Historical conditions have led to a decrease in natural processes that have led to degradation of stream and meadow systems that lack proper function to support a dynamic equilibrium between vegetation, hydrology, and geomorphology, leading to a reduction in riparian vegetation, increased incision and erosion, decreased water table elevations and stream base flows, and destruction of suitable habitat for fish and wildlife. The BLM would like to implement low tech, process-based restoration techniques to address impacts to aquatic and riparian habitat that have affected the hydrologic, geomorphic, and biologic function of stream and riparian systems caused by historical and ongoing land use in the Upper Bear River Watershed in Rich County, Utah. Historically, riparian areas were dominated by hydrophilic woody species such as willow, as evidenced by historic records, intact riparian exclosure areas, and areas that have historically had less grazing. Analysis using the Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT) and historic records suggest that beavers formerly inhabited the project area and utilized the wide valley bottoms as active floodplain. Historic grazing in the project area has impacted some of the riparian areas outside of the exclosure fences and decreased the woody vegetation needed for beaver survival. Stream bed incision has disconnected stream channels from their floodplains, lowering the water table and allowing for increased erosion and bank instability, a reduction in riparian vegetation, and encroachment of upland vegetation into riparian corridors. Lack of vegetative cover along stream corridors increases bank erosion, which contributes to stream incision, increased erosion, and higher stream sediment loads. Reduced amounts of vegetation caused by historical grazing, overgrazing, soil compaction, and erosion increases overland runoff and stream bank erosion, which can then negatively affect water quality and impair aquatic habitats. A decrease in bankside vegetation also contributes to increases in solar heating of water contained within the stream channel, which increases water temperature and decreases dissolved oxygen concentrations. Livestock grazing in and around streams and overland runoff from grazing areas into stream channels has also created elevated E. coli levels. Stream bed incision leading to head cutting or bank instability has contributed to increased turbidity in some areas, which also has degraded aquatic habitat for fish and macroinvertebrates.

The BLM would look to improve the function and condition of lotic and lentic systems and associated habitat to restore State listed sensitive fish populations; improve water quality, water quantity, and aquatic habitats; promote vertical and lateral exchange of surface water and groundwater to increase or maintain soil moisture, groundwater elevations and stream base flows; increase channel-floodplain connectivity, water storage on the floodplain, and peak flow attenuation; increase channel stability and restore incised streams by aggrading the stream bed; increase fine-grained sediment and organic matter storage; and, decrease downstream delivery of nutrient and sediment loads. Other objectives for this project include managing for greater plant and wildlife habitat diversity; increasing resilience to drought, wildfire, and climate change; and helping grazing allotments in the project area achieve progress toward land health standards, water quality standards, standards for public health in Utah, Utah Fundamentals of Rangeland Health, and BLM Utah's Standards and Guidelines for Rangeland Health.

The project area extends from southwest of Woodruff, Utah to northeast of Laketown, Utah, and mostly comprises foothills of the Monte Cristo Range located to the west. The project area consists of grazing allotments in Rich County that have been degraded due to historical and ongoing land use practices, which has led to a decline in proper stream/riparian function and reduced amounts of riparian vegetation. The project area encompasses portions of two Hydrologic Unit Code 8 (HUC8) watersheds, Upper Bear River (HUC8 16010101) and Bear Lake (HUC8 16010201), and a number of drainages with perennial or intermittent flows that provide water for recreation, agricultural, municipal, and wildlife use. The project area contains portions of the eleven HUC12 watersheds that contain a variety of soil types and hydrologic conditions: Birch Creek-Walton Canyon (HUC12 160101010603), Lower Woodruff Creek (HUC12 160101010604), Upper Big Creek (HUC12 160101010701), Lower Big Creek (HUC12 160101010702), Bear River-Sage Hollow (HUC12 160101010703), Little Creek (HUC12 160101010704), Otter Creek (HUC12 160101010705), Bear River-Brazier Canyon (HUC12 160101010706), Sage Creek-Bear River (HUC12 160101010902), Sixmile Creek (HUC12 160101010903), and Laketown Canyon (HUC12 160102010102). With the exception of Laketown Canyon, streams in the project area are tributaries to the Upper Bear River located in Rich County, Utah. They originate in upper headwaters to the Bear River Valley and typically flow from west to east before reaching the Bear River. Laketown Canyon generally flows south to north and drains into Bear Lake located on the northern end of the project area. Streams in the area used for secondary contact recreation, agriculture, and cold-water fish habitat, with additional municipal use for the town of Laketown in Laketown Canyon (culinary supply). Springs are utilized by livestock, big game, and other wildlife species, and communities in the Bear River Valley located downstream and to the east of the project area also use springs and groundwater for culinary and agricultural purposes. The BLM has received funding to implement project that improve stream function in the Upper Bear River watershed in Rich County and has been internally organizing to get projects on the ground. If the projects are not implemented now, there may not be another time in the near future that presents an opportunity to implement these projects with the momentum that has been achieved thus far, conditions will continue to degrade as has been previously described, and the BLM will be less able to make significant progress towards improving land health standards, riparian function, and water quality; and, resource conditions would not be able to make as much progress toward achieving and maintaining the Utah Standards for Rangeland Health and UDWQ water quality standards.

