In 2019, the Neck wildfire burned important habitat for Utah prairie dog (UPD) (9,499 acres), Greater Sage-grouse (brood rearing (9,331 acres), (summer (9,331 acres) and (winter (16,422 acres), mule deer (crucial winter (11,420 acres), pronghorn (year-round (8,586 acres) and livestock grazing lands. Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ES&R) was completed throughout the area in 2019 and 2020; however, there are some areas that are dominated by warm season grass and/or cheatgrass. The project will focus on re-establishing wildlife habitats; specifically, for Utah prairie dog and Sage Grouse throughout the wildfire area. As discussed, the two primary species that were impacted by the fire were the Utah Prairie Dog and the sage grouse. A portion of the project area is located in the Adams Well Utah Prairie Dog Management Unit. This area has been identified as critical for the recovery of the Utah Prairie Dog. ES&R efforts are expected to help provide additional Utah prairie dog habitat to ensure that the Utah Prairie Dog Management Unit Plan Path to Recovery is attainable in the short-term and long-term. The wildfire also occurred within a portion of the Bald Hills Sage Grouse Priority Habitat Management Area (PHMA). Past sage grouse telemetry data indicates that a considerable portion of the wildfire perimeter has been utilized by sage grouse. The ES&R project will be designed to benefit all wildlife species that are present in the area. To control cheatgrass that is present in some of the area plateau will be applied prior to drill seeding. Through ESR plateau was sprayed on approximately 2,500 acres. This area is dominated by warm season grass (galleta grass). A portion of the area that was sprayed with plateau is within the Monument Pasture (900 acres) that would be drill seeded in Fall 2023. The West Native Pasture in the Minersville 3 Allotment is dominated by cheatgrass. Plateau would be flown on this area (500 acres) to reduce cheatgrass competition and it would be drilled seeded in Fall 2023. The project would provide a more conducive vegetative community for sage grouse and UPDs consisting of a cool season grass and forb mix. Plateau will also be flow on approximately 2,000 acres in Fall 2023 so that another area will be available for drill seeding in Fall 2024. The project will have multiple phases based on funding as identified below. Multiple treatments have been identified in the wildfire perimeter as follows: 1. Year 1 (Fall 2022) - Drill Seeding (Grass Forb) - 2,500 acres (Completed - Spring 2023) 2. Year 2 (Fall 2022) - Drill Seeding (Grass Forb) - 1,600 acres 3. Year 2 (Fall 2022) - Plateau Treatment - 2,500 acres 4. Year 3 (Fall 2022) - Drill Seeding (Grass Forb) - 2,500 acres 5. Year 3 (Fall 2022) - Plateau Treatment - 2,500 acres Note: Cultural Clearances have been completed in all areas that have been identified for treatment.

The overall objective of this project is to rehabilitate areas that have been burned to provide habitat for wildlife (i.e. Greater Sage Grouse, Utah Prairie Dog, mule deer, pronghorn, etc...) and livestock grazing. This will be accomplished by seeding a diverse mix of perennial grasses, forbs and shrubs. The long-term goal of the project is to improve the areas resistance and resilience by reducing cheatgrass.

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. There are areas within the Neck Fire that were not succesfully rehabilitated due to the persistence of cheatgrass and the lack of precipitation. This project is expected to allow for the establishment of more desirable species by limiting cheatgrass persistence through plateau treatments followed by drill seeding. The proposed treatment is expected to increase the likelihood of desirable plant species (perennial grasses, forbs and shrubs) to re-establish. A more diverse and fire resistant vegetative community would provide desirable wildlife habitat. Annual precipitation fluctuations may affect the germination and establishment of seeds that are planted. The last several years have been extremely dry within this area. Typically, rangelands in this area receive adequate precipitation to promote vegetative growth and viability in the short-term and long-term.

