2-10 Management actions maintain ecosystem health and encourage conditions that are within the historic range of variation. Management actions remain within the variability of size, intensity, and frequency of native disturbance regimes characteristic of the subject landscape and ecological processes. G-2-17 Activities and vegetation management minimize or eliminate the occurrence of non-native pests (including noxious weeds) and epidemic episodes of native pests. G-2-25 Maintain stable and upward conditions in big game winter range habitats and improve downward trend sites. The project covers 3 prescription areas, which include 3.3 Aquatic and Terrestrial Habitat, 6.1 Non-forested Ecosystems, and 4.4 Dispersed Recreation This project lies within the sagebrush-steppe type which is one of the key habitats identified in the WAP. This area supports mule deer (Tier III) and historically Greater sage grouse (Tier II). Numerous other species of concern (Tier III) also inhabit the area including neotropical birds and raptors. The proposed treatments lie within Central Region UPCD focus areas. The proposed projects will address some of the habitat management strategies outlined in the deer management plan for herd unit 16 (Central Mountains including: continue to restore and improve sagebrush steppe habitats critical to deer according to DWR's Habitat Initiative; cooperate with federal land management agencies and private landowners in carrying out habitat improvements such as reseedings, controlled burns, water developments etc. on public and private lands; and maintain and/or enhance forage production through direct range improvements throughout the unit to achieve population management objectives. The proposed projects will address the following goals and objectives of the Division of Wildlife Resources most recent strategic management plan: Resource Goal: Conserve, enhance and actively manage Utah's protected wildlife populations Objective 1:Increase, decrease or maintain wildlife populations, as needed, to meet the objectives in our management plans Objective 2:Maintain existing wildlife habitat and increase the quality of critical habitats and watersheds throughout the state. Constituency Goal: Strengthen support for wildlife management by demonstrating the value and importance of wildlife to all Utahn's. Objective 5: Improve our understanding of how the broader public views and values wildlife -- and how it contributes to their quality of life -- and take reasonable steps to address their needs, wishes and priorities. Agency Goal: Create a culture of respect, innovation, efficiency and effectiveness within the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Objective 4:Increase our coordination with partners, including local, state and federal agencies; non-governmental organizations; universities and others. Nephi is the only municipality receiving water from this management area. This project will help meet FW-Goal-2 Biologically diverse, sustainable ecosystems maintain or or enhance habitats for native flora and fauna, forest and rangeland health, and watershed health by accomplishing the following sub-goals. (G-2-1) The fuel management aspect of the fire management program is emphasized through application of hazard reduction activities. G-2-4 Priorities to protect property and natural/cultural resources are determined based on relative values to be protected, fire management costs, and risks to human (including firefighter) safety. G-2-8 Ecosystem resilience is maintained by providing for a full range of seral stages and age classes (by cover type) that achieve a mosaic of habitat conditions and diversity to meet a variety of desired resource management objectives. Recruitment and sustainability of some early seral species and vegetation communities in the landscape are necessary to maintain ecosystem resilience to perturbations. G-2-10 Management actions maintain ecosystem health and encourage conditions that are within the historic range of variation. Management actions remain within the variability of size, intensity, and frequency of native disturbance regimes characteristic of the subject landscape and ecological processes. G-2-17 Activities and vegetation management minimize or eliminate the occurrence of non-native pests (including noxious weeds) and epidemic episodes of native pests. G-2-25 Maintain stable and upward conditions in big game winter range habitats and improve downward trend sites. The project covers 3 prescription areas, which include 3.3 Aquatic and Terrestrial Habitat, 6.1 Non-forested Ecosystems, and 4.4 Dispersed Recreation This project lies within the sagebrush-steppe type which is one of the key habitats identified in the WAP. This area supports mule deer (Tier III) and historically Greater sage grouse (Tier II). Numerous other species of concern (Tier III) also inhabit the area including neotropical birds and raptors. The proposed treatments lie within Central Region UPCD focus areas. The proposed projects will address some of the habitat management strategies outlined in the deer management plan for herd unit 16 (Central Mountains including: continue to restore and improve sagebrush steppe habitats critical to deer according to DWR's Habitat Initiative; cooperate with federal land management agencies and private landowners in carrying out habitat improvements such as reseedings, controlled burns, water developments etc. on public and private lands; and maintain and/or enhance forage production through direct range improvements throughout the unit to achieve population management objectives. The proposed projects will address the following goals and objectives of the Division of Wildlife Resources most recent strategic management plan: Resource Goal: Conserve, enhance and actively manage Utah's protected wildlife populations Objective 1:Increase, decrease or maintain wildlife populations, as needed, to meet the objectives in our management plans Objective 2:Maintain existing wildlife habitat and increase the quality of critical habitats and watersheds throughout the state. Constituency Goal: Strengthen support for wildlife management by demonstrating the value and importance of wildlife to all Utahn's. Objective 5: Improve our understanding of how the broader public views and values wildlife -- and how it contributes to their quality of life -- and take reasonable steps to address their needs, wishes and priorities. Agency Goal: Create a culture of respect, innovation, efficiency and effectiveness within the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Objective 4:Increase our coordination with partners, including local, state and federal agencies; non-governmental organizations; universities and others.