The project is in conformance with Randolph Management Framework Plan, as amended (MFP, BLM 1980), the Laketown Canyon Area of Critical Environmental Concern (1989), the Utah Greater Sage-Grouse (GRSG) Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment (ARMPA; BLM 2015), the Salt Lake Field Office Invasive Species Management Plan (DOI-BLM-UT-W010-2018-0010-EA), Utah Conservation Plan for GRSG (2019), Utah State Wildlife Action Plan (2015), State of Utah Resource Management plan (2018), and Utah Standards for Rangeland Health.

This project would be expected to improve resiliency to wildfire and provide additional areas to act as a fire break due to increased riparian extent, increased soil moisture and plant productivity, elevated water tables, and increased surface area of water in the valley bottoms for the project area.

As specified by section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA), water quality standards have been established by the State of Utah to protect public health and welfare, maintain water quality, address pollutant loads affecting water bodies, and protect assigned beneficial uses (e.g. aquatic life, recreation, and agricultural use). The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program established by the UDWQ identifies maximum amounts of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still meet water quality standards based on the designated use of a body of water (UDWQ TMDL Report, 2006). UDWQ compares water quality against beneficial use criteria established under the State regulations. Beneficial use for streams in the area include Class 2B -- secondary contact recreation, Class 3A -- cold water aquatic life, and Class 4 -- agricultural use. Waters determined to be impaired are placed on the state's 303(d) list and prioritized for TMDL development. The Utah 2024 303(d) list includes the following watersheds with the PA that have impairments to their designated beneficial uses: * Sixmile Creek HUC12 160101010903: TMDL needed for benthic macroinvertebrates, dissolved oxygen, Escherichia coil (E. coli), and temperature. * Sage Creek-Bear River HUC12 160101010902: TMDL needed for benthic macroinvertebrates, dissolved oxygen, E. coli, pH, and temperature. * Laketown Canyon HUC12 160102010101: TMDL needed for benthic macroinvertebrates, E. coli, and temperature. * Otter Creek HUC12 16010101: TMDL needed for E. coli. * Big Creek HUC12 160101010701 and HUC12 160101010702: TMDL needed for E. coli, pH, and temperature. * Birch Creek-Walton Canyon HUC12 160101010603: TMDL needed for benthic macroinvertebrates. LTPBR is meant to restore hydrologic and geomorphic processes that contribute to decreased erosion and increased riparian plant growth along streams. This allows for reduced stream incision and an increase in stream bank stability by way of increased root mass, which improves water quality by stabilizing stream banks and reducing bank erosion that contributes to increased sediment loads in streams. Vegetation along stream banks can also act as a filter for nutrients and sediments carried by surface runoff entering the stream. More physical complexity in streams leads to more diverse flow paths such as braided channels and more sinuous stream meanders. This causes the water to remain on the landscape for a longer period of time before leaving the area. Slower flow and more circuitous flow paths also allow for reduced stream energy, which decreases stream incision so that the stream is better connected with its groundwater aquifer, preventing lowering of the water table. Additionally, preventing stream incision and stabilizing water table elevations can contribute to increased or longer duration stream base flows during dry seasons or periods of drought. Wood accumulation in streams provides hydraulic complexity by creating different areas in the stream with different water velocities and flow directions. This aids in sediment sorting, pool formation, and other types of in-stream complexity to provide better geomorphic and hydrologic conditions that benefit stream function and provide increased and more diverse aquatic habitats. Beaver are known as excellent ecosystem engineers because of the way that beaver dams contribute to healthy function of stream systems and improved water quality by better connecting a stream with its floodplain. Moreso, since beavers do their own maintenance on breached or blown out beaver dams, they contribute to self-sustaining ecological processes that have been shown to benefit ecosystem services in streams such as increased groundwater recharge, longer duration of stream base flow, and increased stream complexity that benefits fish habitat and other aquatic organisms.

