The Yellow Lake Fire burned over 33,000 acres across the Duchesne Ridge in fall of 2024, impacting forest land in both the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache and Ashley National Forests. Headwaters of both the Provo River and the Duchesne river have been affected by varying degrees of severity. During the winter of 2025, a collaborative team called the Aquatic Collaborative Alliance (ACA) was formed. The Duchesne River drainage was determined to be an area of high priority for several of the groups. The Yellow Lake Fire and the subsequent rehabilitation has lead to projects that will consist of multiple phase across the next 5 years. Five projects have been identified and developed by partners at this time. Each of the four projects will be outlined in the Objectives below. Additional project need information: Soapstone Basin was one of the most heavily impacted areas from the fire, suffering severe degradation. Soapstone Creek is a direct early tributary to the Provo River, known for being a popular fishery supporting brook trout, brown trout and tiger trout. Being only an hour from Salt Lake City, it has historically offered an accessible and productive spot for anglers to target sportfish. Farther downstream, Soapstone Creek flows north to join the Upper Provo River, home to Bonneville cutthroat trout, which currently only occupy around 35% of their historical native range. The Provo River is one of Utah's prized Blue Ribbon fisheries. The severity of which Soapstone Creek was affected by the wildfire varies across our proposed project reach. In areas where vegetation was completely lost, soil is exposed and ash remains loose on the surface. In the most affected areas, tributaries to Soapstone Creek are running directly overland over loose soil as the stream morphology was completely altered during the fire. The widespread loss of vegetation has led to unstable, eroding banks. The increased run off over bare soil will continue to exacerbate erosion of the banks, accelerating sedimentation of the creek on site and downstream. If sedimentation goes unchecked and continues downstream, it can result in reduced success of spawning efforts by trout, a decline in aquatic insects that form a large part of trout diets, decreased dissolved oxygen and an increase in water temperature. Soapstone Basin is critical summer habitat for mule deer and revegetation is necessary for not only soil stabilization but to reestablish native grasses, forbs and shrubs to maintain available diet for mule deer and elk, habitat for upland game birds and to prevent invasive species taking a hold. South of the Soapstone Basin, the Yellow Lake Fire burned throughout most of the watershed area of Wolf Creek, removing vegetative ground cover again leading to the potential for increased sediment and debris runoff. Such effects threaten infrastructure, such as the Rhodes Diversion, and downstream fisheries in the West Fork Duchesne River watershed. The Rhodes Diversion is located on Wolf Creek and diverts water into the Strawberry Aqueduct and Collection System. This system moves water to Strawberry Reservoir to be used as M&I water in the Wasatch Front. However, debris and sediment threaten the function of the diversion system. As such, the Central Utah Water Conservancy District has placed temporary plates over the diversion to prevent damage in case of debris and sediment flows. Such threats to infrastructure and aquatic habitats suggest a need to mitigate effects from the Yellow Lake Fire in Wolf Creek. The Little West Fork Duchesne is inhabited by multiple SGCNs including Colorado River cutthroat trout and western toad. Colorado River cutthroat trout are a part of a multi-state conservation agreement due to the large decline in their distribution, to just 11% of their historical distribution. Although the Yellow Lake Fire did not reach the stream corridor of the Little West Fork, it did burn areas that could be potential habitat for western toad, which have been shown to migrate over 5km to access the necessary breeding, foraging and brumation sites necessary for populations to persist in an area. Further, the Little West Fork has the strongest population of western toad in the northeast region making it an important area for added protection and rehabilitation. Low-tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) activities in the Little West Fork will help bolster the western toad populations in the area through increasing breeding pond habitat and help to alleviate stress caused by the nearby Yellow Lake Fire. Further, the addition of LTPBR structures will improve the habitat for Colorado River cutthroat trout and offer increased fire resilience ion the future. Both the Little West Fork and Wolf Creek are tributaries to the West Fork Duchesne River. The West Fork Duchesne River is another Blue Ribbon fishery. Without immediate restoration efforts, loose ash and debris will continue to enter the waterways throughout these heavily burned reaches during spring run off and monsoons, increasing sedimentation, altering water chemistry and stripping the effected areas of critical top soil needed for the reestablishment of native vegetation. In response, TU, UDWR, USFS are planning a series of large scale mitigation efforts across the effected landscape, prioritizing watershed restoration through erosion control, soil stabilization and water quality improvements, with far reaching effects into native vegetation improvement, fire resilience, improved grazing and increased wildlife habitat.

