The Grey's Bench area on the Pine Valley Ranger District have been largely ignored since the initial treatment of chaining. The project area was chained in the 1970s and then seeded with crested wheat grass. Crested wheat grass has persisted to various degrees in all stands. However, over most of the area the understory grass component has decreased due to a number of factors including grazing pressure, encroaching pinyon juniper, pinyon pine, mountain brush and drought. The area is almost completely grown in with pinyon/juniper encroachment and mountain shrub species. If a wildfire were to occur, heavy fuel loads would enhance the rate of spread and intensity of fire which could endanger the nearby communities of Pine Valley and Central as well as the private inholdings in Grassy Flat and Grass Valley.

The goals of this project are to 1) reduce ecological departure across project area 2)reduce the risk of uncharacteristically high severity fire and 3) increase the amount of early seral vegetation types. These goals are expected to improve wildlife habitat, reduce the amount of bare ground, improve riparian vegetation, allow for proper grazing practices, improve water quality (supports UWRI arm o Water Quality and quantity), improve livestock grazing, and protect private infrastructure and agricultural interests (supports UWRI arm of Sustainable Uses).

Large portions of the Pine Valley Ranger District have been identified as high priority for fuels reduction treatments in the Chief's 10 Year Wildfire Crises Strategy: Enterprise, Hurricane, Washington, and Cedar City, UT Firesheds, and Acoma, NV Fireshed. The landscape's low elevation and topography make these areas particularly susceptible to changing fire regimes and climate change impacts, creating an urgent need to reduce the risk of undesired wildfire. Critical issues in these priority areas include wildland-urban interface and intermixed private land/communities (St. George, Enterprise, Pinto, New Harmony, Central, and Pine Valley), water quality, watershed health and resiliency, nonnative annual invasives, and critical infrastructure, including major national energy corridors. As highlighted under the "Need for the Project" and "Objectives" sections the current conditions of both vegetation and fuels within the project area and the areas proposed for treatment show the landscape varies in terms of whether it is near or across ecological thresholds. The areas proposed for mastication using Forest Service personnel are sagebrush grasslands with mid- to late Phase I PJ succession. If these areas are not treated within the next 10 years they will require larger equipment to complete the mastication resulting in increased costs ($200/acre to $600/acre at 2023 estimated costs.). In the areas proposed for contract mastication and seeding there is a mixture of Phase II-Phase III PJ succession into mountain shrublands. Full Conversion to Phase III will increase treatment costs. Forest Service vegetation trend data show these sites currently have between 0-5% cover comprised of cheat grass. If this area were to have a wildfire it could result in a complete type conversion to nonnative invasive annual grass species.

