The Deer Creek fire began in the Deer Creek Subdivision of Old La Sal in San Juan County, UT in mid-July 2025. Field assessments made in late August 2025 have informed the work outlined in this proposal. Given the hydrophobicity of the soil, soil degradation, devegetation and degraded slope stability left by the fire, it is necessary to begin creek restoration and sediment mitigation measures before winter to mitigate events that could lead to habitat loss. Follow up monitoring in spring and early summer will inform final plans for additional work in the latter half of 2026 and possibly into 2027. Fires result in significant loss of vegetation and can create hydrophobic soils. This can have several negative impacts to the watershed such as soil erosion, increased stream channelization, reduced water quality, loss of wildlife habitat, increased potential for invasive weeds, and loss of forage for livestock. The Deer Creek fire burned 17,724 acres on the southeast end of the La Sal mountains and this project is a effort to mitigate some of these negative impacts. This project will help to rehabilitate the watershed by seeding beneficial vegetation, reducing erosion, and reducing sediment in the waterways.

The main goals of the project are to re-establish native vegetation and stabilize the soils. Promoting revegetation by seeding will help keep non-native species at low levels while also continuing to support ecological biodiversity and provide for wildlife and permitted livestock grazing. Reseeding will also help to control soil erosion. Soil stabilization goals are to limit soil movement and reduce soil loss during runoff and flooding events and to reduce the amount of sediment moving into the creeks.

No action would likely result in an increase in cheatgrass, noxious weeds, and increased sedimentation into the water ways. An increase in cheatgrass can alter the fire regime and expose the site to accelerated erosion on a more frequent basis resulting in an increase risk to the values at risk. The proposed aerial seeding focuses on those moderate-high burn severity areas where there is a higher percentage of bare ground and limited seed bank or sprouting/regrowth potential.

Proposed activities meet the goals and management direction in the Manti-La Sal Forest Plan. Post-fire restoration efforts are supported by MLNF Plan direction to maintain or improve habitat carrying capacity for elk and deer and wildlife habitat diversity (III-3). These efforts will help to meet goals to improve deteriorated watershed conditions, protect soil and water productivity, protect riparian areas and improve fisheries habitat (III-4). DWR statewide deer and elk plans include a strategy to coordinate with land management agencies to enhance/restore habitats including by post-wildfire reseeding efforts. The La Sal Deer Herd Unit Management Plan (2020) specifically identifies protecting deer winter range by reseeding burned areas with desirable perennial vegetation and increasing browse. This proposal includes seeding with plant species and planting shrubs that will improve mule deer forage on summer, transition and winter ranges. The San Juan County Resource Management Plan does not directly address post-fire restoration but does support the implementation of rangeland improvement projects including brush control and seeding projects.

A fuels management concern post-fire is the establishment of extensive stands of non-native annual grasses. Cheatgrass can alter the fire regime in areas it dominates. Reseeding can ensure there is a source of native perennial species to compete with the undesirable species.

The Deer Creek fire directly impacted 7 miles of perennial streams (Twomile Creek) and 44 miles of intermittent/ephemeral drainages. In these steep canyon systems, hillslope erosion will increase post-fire and transport a greater sediment load downstream. Water quality in streams that drain from the burned area will be impaired during runoff events for several years post-fire until vegetation recovery improves canopy and ground cover. Flooding and debris flows are 1.5 to 2.6 times more likely in the burned watersheds. The La Sal Creek watershed includes Deer Creek, Beaver Creek, Two-Mile Creek, and Hop Creek, which all flow into La Sal Creek, a designated Cold Water Fishery. The watershed is currently listed as Category 5 (TMDL required), but no TMDL has yet been developed. Data collected through this project will directly support future TMDL development or, if conditions improve, potentially help in delisting the watershed for certain parameters. Historic water-quality monitoring in the 1980s showed very high levels of radioactive isotopes, while more recent checks found much lower levels. Since then, very little monitoring has been done, leaving a major data gap. The lower end of the Deer Creek Fire Scar sits on the Morrison Formation, which is known for its rich uranium and radium deposits, and contains multiple abandoned uranium mines. The metal-rich geology and extensive mining history in combination with the disturbance from fire, makes it likely that post-fire runoff could move radioactive materials or other pollutants into streams. The U.S. Geological Survey initiated a rapid response water-quality sampling project to improve understanding of how wildfire on previously mined areas may impact surface water quality. Three monitoring sites were established, La Sal Creek above Two Mile Creek (Upper La Sal Creek), Two Mile Creek near the confluence of La Sal Creek, and La Sal Creek below Two Mile Creek (Lower La Sal Creek). On July 26, approximately 16 days after the fire ignited, water samples were collected from these sites to represent 'background' conditions before any precipitation occurred. On July 28th, passive water and sediment samplers were installed at sites along with pressure transducers. On August 26th, a precipitation event occurred resulting in debris flow and streambed rearrangement on Two Mile Creek. On August 28th, USGS staff visited the sites and retrieved water and sediment samples from the passive samplers. They also collected grab water samples from each site, to capture post-rain return to base-flow conditions. The USGS will continue to collect samples following precipitation events into fall of 2025. Currently, the 'background' samples have been submitted to the USGS G3 lab for analysis of heavy metals (both dissolved and total). Samples collected during and immediately after the rain event have been preserved but not analyzed. This proposal would fund the following: -Continued monitoring of dissolved and total heavy metal concentrations during runoff events through spring of 2027 to better understand the long-term effect of wildfire on water-quality - Expansion of water-quality monitoring to other locations to help inform the efficacy of restoration efforts through collaboration with DWQ via the Grand and San Juan Watershed Coordinator. Monitoring will include testing for radioactive isotopes (radium, uranium, gross alpha/beta, tritium) along with routine water quality monitoring (pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and temperature). Samples will be collected during runoff events and compared with baseflow to see if fire-related erosion is moving contaminants. In addition, water quality results before and after in-stream restoration structures are installed will be compared to see if those projects are helping stabilize the system and improve conditions. -Continuous monitoring equipment increase the temporal scale of monitoring. The Aqua TROLL 500 multiparameter sonde (already owned) will provide baseline data, and pressure transducers and HOBO pendant temperature loggers will be added to track flow and stream temperature across multiple sites. Together, this effort will provide high-quality data to evaluate how the fire scar is affecting water quality and whether restoration efforts are working. - Remote sensing and machine learning techniques will be used to estimate relative streamflow and turbidity using timelapse imagery. Game cameras will be installed at two stream locations to collect daily imagery of the stream channel. Images will be uploaded in the USGS Flow Photo Explorer, which can classify images based on high or low flow and provide rankings to serve as indicators of the relative amount of streamflow (or turbidity). This information can be used to assess restoration effectiveness and long-term changes in sediment loaded to the system.