The main objectives of these projects are to rehabilitate the Yellow Lake Fire burn scar to improve the landscape with fire resilient vegetation, stabilize soil through seeding and planting, reduce erosion of sensitive headwaters through LTPBR methods and improve habitat for multiple Utah SGCNs, game species, sport fish and sensitive plant species. Each of the five proposed project is listed below with its respective Goals and Objectives. 1) Soapstone Creek riparian restoration project (project lead Kayleigh Mullen) The severity of which Soapstone Creek was affected by the wildfire varies across the project reach. In the most affected areas, tributaries to Soapstone Creek are running directly over loose soil, outside of their original channels due to the severity of the burn changing stream morphology. The widespread loss of vegetation has led to unstable, eroding banks, and head-cutting. The increased run off over bare soil will continue to exacerbate erosion of the banks, accelerating sedimentation of the creek on site and downstream. If this sedimentation goes unchecked it may result in reduced success of spawning efforts by trout downstream, a decline in aquatic insects, decreased dissolved oxygen and an increase in water temperature. This project will tackle the continuing negative effects of the Yellow Lake fire by focusing on a 1-mile stretch of Soapstone Creek with a focus on: 1) Stabilizing soil: re-seeding with native grasses and forbs in the most severely burned areas of the creek with a focus on soil stabilization, helping re-establish vegetation that will take root and establish ground cover, improving soil health and reducing erosion. Additional benefits include lowering the risk of invasive species taking hold, supporting long-term ecological resilience in the area. 2) Stabilizing banks: planting to tackle the bank de-stabilization that follows wildfires, we will cut, root and stake willows along the banks of Soapstone Creek that have been stripped of vegetation. Willows are a fast-rooting riparian species, and planting directly on the banks of the creek will speed up the revegetation process, anchoring the banks, reducing erosion and, with time, will also aid in keeping water temperatures lower by creating shade over the channel. Willows will be collected from a large wetland downstream of the project site. 3) Controlling sediment: strategic, directional tree felling of standing dead trees near the creek, into the creek to help trap sediment, slow flow, and farther downstream of the project site provide habitat for resident fish. Any felling will be completed under the guidance of the USFS. 4) Implementing in-stream, low-tech, process-based methods: many points along the creek within our proposed project area would benefit from in-stream restoration methods. The combined effects of the sweeping loss of vegetation, bank instability and sedimentation can be helped by building Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs). BDAs mimic natural beaver dams and work to slow water, reducing erosion, encouraging sediment deposition and raising the water table, helping with vegetation regrowth. 5) Reducing debris flows: staking straw wattles at even intervals to help reduce larger debris flows into the creek from the steeper slopes surrounding tributaries of Soapstone Creek. These objectives will be completed by both contractors and volunteers managed by Kayleigh. 2) Soapstone meadows encroachment project (Skyler Smith) ---The soapstone meadows encroachment project area consists of wetland habitat along approximately 3.5 km of the Provo River and its tributaries, Soapstone Creek and Rock Creek. The area also contains four known columbia spotted frog (CSF) breeding sites known as Upper Soapstone, Middle Soapstone, Lower Soapstone, and Rock Creek. The project's goal is to address conifer encroachment impacting the availability of wetland habitat through a lop, pile and burn. Conifer encroachment results in increased water consumption and higher rates of evapotranspiration resulting in a decrease of water availability. This in turn changes the plant community resulting in the loss of many wetland grasses, sedges, rushes, and willows; eventually leading to the successional advance of the wetland into a forested habitat. However, maintaining this wetland habitat would provide important habitat for amphibians, fish, beavers, moose, various species of warblers, and game birds such as waterfowl, sandhill cranes, and snipe. The wetland habitat would also continue to function as a natural fire break. The primary species of interest, CSF, functions as an indicator species of this successional advancement as temperature and water availability impact amphibian activity and development. As encroachment continues, the increased shade coupled with decreased water availability, impacts the quantity and quality of CSF habitat, specifically breeding habitat. This succession over time is well documented at the Lower Soapstone CSF site where there has been a clear shift in egg mass deposition away from the conifer growth. 3) Wolf Creek/ Phelps Brook riparian enhancement project (project lead Braxton Newkirk, Natalie Boren). ----Phelps Brook is a small tributary to Wolf Creek which is a tributary to the West Fork Duchesne River. Phelps Brook is a small groundwater fed stream with multiple spring heads forming a small wetland area at its headwaters. This wetland area is known to support tiger salamander but may also be a viable location for other amphibians. As such, our primary goal in Phelps Brook is to protect and enhance the wetland area in the headwaters. We will accomplish by 1) building an exclusionary fence to prevent vehicle traffic across the wetland, 2) enhance the wetland by constructing 2-5 beaver dam analogues to create more ponding, and 3) install signage to educate the public about the area's amphibians and importance of wetland habitat. Wolf Creek flows southeast from its headwaters to its confluence with the West Fork Duchesne River. Wolf Creek is intermittent in its upper reaches but becomes permanent as it flows down the canyon. Currently, Wolf Creek supports a population of brook trout and is an important source of water for the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. The primary concern following the Yellow Lake Fire is an influx of sediment negatively impacting the functionality of Rhode's Diversion and negatively impacting downstream fisheries. Therefore, the primary goal for Wolf Creek is to reduce the amount of sediment that makes it to the stream and flows downstream. We will accomplish this by 1) installing 20 beaver dam analogues above Rhode's Diversion, 2) strategically felling approximately 50 trees into the stream to capture debris and sediment, 3) install a debris catcher similar to those used in the Strawberry River following the Dollar Ridge fire to capture any large debris that could cause damage to Rhode's Diversion, 4) revegetate up to 15 acres of upland vegetation along the hillslope where natural plant recruitment has not occurred, and 5) high stump additional trees to provide a point of capture for any future tree fall that may occur. 4) Little West Fork Duchesne Western Toad habitat improvement project (project lead Pua Thorlaksen, Kaitlyn Purington, Mike Partlow, Keith Lawrence) Little West Fork of the Duchesne River is an important area for several native aquatic species, including Western (Boreal) Toad and Colorado River Cutthroat Trout. The discovery of Western Toad in 2009 in this drainage is still the only true population of this species we have found within the boundary lines of the Northeastern Region. This population is still doing well with all life stages of toads being documented in the upper end of this drainage. This project aims to enhance various historic breeding ponds and additional areas using low tech PBR techniques which could include post assisted structures or low tech BDA's. Some of these historic breeding sites have been blown out by significant snowpack runoff flows in 2023. In addition to these ponds, we want to enhance an adjacent wet meadow using multiple BDA installments to pool water and monitor long term for use by breeding Western Toads. The development of a long term monitoring plan for this project will be a critical component of this project. The scope of this project aims to, 1) Enhance breeding ponds by using low tech PBR techniques. 2) Create a new breeding pond to the south of the existing pond and monitor how Western Toad utilize the structure. 3) Develop a comprehensive monitoring plan for Western Toad into the future. 5) Silver Meadow riparian protection (project lead Natalie Boren) ----Silver Meadow is an estimated 30 surface acre wet meadow located within the Yellow Lake burn scar on the Wasatch National Forest. There are several springs that feed this wet meadow, which even in the driest of years, is enough water to keep it functioning as productive amphibian habitat. In addition to amphibians this area is a nesting and rearing area for Sandhill Cranes. This area is a unique feature that survived the burn and should be protected in the future. This project proposal is for the construction of a wildlife friendly rock barrier "fence" around the outside perimeter of the meadow to protect it from human impacts. In addition to the outside perimeter fence, USFS and UDWR would partner on an educational opportunity on the eastern side of the meadow near primitive camping sites. This area would include the construction of a small kiosk with several co-designed signs to showcase the aquatic amphibians, important plants and animals which live in this area. In addition, we could highlight Sandhill Crane preference to this site and life history of this migratory bird. This area is a reasonable distance from historic Columbia Spotted Frogs sites as well as Western Toad habitat. Enhancements for both species could be considered for this project and could include creation of breeding ponds using low-tech methods to pool water. Additionally, this site is the location of one of the few known populations of Dainty Moonwort (Botrychium crenulatum) in the state. This plant species is currently ranked G3/S1 for the state of Utah. The creation of the boundary fence will help to protect the area and limit the human impacts to this species.