Directly ties to the National Cohesive Wildland Fires Management Strategy, Confronting the Wildfire Crisis 10 year Strategy, Shared Stewardship Investment Strategy, And Dixie National Forest Land Management Resource Plan. Utah's Wildlife Action Plan (WAP): The WAP lists Problematic Plant Species -- Native Upland as a Very High level threat to Mountain sagebrush communities with the following as potential conservation actions. Promoting and funding restoration that reduces the Uncharacteristic and surpluses of older age class, including: Dixie/chain harrow, brush mowing or other treatments that reduce the older age class and stimulate the younger/mid age classes; herbicide or mechanical treatment of non-native invasive species such smooth brome; single tree mulching/cutting of invading conifer. The treatments proposed in this vegetation type are designed to stimulate the younger/mid age classes through cutting or masticating invading conifer. The WAP lists Invasive Plant Species Non Native as a Medium level threat to Mountain Shrub communities and suggests the following: Promoting policies that reduce inappropriate grazing by domestic livestock and wildlife. Continuing the use of appropriate methods for reducing the spread and dominance of invasive weeds and annual grasses, including "early detection -- rapid response" programs. 2.3.14 Conduct upland vegetation treatments to restore characteristic upland vegetation, and reduce uncharacteristic fuel types and loadings. Pinyon juniper removal as described in the proposed project in and around these stands along with seeding around these stands should reduce the risk of wildfire, as well as limit the spread of cheat grass into these areas. State of Utah Resource Management Plan The States RMP has the following objectives for fire management: The State will advocate for forest management practices that promote species diversity and overall ecosystem health. The State encourages local jurisdictions to prevent wildfires, prepare their residents for wildfire and reduce their fuel load by entering into cooperative agreements that give incentive for those actions. The State will participate with federal wildfire agencies to leverage and combine resources and strengths wherever possible. The proposed project endeavors to increase species diversity through pinyon juniper removal, aerial seeding, chain harrowing and drill seeding. The proposed project crosses jurisdictional boundaries and is adjacent to past work across jurisdictional boundaries. The proposed project is a collaborative effort between State and Federal agencies. The State RMP sets the following objectives for livestock management: Improve vegetative health on public and private lands through range improvements, prescribed fire, vegetation treatments, and active management of invasive plants and noxious weeds. Actively remove pinyon-juniper encroachment in other ecological sites due to its substantial consumption of water and its detrimental effect on sagebrush, other vegetation, and wildlife. The proposed project aims to improve the range through PJ removal, chain harrowing, aerial seeding and drill seeding to provide maximum flexibility to permittees. The State's RMP has the following objectives for Wildlife: Expand wildlife populations and conserve sensitive species by protecting and improving wildlife habitat. Conserve, improve, and restore 500,000 acres of mule deer habitat throughout the state with emphasis on crucial ranges. Produce and maintain the desired vegetation for wildlife and domestic livestock forage on public and private lands. Avoid, minimize or compensate for damages to private land occurring when wildlife populations are above targeted management plan objectives. The proposed project will improve forage on public and private lands for wildlife and livestock, improving mule deer habitat and reducing the potential for adjacent cropland damages, Dixie National Forest Land Resource Management Plan (as amended)- Goal 15 -- Maintain or enhance the terrestrial habitat for all wildlife species presently on the Forest (page IV-5). All the vegetation treatments proposed should increase browse and/or forage for Forest MIS species, such as mule deer and wild turkey. UTAH MULE DEER STATEWIDE MANAGEMENT PLAN The project meets Habitat Objective 2 to improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer habitat (p. 19). Specifically the strategies to Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat with emphasis on ranges being diminished by encroachment of conifers into sagebrush. The proposed treatments will reduce the amount of encroaching PJ and seeding will help improve foraging habitat. Deer Herd Unit #30 (Pine Valley) The proposed project would help to meet the following Habitat Protection, Improvement and Maintenance actions identified in the Mule Deer Herd Unit #30 Plan: Cooperate with federal land management agencies and private landowners in carrying out habitat improvement projects. Protect deer winter ranges from wildfire by reseeding burned areas, creating fuel breaks and vegetated green strips and reseed areas dominated by Cheat grass with desirable perennial vegetation. Reduce expansion of Pinion-Juniper woodlands into sagebrush habitats and improve habitats dominated by Pinion-Juniper woodlands by completing habitat restoration projects like lop & scatter, bullhog, and chaining. The Herd Plan also suggests that: Future habitat work should be concentrated on the following areas. Landscape level watershed improvements on the Pine Valley Ranger District of the Dixie National Forest with a focus on transitional ranges. Retreatment of older treatments (>10years) to protect investment through maintenance. North American Mule Deer Conservation Plan (Mule Deer Working Group 2004). A) Mule deer habitat Objectives and Strategies-Develop and implement habitat treatment protocols that reduce the impacts of cheatgrass or other invasive plants. B) Manage mule deer habitat in a fashion to control type conversions (i. e., conversion of rangeland to croplands, and shrublands to monotypic pinyon-juniper stands) (Pg. 7). Seeding will help reduce the impacts of cheatgrass in this area by establishing desired grasses and forbs. Masticating PJ will increase the amount of forage available to mule deer. Project will help prevent monotypic P/J stands further expansion of cheatgrass. Strategic Management Plan for Wild Tukey-Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) Grasses provide food for adults and are especially important to poults as an environment where they can effectively forage for insects. Poults need an environment that produces insects and in which they can efficiently forage. Poults need an area that provides enough cover to hide them, but allows the adult hen unobstructed vision for protection from predators. Project area will be seeded to provide grasses and forbs improving foraging habitat for turkey. National Fire Plan (NFP) - Primary Goals: 1) Improve fire prevention and suppression; 2) Restore fire adapted ecosystem. Project will reduce fuel loading. Accompanying (NFP) 10 year Comprehensive Strategy - Guiding Principles: 3) Prevent invasive species and restore watershed function and biological communities through short-term stabilization and long-term rehabilitation; 4) Restore healthy, diverse, and resilient ecological system to minimize uncharacteristically severe fires on a priority watershed basis through long-term restoration. Project will help invasive species encroachment by seeding and help minimize severe fires by reducing fuel loadings. Land and Resource Management Plan-Dixie National Forest (LRMP 1986). A) Management Area 4C and 6A-Provide adequate forage to sustain big game population levels agree to in approved wildlife management plans on NFS lands. Maintain habitat capability at 70 percent of potential. Project will help maintain and/or increase the quality foraging habitat for big game by removal of encroaching P/J and seeding. Dixie NF Noxious Weed Management Plan (EA 2000). Prevent spread of noxious weeds and other invasive plants. Project seeding treatment will help reduce spread of cheatgrass. If noxious weeds (scotch thistle) are found, those areas will be avoided by project equipment and reported to district staff. Utah Support Area Fire Management Plan (2005). Protection of critical deer habitat and watershed protection (p196). Project will help protect critical summer range for mule deer and help maintain watershed conditions by seeding desired plant species and removal of P/J. Pine Valley Allotment Management Plan-Coordination of with other uses (IX-b.) ""This area supports a sizable deer herd, some turkeys, grouse, cougar, and many small predator, rodent, and avian species. The re-vegetation projects and water developments are benefiting the wildlife, in terms of increased forage, increased ""edge"", lower successional stages of vegetation and better water distribution."" The project will help sustain the previous re-vegetation projects in this allotment that benefit wildlife by removing P/J and seeding. "