We will be utilizing herbicide and planting vegetation that stays greener into the summer to create green strips to protect our shrub plantings as well as help stop or slow a fire from damaging other areas. This could help slow down or stop a fire that could move north towards the town of Santaquin. The actions have been identified as moderate risk areas of concern by the United States Forest Service (USFS) as well as Forestry Fire and State Lands (FFSL) due to the drainage basin characteristics of up to 45% slopes and inaccessibility to suppress wildfire in the surrounding area. Forest stewardship plan identifies vegetation types in the project area as dominant pinyon-juniper community as well as dense Gambel oak understory uninfluenced for twenty or more years. The Nephi City CWPP that covers the project area predicts extreme flame lengths with an expected wildfire rate of spread of 20 chains per hour. The city of Nephi and 6103 residences that could be impacted. Project area also includes a major high-tension power supply line owned by Rocky Mountain Power known as the Trans West Express /Zephyr transmission utility. The unique Path Finder Renewable Wind project provides power supply from North Dakota to southern California. This project will tie into the Salt Creek fire, a state Hwy, city property and the Nebo Wilderness, creating a defensible space should a fire occur. The intent of the project is to reduce heavy fuel loading limiting catastrophic fire potential using a grid style shaded fuel break, as high as 70% fuel removal to reduce wildfire danger within the area of concern, to provide protection for city workers and recreational users ingress /egress, and directly impact fire conditions by altering the fire behavior in those areas, allowing resources to utilize suppression tactics more effectively. By maintaining healthy stand of shrubs and native plants it will prevent annual grasses from establishing which will decrease the fuel load and dryness of plants that increase fire risk.

By having a healthy diversity of age class native shrubs and understory vegetation we will replace a mono-culture of non-native grasses like cheatgrass, jointed goat grass, and bulbous blue grass. These non-natve annual grasses currently are absorbing all of the available water and decrease the plant diversity. By doing this project there will be more available water for native understory plants to increase diversity and for water to enter the ground water storage. These grasses also increase fire threats which can result in mud slides and erosion that can decrease water quality. The project area consists largely of gamble oak, which grows 1 to 2 ft. per year, and pinyon and juniper, which consumes 30 to 40 gallons of water per day. Removal of the pinyon/juniper benefits the aquifer immensely. Pinyon/Juniper removal benefits water quality and quantity. A negative impact on the watershed from Pinyon/Juniper encroachment is soil erosion (Farmer 1995). By removing Pinyon/Juniper it will allow for the current grasses and forbs to return and stabilize the soil and decrease the speed of water-flow and the size of soil particles that can be moved downstream and therefore reduce erosion. This project will help to protect this from happening in the future and save the ecosystem from irreversible losses to soil. In water-limited systems, an added benefit to Pinyon/Juniper removal can be the potential to increase water-savings. Pinyon/Juniper have been shown to intercept about 10-20 percent of precipitation (Skau 1964). Also, where Pinyon/Juniper encroachment has resulted in large bare ground areas it has been shown that these systems can have greater precipitation runoff (Farmer 1995). This provides for an increase in water quantity for herbaceous plants and shrubs on sites where pinyon/juniper is removed. By having a healthy diversity of age class shrubs it will prevent a mono-culture of old decadent plants which can die off and result in invasion of weedy plants such as cheat grass. Cheat grass will absorb all the available water and decrease the plant diversity. By doing this project there will be more available water for native understory plants to increase species diversity. The Oak and juniper treatments will also further protect a collection point source of culinary drinking water for the city of Nephi.