The risks of not doing any restoration work in this area within the next year include: invasion of noxious weed species, and little to no grasses, forbs and shrub recruitment, the loss of forage and habitat for economically important game species and sport fish, continual degradation of critical headwaters to two important watersheds and a reduced resiliency to future wildfires. The need for soils to stabilize is critical within the next year. Perennial grass, forb and shrub species that will become established from our reseeding efforts will benefit wildlife across both forests. As mentioned, debris flows and sheet erosion also pose a risk to critical infrastructure. The BRAT model suggests Soapstone Creek, Wolf Creek and Little West Fork Duchesne all have the capacity to hold high numbers of BDAs, showing the system will benefit from LTPBR techniques such as BDAs. The Wildlife Migration Initiative identifies the project area as crucial summer habitat for mule deer. Low- Medium use for migrations (Wasatch East). Please review photos attached to see the severity of the burn. The most heavily impacted areas within the burn scar continue to degrade with severe headcutting, sedimentation and erosion in sensitive headwaters without immediate intervention. Many of the projects identified in this proposal are a result of the ACA team creation and the collaborative efforts of many on the ground field personnel that have all come together to work in an area of high priority for the Utah Division of Wildlife and US Forest Service. Resources have been pooled, funds have been discussed and the opportunity to match these funds has been identified.