The current project is currently being analyzed by the BLM Salt Lake Field Office, Stream and Meadow Restoration Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOI-BLM-UT-W010-2024-0008-EA). The EA is expected to be completed by August 2025. For any restoration projects completed in streams, stream alteration permits would be submitted to the Utah Division of Water Rights and the United States Army Corps of Engineers for each project prior to implementation. If projects are in proximity to private land, there may be water rights concerns to address prior to installation of instream structures, and a BLM water rights specialist or hydrologist would be involved in these discussions, and the BLM would implement projects in a manner that does not disrupt those rights. Permits that are needed would be secured from the Utah Division of Water Rights and/or the Army Corps of Engineers prior to construction. In addition to in-stream and floodplain considerations, the BLM would conduct cultural and wildlife resource surveys, determine consistency with biological opinions, review threatened and endangered species concerns, and consult with the appropriate State and Federal agencies as specific projects are planned. Internal discussions or meetings Site specific planning must include a BLM archaeologist, and cultural clearances would be conducted prior to implementation in an area for potential effects. To minimize disturbance to wildlife or other resources within specific project areas, the BLM will coordinate with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and other relevant agencies before implementing projects as required or appropriate.

For this project, the BLM would utilize a suite of simple, scientifically based, and relatively cost-effective restoration methods referred to as low tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) by building structures known as beaver dam analogs, post-assisted log structures, and erosion control structures known as "Zeedyk" structures (e.g. Zuni pools/bowls, media lunas, one rock dam structures). The BLM would identify riparian areas in most need of restoration and with the appropriate recovery potential to benefit wildlife and aquatic habitats. To maintain progress toward achieving the project goals and objectives, the project could involve adding structural elements within stream channels to promote more complex physical habitat (i.e., artificial beaver dams, wood accumulations, and sedimentary deposits), and aggrade (build up) streambeds to improve biologic, hydrologic, and geomorphic processes that historically had maintained the health and function of these systems. "Zeedyk structures" may also be used to address downcutting and other forms of erosion that improve physical and biologic processes to help maintain watershed health. These types of structures are designed to help control erosion and allow vegetation to become reestablished, are sometimes referred to as "Zeedyk" structures. Installation of these types of structures would be expected to aid in helping to maintain groundwater levels and reducing stream sediment loads that affect water quality and aquatic habitats. When designing each structure, the BLM would estimate the number of structures/treatments by evaluating the range of flows, as well as the flow at the bankfull and floodplain elevations for each treatment, relative to the width of the available valley bottom. Prior to implementing a project, it may be necessary to collect geomorphic and hydrologic data at a reference reach and project specific reach to better understand the dimension, pattern, and profile of the affected reach to ensure restoration objectives are met and adaptive management measures are properly implemented in response to new information. The BLM and/or contractors would review historic and current satellite imagery, modeling, geomorphology, streamflow characteristics, diversions, climate, and/or other watershed information in an office setting, prior to designing structures in the field. Structures would typically be designed in the field, built with locally available materials, and expected to withstand bankfull and lower flows and last until the structure is compromised. Structures would be installed in complexes (typically 50 - 100 structures) to create or improve physical and biological processes that improve ecosystem services to benefit beaver, fish and other aquatic species, and other forms of wildlife, including the greater sage-grouse. Like the physical characteristics of natural beaver dams and wood accumulations, the BLM would adapt the design of BDAs and PALS to influence specific processes. The expected results would be to accelerate the development of wood structure in streams to improve geomorphic and hydrologic processes that bolster aquatic and riparian habitats. The project would be implemented over multiple years and involve the installation of stream and erosion control structures to restore ecosystem services that benefit wildlife and riparian habitats. Project locations and restoration actions would be prioritized as resources and funding allow and include those areas that are unlikely to make progress toward the achievement of land health standards through natural processes. Structures would typically be installed with manual labor, a hydraulic post pounder, hand tools, and occasionally a Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) or a small excavator to increase efficiency and productivity (e.g., to transport materials or drive posts at difficult locations), or where such equipment is necessary to complete a project. There may be instances where an excavator is needed to move materials such as rock, posts, trees, and other vegetation to achieve the desired objectives that cannot be moved by people. A Geoprobe or similar type of drill rig may be utilized to install piezometers using direct push methods for groundwater studies that measure response to the groundwater aquifer following implementation of LTPBR techniques. The BLM would utilize Best Management Practices (BMPs) associated with the specific details of an individual project, including those for weed prevention, the protection of sensitive soils, water quality, and fish/wildlife.