The proposed activities have been reviewed for compliance with the Manti-La Sal National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (1986) and other USDA Forest Service policy including the use of native seed (FSM 2000/2070). Required NEPA compliance will be conducted prior to implementation.

Aerially apply seed to moderate-severely burned pinyon-juniper and ponderosa pine habitat on up to 3,488 acres of Forest Service land and up to 1,700 acres of private property. Some of the private property may be seed with a rangeland drill. Hand-seeding/planting bare-root shrubs on 115 acres on the east side of Two Mile Creek. DRAINAGE STABILIZATION NEEDS A key objective of this project is to decrease erosion and limit mass flow events within the burn scar. Using the USGS Post Fire Debris Flow Hazard Assessment Viewer as well as on site observations methods have been identified for perennial and ephemeral flow drainages. Low-tech, process-based restoration techniques to be analyzed and implemented in select locations: - Grid staking along creek banks in Two Mile - One rock structures in upper watersheds of Two Mile, Pole Spring, Hop, and Lion creeks. - Selective tree felling and placement above locations with anticipated scour risk - Brush/pole cradles at the toe slopes in high-risk debris flow locations identified through BAER analysis - Seeding and planting along banks and terraces in Two Mile - Planting and seeding in selected restoration areas - Contour felling in upstream reaches of Pole Spring, Two Mile, and Hop. Contractors, Youth Corps and Volunteer organizations will be used for structure installation, planting and seeding work throughout the basin. The work will begin with four weeks of FFSL crew work in fall of 2025. PERENNIAL STREAM STABILIZATION METHODS This will be done through a combination of low-tech processed based restoration structures at key intervals along the Two-Mile creek corridor. Techniques will be limited to hand work designed to slow flow, increase biomass and encourage revegetation through the burned area. Given the expectation of debris flow in Two Mile, toe slope mitigations will be prioritized with bank stakes, cradles, and contour felling to arrest localized erosion as well as provide stops for the upslope debris. Spring work will include planting and seeding for woody species and shrubs in these areas to prevent slope movement and mass flow events. EPHEMERAL DRAINAGE STABILIZATION METHODS The ephemeral drainages of Pole Spring, Hope and Lion creek will have restoration work focused in the higher elevation areas of the burn scar with supportive follow up planting in the Spring. This restoration work will center around contour felling or similar bank erosion control measures, as well as the implementation of one-rock structures to slow flow from spring run-off and precipitation events. Species selected for revegetation will be fast growing, native species with the intent of mitigating invasive fine fuels that present fire hazards. Quick germinating forbs and grasses will be seeded into areas of lower slope to establish islands of fire resilient vegetation. Riparian vegetation will include fire resilient, native plants including willows, three leaf sumac, and New Mexico privet.

Implementation monitoring of contracts and other project work conducted by DWR and USFS. USGS flow/water quality monitoring with gauges in La Sal Creek. Post-treatment plots to monitor seeding/planting success and establishment. Continuous water quality monitoring will occur through end of FY 2026 through USGS/DWQ, with analysis to determine if sampling needs to continue into FY 2027. Plant surveys and vegetation monitoring will be conducted coinciding with warming in the spring. Survey and monitoring will be focused on seeded areas and locations selected for sediment cradles. Planting will begin in spring 2026 in select locations within the burn.

The Forest Service, FFSL, Rim to Rim Restoration, USGS, DWR, BLM, DWQ, and many private landowners are coordinating on restoration efforts.

The burned and treated areas will be rested from livestock grazing for a minimum of 2 seasons. Types of post-fire fencing (replacement of burned traditional fence, virtual fence) and water facility reconstruction will be considered when determining if an allotment or pasture can be used in whole or part. Burned areas will be monitored for noxious weeds and treated where needed. DWR will continue monitoring wildlife populations and wildlife response to the fire and in rehabilitated areas, including the Twomile Creek drainage for future reintroduction of Colorado River cutthroat trout. USFS will assess the suitability of burned forest areas for timber salvage and/or planting ponderosa pine.

A USFS Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) will make biannual/annual trips into the field to assess when grazing can continue based on conditions on the ground; aspen regrowth (height and stems per acre), herbaceous recovery, and riparian recovery. The average rest time is 3 years, mainly dependent on precipitation through snowpack and annual rainfall. BAER funding will support signage, culvert replacement and other road and trail maintenance in the burn scar on NFS lands. Recreation activities (in this area mostly OHV use, hunting, camping) will continue.