STATE OF UTAH RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN - Protect existing habitat and improve 500,000 acres of habitat - Produce and maintain the desired vegetation for wildlife and livestock. DUCHESNE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN - Reverse the negative fire trends in forest health by actively managing the forest. UTAH MULE DEER STATEWIDE MANAGEMENT PLAN - Conserve, improve, and restore mule deer habitat throughout the state with emphasis on crucial ranges. - Maintain mule deer habitat throughout the state by protecting and enhancing existing crucial habitats and mitigating for losses due to natural and human impacts. UTAH STATEWIDE ELK MANAGEMENT PLAN - Conserve and improve elk habitat throughout the state. - Maintain sufficient habitat to support elk herds at population objectives and reduce competition for forage between elk and livestock. BOREAL TOAD CONSERVATION PLAN Boreal toad is a subspecies of the Western Toad and is identified as a Tier II species under the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. Their primary habitat type, wetland, has been identified as one of the "at risk" habitat types. This project will aid in restoring properly functioning wetland areas to the Little West Fork. - Create, restore, and maintain new habitats through water management. - Deepen impoundments to maintain sufficient water levels through metamorphosis. COLUMBIA SPOTTED FROG CONSERVATION PLAN - Eliminate or significantly reduce threats to Columbia spotted frog and its habitat. - Maintain existing self-sustaining populations and their habitat. WASATCH-CACHE FOREST PLAN -Maintain or restore viability of populations of species at risk, Watch List Plants, and rare communities. -Manage Forest Service sensitive species to prevent them from being classified as threatened or endangered and where possible provide for delisting as sensitive (FSM 2670).

Reseeding efforts will allow for reduction in wildfire behavior due to the resilient seed species being planted, suppressing invasive weeds and help suppress fire activity in the future. Beaver Dam analogues are known to not only raise water tables in the areas they are implemented but increase surface water area and wetlands, know to be natural fire breaks on the landscape.