The project is consistent with the following BLM land use plans and associated decisions: * Cedar Beaver Garfield Antimony Resource Management Plan Resource Management Plan (1986). * Utah Greater Sage-Grouse Approved Approved Resource Management Plans as Amended (ARMPAs 2015 and 2019) * Southwest Utah Support Area Fire Management Plan (May, 2006) * The project is in conformance with the Normal Year Fire Stabilization and Rehabilitation Plan Environmental Assessment (EA UT-0040-03-28). The project is in conformance with the applicable land use plans because it is provided for in the following land use plan decisions: Record of Decision and Approved Utah Greater Sage-Grouse Resource Management Plan Amendments (2015 and 2019) Goal SSS-1: Maintain and/or increase GRSG abundance and distribution by conserving, enhancing, or restoring the sagebrush ecosystem upon which populations depend in collaboration with other conservation partners Special Status Species (SSS): Objectives SSS-1, SSS-2, SSS-3, SSS-4, and SSS-5; Management Actions (MA) MA-SSS-1, MA-SSS-3, and MA-SSS-4, MA-SSS-7. Vegetation (VEG): Objective VEG-1; MA-VEG-1, MA-VEG-2, MA-VEG-3, MA-VEG-4, MA-VEG-5, MA-VEG-6, MA-VEG-10, MA-VEG-11, MA-VEG-12, MA-VEG-14. Fire and Fuels Management (FIRE): MA-FIRE-2, and MA-FIRE-3. Other Plans/Strategies Utah Conservation Plan for Greater Sage-Grouse (2019) State of Utah Executive Order 2015/002- Implementing the Utah Conservation Plan for Greater Sage-Grouse (2015) Utah State Wildlife Action Plan (2015) State of Utah Resource Management Plan (2018) National Fire Plan (2000) Utah Pronghorn Statewide Management Plan (2009) Southwest Desert Deer Herd Unit Management Plan (2015) Coordinated Implementation Plan for Bird Conservation in Utah (2005) Local Sage-Grouse Working Group Plans Southwest Desert Greater Sage-Grouse Local Conservation Plan (2009)

The project area is located in the Mineral Black Mountain Fire Management Unit (FMU) (646,151 acres). Approximately 241,620 acres have burned over the past 20 years within this FMU. This amounts to over 37% of the FMU being impacted by high intensity wildfire. Approximately 40,000 acres have burned more than once (cheatgrass burn/re-burn cycle). Most alarming is the fact that for the 22 years in which fire records are available (1993-2014) the number of fires has decreased over the past 10 years; however, the acreages burned has increased more than 200%. The goal of this project is to suppress cheatgrass while providing for a more desirable vegetative component that is more fire resistant. If cheatgrass is allowed to persist future fires will continue to be more difficult to control and have devastating effects by burning at a higher intensity, which could lead to fires getting larger and burning unburned habitat. Treatments identified within this proposal, including seeding with more fire-resistant vegetation is expected to reduce the overall threat of future wildfires.

The Project Area is located at 5,000 - 6,000 feet above sea level; therefore, it is expected that the opportunity to restore herbaceous species to the composition and frequency appropriate to the area is high. The project is expected to stabilize and improve the herbaceous understory that was burned in the fire, which will reduce water runoff and decrease soil erosion while increasing infiltration. Improvements to the Standards and Guidelines for Healthy Rangelands (Standard 1 and Standard 3) are expected through project implementation. It is expected that Standard 1 (Soils) -- will improve by allowing soils to exhibit permeability and infiltration rates that will sustain/improve site productivity throughout the area. This will be accomplished by making improvements to the Biotic Integrity of the community by restoring areas to a diverse component of perennial grasses, forbs and shrubs that were present prior to the wildfire. Indicators will include sufficient cover and litter to protect the soil surface from excessive water and wind erosion, limiting surface flow and limiting soil moisture loss through evaporation, which will promote proper infiltration.

The treatment will be rested from livestock grazing for a minimum of two years (2 growing seasons) following project implementation to ensure adequate rest and seedling establishment. Cultural clearances were completed prior to ES&R activities following the 2019 Neck Wildfire. Project Inspectors will ensure that all contract specifications are adhered to if the project is contracted. Extensive monitoring data (upland and wildlife) has been collected throughout the area, which will provide baseline data to determine the success of the treatments.

