Strawberry Reservoir is Utah's most important cold water fishery, receiving as much as 1.4 million angler hours on an annual basis. Typically 65% of this pressure is from boat and small watercraft. 65% of all anglers in Utah fish Strawberry on an annual basis. Crowding at access points is often an issue. Over the past few years as recreation use in this area has increased, Strawberry has seen an extreme rise is nonmotorized use, this includes anything from kick boats, float tubes, paddle boarders and Kayaks. Strawberry Sites have never catered to these types of recreationist and their use has been limited to shore line launches or boat ramps that are designed for motorized vessels. This project will allow anglers and other recreationalist who utilize a non-motorized vessels to have a safe launch area away from the main boat ramps. In addition for the need for more and improved access, there have been many issues with resource damage in critical sage grouse areas near the proposed parking area and road Vehicles are often seen taking their own paths off the existing road and then along the shorelines of the reservoir into areas closed to motor vehicle traffic, and into critical sage grouse habitat. The construction of the new parking area would eliminate the potential for people to access these areas that area already off-limits to motor vehicles.

The overriding objectives would be to provide improved and safer access for non-motorized water users at Strawberry in the Solider Creek area, improved access will better disperse traffic at motorized launch sites, and provide protection for sage grouse and other natural resources in the area.

This Project will be constructed at Strawberry Reservoir on the Solider Creek Side, near the Day use are along the Dam Road. This site was chosen because of an already existing road that goes directly to the water that is already being used for this purpose. This site is also very close to an existing 'Day Use" area with a bathroom and Garbage collection.

The current Strawberry Management plan (UDWR Publication) calls for the support of a minimum of 1 million angler hours of pressure on the reservoir annually. Angler perception of crowding has been shown to often limit the desire to fish body of water. By dispersing pressure to a new areas and creating non-motoized launch areas we can essentially Reduce crowding and potential conflicts among different water users. The current management plan also calls specifically for improvement and development of areas for small water craft launching. The impetus for this comes from the conflicts that often occur between people launching non-motorized craft such as personal inflatable craft, and other small vessels that require more time to set up and launch than larger boats.

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NEPA for this project was proposed to Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Interdisciplinary Team in Fall of 2024. Categorical Exclusion document for this project will be completed in spring 2025 prior to FY 2026.

Existing Road will be Regraded and Repaired, and Concrete matts will be Installed to prevent road deteriation and Erosion and allow solid area for launching non-motorized water craft.

UDWR and/or USFS will oversee and monitor all phases of the construction to make sure that the end product will be usable and a benefit to the angling and public. UDWR and the USFS will make sure that the newly developed site is maintained in good working order to provide this access for years to come.

U.S Forest Service

UDWR and/or USFS will oversee and monitor all phases of the construction to make sure that the end product will be usable and a benefit to the angling and public. UDWR and the USFS will make sure that the newly developed site is maintained in good working order to provide this access for years to come.

By providing this access for anglers, we will be insuring that crowding and use at other areas do not overly limit access to Strawberry Reservoir during ice free seasons. We will also be dispersing certain types of users that have had conflicts at the other boat ramps around the reservoir, thus providing a wider variety of users a more enjoyable and user friendly experience