The area is currently characterized as a condition class II and III and would continue to depart from historic levels with each missed fire return interval. Without treatment in the other proposed areas, this fire group would be at risk to a high intensity stand replacing fire situation, due to fire spreading from adjacent vegetation types. Current fuel configurations are prone to high intensity stand replacement fires. Fires of this nature are difficult to control and costly to suppress. Fuel conditions within the project area would likely result in uncharacteristically large and severe fires. Within the meadows and chained areas, mature sagebrush (Artemesia spp.), patches of mature mountain brush (Cercocarpus spp.) and encroachment of phase one P-J create uncharacteristically large areas of continuous fuels that are not limited by species diversity and mixed age classes. Presence of invasive cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) contributes to the continuous fuel loading, flammability, and potential for increased rate of fire spread. Existing vegetative treatments (historic chainings) are not adequate to slow or safely suppress an approaching wildfire due to their present width and configuration. Few fuel reduction treatments have been implemented within the WUI values zone or project area. Continuous dense vegetation could lead to high intensity large scale fires and increase risk to suppression forces and adjacent landowners. Existing conditions limit fire management decision space and options related to initial attack. . The presence of ninety degree angles along the boundary between Forest Service administered lands and private lands has historically been shown to reduce the success of fire suppression actions from within the defensible fire space area (USDA 2010). Grassy Flat Rd (FS 253) the main egress route for the project area, may be compromised in the event of wildfire and not provide safe passage for residents and firefighter. Pinyon-juniper control thinning and removal treatments will change from a Fuel Model 6 (Shrub) to a Grass Shrub 2 (GS2) (Scott and Burgan 2005). GS2 is a Moderate Load Dry Climate Grass Shrub model with the main fire carrier being grass and shrubs 1-3 feet in height. This change in fuel type has a dramatic change in rates of spread (ROS) and Flame Length (Breshears and others) which allows for fire management personnel to provide better suppression response. Values at risk from a wildfire include homes and structures in Pine Valley which is 4 miles south of the project area, homes and structures in the community of Central which is 6 miles southwest of the project, private land in Grassy Flat which adjacent to the project and homes and structures in Grass Valley which is approximately 1 mile southeast of the project area.

