The Cherry Creek Road fire occurred on the west bench and foothill areas of the West Tintic Mountain Range, with private rangeland along much of the east border. The fire remained out of the steeper slopes of the Wasatch National Forest and is located approximately 7 miles southwest of Eureka, Utah. The public lands are primarily used for cattle permittee grazing within the Boulter and Sabie Mountain allotments and for hunting and recreation, with evidence of ATV/UTV use and dispersed camping sites as well. The fire occurred within crucial year-long range for pronghorn and is entirely within Priority Habitat Management Area for greater sage-grouse. There are no known leks within the fire and the closest known lek is approximately 5.5 miles to the southeast. Other sensitive species potentially affected include kit fox, burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk, golden eagle, pinyon jay, monarch butterfly, and western bumble bee. The integrity of the Tanner Creek drainage could be at risk, due to loss of riparian vegetation or impacts from the fire effects including surrounding native trees, shrubs and perennial vegetation, all of which could contribute to an accelerated eroding landscape. Soil loss or movement downstream is of primary concern. Wind erosion is moderate and water erosion is potentially high if there are future instances of rapid runoff.

The northern portion of the fire is roughly bisected by the Tanner Creek drainage, which experienced low to moderate fire burn severity occurring throughout. There are bands of small, unburned patches of Pinyon-Juniper and sagebrush within burn area. As is the case for all canyons in the Great Basin, they are susceptible to flash flooding and debris flows due to heavy rainfall. The risk of flash flooding within a watershed increases substantially post-fire. Fire impacts watershed health by removing accumulated material and vegetation that provides protection to the mineral soil and holds sediment on hillslopes. Fire also alters infiltration by exposing soil to raindrop impact and enhancing hydrophobic soil conditions. Exposed hillslopes have increased raindrop impact, increased runoff with more power due to long uninterrupted flow paths and less surface roughness (due to removal of vegetation, litter, duff and coarse woody debris). Natural recovery of the vegetation will take several years; a flashflood/debris flow during the post-fire recovery phase would potentially result in significant negative impacts to the landscape and access roads surrounding the greater Tanner Creek drainage area. This fire has created a disturbance opportunity for weeds. Areas subjected to wildfire are highly susceptible to entry of both noxious and invasive weeds. The proposed seeding is important to establish desirable perennial species to compete with these invasive and noxious weeds.

The cost of the investment in the aerial seeding application is small relative to the potential threats to the habitat by cheatgrass and other annuals if there were no treatment at all. In addition to public safety, the access roads and quite often those used within the burn area are at increased risk from flash flooding due to the impacts of the fire. Most of, if not all the seeded species are deep-rooted, which are effective in holding the soil in place and promoting infiltration over this burned area. Establishing a reliable stand of perennial seeded species on this burned area will significantly reduce the threat of flash flooding, which improves human safety and protects both wildlife species and water rights holders/users downstream in the watershed and below the burned area. This treatment will allow the new seedlings to provide favorable microsites throughout the burned area for seeding establishment. Should the seeding treatment succeed, this area will likely support a diverse plant community with a good mix of desirable perennials to hold the site for years to come.

These ESR treatments are consistent with the House Range Resource Area Resource Management Plan (HRRA RMP, 1987) in Juab County, the Richfield Fire Management Plan Amendment (2006), the 2017 Fillmore Field Office Invasive Plant Management Plan (DOI-BLM-UT-W020-2011-0001-EA), and the 2010 West Desert District Normal Year Fire Rehabilitation Plan (WDD NFRP) (DOI-BLM-UT-W000-2010-0001-EA). The WDD NFRP supports: ▪The use of various methods to plant seed into the soil, including aerial seeding application treatments, as part of this ESR plan. When established, these seedings prevent cheatgrass invasion, provide a protection from soil erosion, protect the burn area from large-scale incursion of non-native noxious and invasive weeds, and provide forage and nectar resources for wildlife. ▪The WDD NFRP and FFO Invasive Species Management Plan also supports the use of herbicides to combat noxious and invasive plant species.

The human (wood cutting) caused fire started October 13, 2024 and was declared contained October 18, 2024. Most of the acreage burned between the afternoon of October 13th and early hours of October 14th. The fire started on BLM lands barely west of private lands, just north of the Cherry Creek Road and stopped just south of State Route 36 and the adjacent railroad grade. High winds drove the fire north and east, carrying the fire through the Tanner Creek drainage. The fire ran upslope from the point of origin (T10S R4W Section 36), propelled by strong south-westerly winds causing running, spotting, torching and creeping. At the heel of the fire, the landscape is slightly hilly and has sagebrush and Pinyon/juniper stands between. As the fire moved northeast, it reached a plateau dominated by sagebrush and grasses. The strong winds created a long narrow fire perimeter with small, unburned islands. However, a shift or laying down of the blowing winds ceased, which allowed both aerial and ground firefighting resources to halt the fire's forward progression. Fire severity was continuous and predominantly low to moderate throughout the burn area. The fire quickly transitioned from a Type 5 to a Type 4 fire by late Saturday with observed fire behaviors of active, torching, wind driven runs, short-range spotting and isolated group torching. Aerial resources were ordered as well as local Type 4 resources. Ground resources stayed on scene throughout the following week to assist with minimizing the fire size and intensity to protect greater sage-grouse habitat and big game year-long habitat, limiting fire and suppression activities to keeping the fire within the roads throughout that were utilized for suppression logistics as it relates to dozer line, where appropriate.

