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Utah's Watershed Restoration Initiative
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Cook WMA Enhancements Phase 2
Region: Northeastern
ID: 7939
Project Status: Current
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Project Details
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Need for Project
The Cook WMA was acquired by UDWR in 2025 and is a stronghold for Mule deer, wintering elk, and Bighorn Sheep. The property was privately owned prior to UDWR acquisition and used primarily for domestic livestock grazing and hunting. After UDWR acquisition, the property needs the appropriate fencing/maintenance, signage, and water developments (guzzlers) to help protect the property and begin management for wildlife. Vegetation projects would help promote Aspen stands and diversify plant communities.
Provide evidence about the nature of the problem and the need to address it. Identify the significance of the problem using a variety of data sources. For example, if a habitat restoration project is being proposed to benefit greater sage-grouse, describe the existing plant community characteristics that limit habitat value for greater sage-grouse and identify the changes needed for habitat improvement.
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Objectives
Objectives are to replace a nonfunctioning water line and trough, upgrade a section of fencing that is subject to vehicle trespass, and perform forestry practices to enhance aspen stands on the WMA.
Provide an overall goal for the project and then provide clear, specific and measurable objectives (outcomes) to be accomplished by the proposed actions. If possible, tie to one or more of the public benefits UWRI is providing.
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Project Location/Timing Justification (Why Here? Why Now?)
The property was acquired in 2025 and UDWR needs to perform the foundational projects to get this property on track to be managed as a public WMA.
LOCATION: Justify the proposed location of this project over other areas, include publicly scrutinized planning/recovery documents that list this area as a priority, remote sensing modeling that show this area is a good candidate for restoration, wildlife migration information and other data that help justify this project's location.
TIMING: Justify why this project should be implemented at this time. For example, Is the project area at risk of crossing an ecological or other threshold wherein future restoration would become more difficult, cost prohibitive, or even impossible.
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Relation to Management Plans
UDWR Habitat staff will begin the process of developing an HMP for the property in 2026.
List management plans where this project will address an objective or strategy in the plan. Describe how the project area overlaps the objective or strategy in the plan and the relevance of the project to the successful implementation of those plans. It is best to provide this information in a list format with the description immediately following the plan objective or strategy.
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Fire/Fuels
Timber harvesting will help create fuel breaks in the dense, conifer dominated stands on the property.
If applicable, detail how the proposed project will significantly reduce the risk of fuel loading and/or continuity of hazardous fuels including the use of fire-wise species in re-seeding operations. Describe the value of any features being protected by reducing the risk of fire. Values may include; communities at risk, permanent infrastructure, municipal watersheds, campgrounds, critical wildlife habitat, etc. Include the size of the area where fuels are being reduced and the distance from the feature(s) at risk.
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Water Quality/Quantity
Replacing the water line and trough will help provide additional water sources for wildlife and livestock, helping distribute forage use across the WMA.
Describe how the project has the potential to improve water quality and/or increase water quantity, both over the short and long term. Address run-off, erosion, soil infiltration, and flooding, if applicable.
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Compliance
New ground disturbance for the timber harvest area will require arch clearance. It is anticipated this will be such small scale, it could be accomplished with UDWR staff. The fence, pipeline, and trough are replacing existing structures on previously disturbed areas.
Description of efforts, both completed and planned, to bring the proposed action into compliance with any and all cultural resource, NEPA, ESA, etc. requirements. If compliance is not required enter "not applicable" and explain why not it is not required.
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Methods
The water pipeline will be connected into the current functioning system, cased with drill pipe, and directed to an existing trough by NER Habitat staff. The tire trough will be placed and connected to the water system by NER Habitat staff. Drill pipe fencing and timber harvesting will be contracted out through the state purchasing process. Timber harvest will be performed in two phases. Phase 1 will consist of the UDWR heavy equipment crew felling and removing 450-500 trees with root wads attached. These trees will be used as material for WRI # 7744 as toe wood for bank stabilization of the Green River in Brown's Park. Phase 2 will go to bid for contracting of approximately 200 acres of clearcutting with a minimal level of disturbance to help promote aspen regeneration and forest stand diversification. All harvested materials will be removed by the contractor in exchange for using a process to create a minimal amount of ground disturbance appropriate for aspen regeneration.
Describe the actions, activities, tasks to be implemented as part of the proposed project; how these activities will be carried out, equipment to be used, when, and by whom.
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Monitoring
UDWR staff will establish photo points in the timber harvest area to monitor aspen response. Water system and fencing will be monitored by UDWR staff and a future operator for maintenance needs.
Describe plans to monitor for project success and achievement of stated objectives. Include details on type of monitoring (vegetation, wildlife, etc.), schedule, assignments and how the results of these monitoring efforts will be reported and/or uploaded to this project page. If needed, upload detailed plans in the "attachments" section.
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Partners
WRI project #7744 as mentioned in the "Methods" section
List any and all partners (agencies, organizations, NGO's, private landowners) that support the proposal and/or have been contacted and included in the planning and design of the proposed project. Describe efforts to gather input and include these agencies, landowners, permitees, sportsman groups, researchers, etc. that may be interested/affected by the proposed project. Partners do not have to provide funding or in-kind services to a project to be listed.
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Future Management
Future project phases on the WMA will be guided by the HMP when it is completed in 2026.
Detail future methods or techniques (including administrative actions) that will be implemented to help in accomplishing the stated objectives and to insure the long term success/stability of the proposed project. This may include: post-treatment grazing rest and/or management plans/changes, wildlife herd/species management plan changes, ranch plans, conservation easements or other permanent protection plans, resource management plans, forest plans, etc.
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Sustainable Uses of Natural Resources
Fence maintenance will help control neighboring domestic livestock, protecting the WMA's resources for wildlife use. Future permitted grazing on the WMA will be better controlled and distributed with the fencing and water upgrades.
Potential for the proposed action to improve quality or quantity of sustainable uses such as grazing, timber harvest, biomass utilization, recreation, etc. Grazing improvements may include actions to improve forage availability and/or distribution of livestock.
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