All necessary have either already been completed or will be completed prior to implementation of this project. NEPA is completed for portions of the project that are on USFS lands. FS NEPA under a CE was completed on 1/28/21 with section 106 compliance. State heritage review was completed on 1/06/2021 with section 106 compliance.

We will use a dozer we call the mad max dozer to scalp two rows about 2' wide that will help remove the grass competition. It also has a couple blades that cut a furrow 2" into the ground and a dribbler that plants bitterbrush and fourwing seed into that furrow. Over the tracks of the dozer we will also have two broadcasters that will throw forb, grass, and sagebrush seed over the tracks. The tracks will then push that seed into the ground as it goes over the top. We will also broadcast with hand broadcasters over the entire area shrub and forb seed. In the scalped rows we will use a machine to come in afterwards and drill holes in the scalped rows every 5'. We will have contractors and volunteers follow this machine with 9 month old shrub seedlings that also have a vexar mesh protector built into them to help increase survival. These plants will be planted with volunteer help from sportsman and other groups as well as hired contractors and paid seasonals. We are also going to establish a green strip fire break around the perimeter of our planting to help protect our investment from wildfre. We will do this by spraying the annual grasses with roundup and plateau in the spring and planting a seedmix of forbs that stay green later into the year. Masticate Oak and Juniper areas under 40% slope in a grid style pattern to create a shaded fuel break. Cut and Chip ingress and egress routes into the FS and private land. Lop and Scatter understory areas of thin small oak and juniper vegetation within the project area.

We will use photo points before and after project implementation to determine the success of these plantings. We will also come back after a year and count a segment of the plants that have survived to determine our percent survival. We have done this for the previous years we have planted in the area and have found really high success. Approximately 85% survival or greater for our sagebrush seedlings. Photo point monitoring with before and after stand conditions. We will take photo points before and after at a few select locations. We will monitor the project for greater than 1% of re-establishment in year 3 and 5 post treatment. If re treatment becomes necessary we will pursue retreatment options.

The UDWR will partner with sportsman groups to fund the project and get volunteers to help plant shrub seedlings. We have not expanded the project beyond UDWR land ownership boundaries on WMAs because the cost and time to plant such a large area is not feasible in a single year. We will work with USFS and other adjacent landowners in the future once we have completed all desired planting areas on UDWR lands. Vegetation reduction treatments will be conducted by the Juab County fuels crew in cooperation with the city of Nephi.

These properties are wildlife management areas that are protected for the benefit of wildlife. They will not be developed and the benefits we are trying to accomplish for the ecosystem will be preserved. We will continue to graze in early spring and summer with cattle to help to hit those undesired grasses to remove competition with the shrubs plantings. If we see that cattle are disturbing the plantings we can place electric fence around the plantings to further protect them. We will continue to do future plantings as needed until we have achieved the desired range conditions. Grazing opportunities are being explored on the city held lands. 50 acres per year post project maintenance towards mechanical and weed treatments for ingress egress route will be provided by Juab County Fuels.

This will help to improve the diversity and quantity of browse species on these WMAs. The WMAs are all actively grazed by livestock as well as a management tool. This project will help to establish native grasses and forbs as these shrub communities establish. This will help increase the available forage as less palatable annual grasses are displaced. This project will also increase the value of these properties for hunting big game and upland game birds. These actions are expected to improve sustainable uses to Recreation that will benefit for the added safety and user access for hunting, hiking, mountain biking, OHV and Camping. Grazing and Big Game winter range forage will improve from the canopy reduction.