Water quality will be improved from reducing the amount of sediment entering the streams from both the erosion of banks denuded of vegetation and the loose soil and ash moving overland by run-off. Water quality will also be improved through the planting of willows and other riparian vegetation that will create more shade, keeping temperatures in stream cooler, increasing oxygen availability for aquatic species. BDAs will help prevent flood pulses during monsoons and their slow release will increase hyporheic exchange and maintain water on the landscape further into summer. Reseeding will improve precipitation infiltration and reduce the likelihood of sheet erosion.

All permitting and archeological clearance will be completed before project implementation

SOIL STABILIZATION In the most severely burned areas of the creek we will focus on soil stabilization by seeding with native grasses and forbs, helping re-establish vegetation that will take root and establish ground cover, improving soil health and reducing erosion, decreasing sediment entering the creek. Seeding with native species will reduce the risk of invasive species taking hold, supporting long-term ecological resilience in the area. The reseeding effort will provide foraging areas for many of the species listed. The two grouse species will eat the herbaceous plants, seeds, insects, flowers, and buds. The young will use the ground cover to hide from predators. BANK STABILIIZATION To tackle the bank de-stabilization that follows wildfires, we will cut and stake willows along the banks of Soapstone Creek that have been stripped of vegetation. Willows are a fast-rooting riparian species, and planting directly on the banks of the creek will speed up the revegetation process, anchoring the banks, reducing erosion and, with time, will also aid in keeping water temperatures lower by creating shade over the channel. EROSION AND HEADCUTTING Certain points along the creek within our proposed project area would benefit from in-stream restoration methods. The combined effects of the sweeping loss of vegetation, bank instability and sedimentation can be helped by Building Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs). BDAs mimic natural beaver dams and work to slow water, reducing erosion, encouraging sediment deposition and raising the water table, helping with vegetation regrowth. Additionally, we will strategically fell trees to act as sediment traps. Such felling requires trees to be felled across the channel in a herringbone pattern angled upstream. Such methods were used in Nebo Creek following the Bald Mountain and Pole Creek fire (WRI #4950). Cros-channel felled trees can help capture sediment from sources such as unstable banks and sheet erosion. HIGH STUMPING Currently, there are many standing, burned trees on the hillsides adjacent to Wolf Creek. One concern post-fire is the potential for trees to fall and be washed to the stream during large storm events. We plan to address the concern of fallen trees washing into the stream by high stumping large trees. These high stumped trees will be less-prone to falling from high winds and will act as snags to arrest trees prior to making it to Wolf Creek. PLANTING This project is designed to use natural methods to encourage rapid restoration along Soapstone Creek, benefitting not only the trout downstream but local to site wildlife including beaver, Columbia spotted frog and pollinators.

Monitoring: - Photo points at treatment sites - Vegetation surveys 1,2, 5 years in - Rapid stream assessments before work is started, 1, 2 and 5 years in - Western (Boreal) Toad population and intensive pre and post habitat monitoring with BMP development - Fish and amphibian surveys where appropriate (pre and post projects)

U.S. Forest Service, Utah Division of Wildlife, Trout Unlimited, Utah DEQ, Central Utah Water Conservancy District.

The goal is to reestablish native vegetation, stabilize the soil in prevent erosion in sensitive headwaters. By way of nature based solutions future management should not be necessary, but partners will be nimble and adaptive to the projects needs in the upcoming years. We will be able to adaptively respond to any challenges that may arise through monitoring to be conducted for up to 5 years post-implementation.

This project's main goal is the rehabilitation of large areas of burn scar in well used public land. Centered on the recovery of the riparian and aquatic community, . Both Uinta-Wasatch-Cache and Ashley National Forests are well loved and well used forests for dispersed camping, hiking, hunting and using ATVs, the work proposed will rehabilitate the area to provide the public with these opportunities again. Reseeding and re-establishment of native shrubs, grasses and forbs will restore critical summer habitat for mule deer, increasing hunting opportunities. Riparian restoration, and instream practices designed to limit channel downcutting, separation from floodplain and lowering of the water table will increase vegetation proliferation in riparian corridors improving habitat for other game species such as waterfowl. Water quality will continue to improve with this work, improving sport fisheries in both the Provo River and Duchesne River.