Monitoring of stream and riparian areas in the project area would continue at existing sites and could be expanded based on selected locations for restoration projects. The BLM and its partners will collect water, soil, vegetation, and geomorphic data to monitor changes to project areas and compare them with existing baseline conditions. Partnering agencies and non-governmental organizations could include but would not be limited to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality -- Division of Water Quality, the Utah Geological Survey, the United States Geological Survey, and Working Lands Conservation. Prior to implementing a project, the BLM would evaluate the risk of flooding and potential for impacting downstream uses, stream crossings, and bridges. The use of GIS stream restoration tools such as Riparian Condition Assessment Toolbox (R-CAT), Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT) and the Valley Bottom Extraction Tool (VBET) may be utilized to define stream morphology, flow events, and size and character of sediment moving through a watershed. Stream and riparian restoration progress would be monitored using a combination of protocols that could include stream monitoring, fisheries assessments, PFC assessments, MIM assessments, AIM assessments, GIS modeling tools, and repeat photography. This could include installation of hydrologic monitoring sensors such as piezometers, thermistors, soil moisture sensors, and stream gauges, as well as the establishment of photo points, monitoring transects (permanent or temporary), and biological sampling to ensure that restoration treatments are benefitting hydrologic and biologic processes.

Potential and existing partners would include the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, the Utah Grazing Improvement Program, the Utah Geological Survey, the United States Geological Survey, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Forest Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality - Division of Water Quality, the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, Trout Unlimited, Working Lands Conservation, private landowners, and grazing permittees on BLM-manage allotments.

Implementation and effectiveness monitoring would be conducted for all projects to facilitate adaptive management and ensure treatment effectiveness, long-term integrity of the treatments, and progress towards meeting land health standards as well as those identified in the MFP. The BLM does not foresee changes in grazing management as a result of these projects, and the BLM expects to see a net benefit to grazing producers by way of increased amounts of water and forage available to livestock and improving Rangeland Health Standards. The rotational grazing system implemented by grazing permittees on BLM-managed lands in Rich County could provide added flexibility for livestock herds to be managed in such a way that any changes to hydrological, biological, and geomorphic processes created by LTPBR projects are allowed time to take effect, but any changes to how herds are rotated throughout pastures would be done in close coordination with the BLM range specialist, the Utah Grazing Improvement Program, and the grazing producers. No impacts to recreational activities such as fishing, hunting, and ATV/UTV use are expected as a result of LTPBR projects. It is possible the hunting and fishing conditions could improve as a result of LTPBR projects if fish and wildlife habitat is increased or improved.

Stream and riparian function, water quality and quantity, vegetation abundance and diversity, aquatic and terrestrial habitats, soil moisture content and productivity, and rangeland health standards are all expected to improve as a result of this project. Increased water availability and plant productivity would be expected to improve to improve forage conditions for both wildlife and livestock. Increased stream function and improved water quality conditions would be expected to improve fish habitat and increase native fish populations. The BLM anticipates positive benefits to wildlife from LTPBR projects resulting from increased amounts and more diverse types of aquatic and terrestrial habitats, as well as helping to create areas more resilient to disturbances caused by drought, floods, and wildfires. Increased aquatic and terrestrial habitat diversity would be expected to improve hunting and fishing conditions for the public.