The northern portion of the fire is roughly bisected by the Tanner Creek drainage, which experienced low to moderate fire burn severity occurring throughout. There are bands of small, unburned patches of Pinyon-Juniper and sagebrush within burn area. As is the case for all canyons in the Great Basin, they are susceptible to flash flooding and debris flows due to heavy rainfall. The risk of flash flooding within a watershed increases substantially post-fire. Fire impacts watershed health by removing accumulated material and vegetation that provides protection to the mineral soil and holds sediment on hillslopes. Fire also alters infiltration by exposing soil to raindrop impact and enhancing hydrophobic soil conditions. Exposed hillslopes have increased raindrop impact, increased runoff with more power due to long uninterrupted flow paths and less surface roughness (due to removal of vegetation, litter, duff and coarse woody debris). Natural recovery of the vegetation will take several years; a flashflood/debris flow during the post-fire recovery phase would potentially result in significant negative impacts to the landscape and access roads surrounding the greater Tanner Creek drainage area. An aerial seeding treatment is needed to stabilize soils, promote infiltration, and mitigate the potential for flash flooding threats. Without seeding, the potential for increased density and overall presence of cheatgrass, which was located within the burn area, could increase in this burned area if left untreated and the invasion of several noxious weed species would also be a concern. Due to the significant threats posed by the Cherry Creek Road Fire, as described above, an interdisciplinary team (ESR Team) met on site to discuss potential courses of action that could be taken to address the concerns and real threats to the burned area landscape. The members that provided input in that meeting and in the following days were composed of individuals from the BLM who all provided their expertise and input to develop the Cherry Creek Road ESR Plan. Subsequent conversations have also been held with staff from the Utah Department of Natural Resources -- Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR), private landowner(s) and permittee(s) to address their concerns and convey our two-year non-use agreement expectations if the proposed treatments occur.

Vegetation management goals are to stabilize areas where existing perennial grasses/forbs cannot reasonably be expected to provide adequate soil and watershed protection within three years, areas where the need to establish a vegetative system of less flammable species, and areas that are susceptible to an invasion of pervasive annual species. All emergency stabilization practices discussed in the NFRP are consistent with the House Range RMP (1987) and the WDD Normal Year Fire Rehabilitation Plan (2010). The proposed ESR treatments are consistent with Utah's Standards for Rangeland Health. All seeded species were included in the analysis for the NFRP.

Many cost-saving treatments and methods have been employed on the Cherry Creek Road ESR Plan. The ESR Team is confident that it's a well-designed treatment proposal and the proposed seeded species fit the needs of both the wildlife and range site, as well as the needed soil stabilization attributes. The ESR team considered various potential seed species for the seed mixes and application methods to design the customized treatments for the specific situation. Previous ESR seeding treatments in similar soils and weather conditions have proven to be very successful. Given the appropriate custom treatment design and the past successes on similar soils, the probability of success for this ESR project is great.

For the purposes of soil and site stability: 1. Obtain an average of 3 seeded plants per square meter by the end of the third year following fire ignition (by field season 2027). 2. Obtain 50% or greater perennial cover of the low potential perennial plant cover for the appropriate ecological site by the end of the third year following fire ignition. All potential ecological sites are listed under the soil map units available in the soil report and would be field verified. 3. Establish desirable species at 50 percent relative frequency within 3 years.

Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife Resources Private Landowner(s) and/or Permittee(s).

Livestock grazing would not be authorized within the burn area for a minimum of two growing seasons after the seeding treatments occur in accordance with ESR policy. Once seeded natives become established, grazing and other current management would allow for the protection of those species. Recreation seems to be a common use of these lands and would not have significant impacts on the vegetation.

The overall probability for success of the proposed treatments is sufficiently high to result in an acceptable level of risk. Indications are that the proposed Cherry Creek Road Fire treatments have a favorable chance of success, given that the project wins early support and can be carried out in the proper timeframe this fall. The Fillmore Field Office has experience using similar seeding applications and research has shown these treatments have the best efficacy to prevent/ameliorate overland flow for the first year following the fire.