Part of the Grey's Bench treatment area is contained within the Pinto Creek watershed. New Castle Reservoir has an established TMDL for Total Phosphorus and low Dissolved Oxygen (waterbody ID = UT-L-16030006-008). Pinyon Juniper removal projects have been shown to increase the ground cover of grasses and forbs, thereby reducing bare ground and erosion (Roundy & Vernon, 1999; Pierson, Bates, Svejcar, & Hardegree, 2007a; Peterson & Stringham, 2008; Stam et al. 2008; Pierson, et al., 2010; Cline, Pierson, Kormos, & Williams, 2010). Proposed mastication and seeding treatments should contribute to reducing sediment and total phosphorus loading. As has been discussed and debated in UWRI projects and ranking for many years, the effects of conifer removal on water yield is variable and inconsistent; however, some research indicates that pinyon-juniper removal in mountain sagebrush can increase soil water availability (Roundy et al. 2014). This portion of the project has numerous wet meadows and small seeps throughout the proposed treatment areas, and recent research in California indicates that removing conifers from wet meadows can elevate the water table and increase soil moisture (Fie 2018). This project proposes to remove pinyon and juniper from sagebrush grass lands and improve the amount and diversity of riparian hydric and woody species. The combination of these activities should have a net positive effect on increasing water yield/availability. Finally, the pinyon and juniper removal treatments proposed in this project will help to reduce fuel loading and fuel continuity along channels that drain into Santa Clara River and Pinto Creek. This will reduce the risk that fire behavior would cause a large, high severity wildfire and the negative water quality repercussions associated with ash flows and debris flows following wildfires. The treatments proposed in this project will connect with treatments conducted in previous projects on the Pine Valley Ranger to reduce the risk of an uncharacteristically high severity fire, the aftermath of which could result in lowering water tables through stream incision and cause short and long-term impacts to sediment and nutrient loading, negatively affecting water quality. Additionally, there is some evidence to suggest that cheat grass dominated landscapes have altered hydrologic properties and could inherently have increased runoff and erosion when compared to non-invaded areas (Boxell & Drohan, 2009; Wilcox, et al., 2012; Weltz, et al., 2014). This project should reduce the risk of expanding cheat grass by reducing wildfire risk and seeding treated areas.

The Environmental Analysis and Decision Notice documents have been completed and signed in 1991 (see attachments). An evaluation will be done to confirm that the NEPA is still applicable. Cultural clearance is being completed for all acres of the project area. Wildlife surveys will be completed prior to implementation.

Masticate/mulch the pinyon-juniper trees on approximately 919 acres through WRI contract. Chainsaws maybe needed in areas that cannot be treated with mastication equipment. The seeding will be through an aerial contract and seed mix from GBRC. It is desired that we seed just before or during the mechanical treatment to help establish a seedbed and microsites for seed germination.

This area is monitored by Forest Service personnel every five years for long term vegetation trends. The area is also monitored by the UDWR range trend crew for Utah Big Game Range Trend Studies data (Grassy Flat Ridge-Range Trend Study No. 30-26). Forest Service personnel will monitor the project site using various methods (photo plots etc.) at one, three and five year intervals. Photos and notes on project success will be downloaded on the project page.

Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands; Utah Division of Wildlife Resources; Utah's Watershed Restoration Initiative; Washington County; Iron County; Bureau of Land Management; USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; utility companies.

This project is a small piece of the 10-year Pine Valley Wildfire Crisis Strategy Landscape project. Project will need maintenance in future years as needed and determined by monitoring. The two pastures of the Pine Valley Allotment that will be affected by this project are the Black Bench Pasture and the Mountain Pasture. The Black Bench Pasture will be taken out of rotation and rested for a minimum of two growing seasons. The small portion of the project that falls on the Mountain Pasture will also be rested for a minimum of two growing seasons by herding practices and if needed using electric fencing.

The treatment proposed in this project are part of a larger effort to reduce risk of uncharacteristically severe wildfire, maintain, improve riparian areas and improve wildlife habitat and functionality. The project falls within the Black Bench and the Mountain Pastures of the Pine Valley Allotment. The Pine Valley allotment is currently managed on a six pasture, deferred rotation with a permitted use of 786 cow/calf pairs. Grazing use take place between 6/01 and 10/15.Range conditions are expected to improve following project completion. The health, vigor, and production of grasses, forbs and shrubs will provide more forage for wildlife and livestock.