The following are the methods for each treatment type: 1. Sage Grouse and General Wildlife (Drill Seeding) A diverse seed mix (perennial grass, forb and shrub) will be drill seeded in areas where a plateau application has been applied to improve wildlife habitat. *Note: Drill seeding will occur in Fall 2023 in an area where plateau was aerially applied in 2021 within the Monument Pasture (1,100 acres) and plateau will be flown on 500 acres within the Minersville 3 Allotment - West Native Pasture and subsequently drill seeded in Fall 2023. This Monument Pasture is dominated by galleta grass while the West Native Pasture is dominated by cheatgrass. The goal of the seeding will be to provide a more diverse composition of perennial grasses, forbs and shrubs). 2. Plateau Treatments Plateau treatments will be utilized in areas where there are cheatgrass concerns prior to drill seeding.

Monitoring data would be collected at 10 key management areas (8 existing and 2 new). Monitoring may include some support from UDWR or other cooperators. Standard surveys will include: Nested Frequency (Trend), Line Intercept (Shrub Cover and Age Class), Standards and Guidelines for Rangeland Health Assessment, Photo Points, Noxious weed inventory/monitoring. In addition, AIM plots have been established within the wildfire perimeter. Vegetation and wildlife monitoring data will be collected throughout the project area to determine the success of the ES&R efforts. This monitoring data will be compiled into an overall monitoring report that will help determine the level of success for the project in the short-term and long-term. Sage Grouse telemetry data has been collected in the area in the past. If funding is received a follow-up sage grouse project would occur within the area. The goals of the project would be as follows: * Determine if habitat loss and/or fragmentation is a constraint within the Bald Hills PHMA * Determine dispersal and connectivity of habitat within the Bald Hills PHMA * Determine if there are changes to previously documented sage grouse corridors * Allow for analysis of sage grouse use of treatments at various stages of succession (i.e. Neck Wildfire and new treatments vs. 3-5 year old treatments). It is expected that all treatments identified would at the minimum serve as opportunity areas even if sage grouse do not move into them immediately following treatment.

The BLM Cedar City Field Office will be working with Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative to complete this project. Non-use agreements will be identified with livestock permittees to ensure adequate rest following project implementation.

A mandatory 2 year (growing season) minimum rest period will be initiated for the portions of the allotments that will be drill seeded. Deferrment of livestock grazing for a minimum of two years (two growing seasons) will be used to exclude livestock from the burned area to provide seeded species the opportunity to establish.

The Neck fire burned in portions of six grazing allotments (Adams Well, Desert, Lowe Jones, Minersville 3, Minersville 5 and Nada). The majority of the treatment would focus in the Adams Well and Minersville 3 Allotments. There are two permittees in each of these allotments. The areas or pastures that would be reseeded will be rested from grazing for a minimum of two years (growing seasons). In the long term, this project will likely have an overall positive impact on domestic livestock grazing because of added forage value following seeding.

11/13/2023

12/15/2023

2024

Two treatments were implemented under this project. Approximately 750 acres of BLM land was drill seeded using three rangeland drills, two were connected by a drill cart, both pulled by tractors. The seed mix was purchased through the GBRC and was a combination of grasses and forbs seeded at the rate of 8 bulk lbs/acre. The seed was applied from November 13 through December 7th, 2024. Within the west native pasture of Minersville 3 allotment Plateau was applied aerially on 1,779 acres of BLM through Hammond Helicopters on December 14th and 15th, 2024. Plateau herbicide was applied at 6 oz/acre in 7 gallons of water/acre + 7 ounces MSO surfactant per 100 gallons of spray mix on the polygons.

The goal of the project was to increase the diversity of cool season perennial grasses and forbs within the 2019 Neck Fire scar and the Bald Hills PHMA. The project was implemented by BLM staff and with the CCDO range drills. Tractors were rented through DWR contracting and seed obtained from GBRC. Sagebrush islands were avoided within the area. Some concerns for this project was the increase in Russian thistle this year which caught in the discs and chain requiring drivers to get out and remove material. The plateau application was completed within the west native pasture of Minersville 3 to reduce cheatgrass within the scar of the neck fire where rehab seeding was successful and contained a diversity of cool and warm season grasses. This plateau application was also based around "protect the core" of the sagebrush conservation design that showed intact sagebrush systems where elevation and precipitation that would have a better opportunity to reduce cheatgrass.

Seeding will be rested for 2 growing seasons. Monitoring within both the drill seed and plateau application will determine if objectives are met within the project area or if further actions need to be taken.