Many WMAs in the Central Region need more shrubs for winter forage for mule deer. Natural recruitment of desirable shrubs is lacking due in part to competition, heavy use and fire. More shrubs are needed.

* Establish patches of shrub seedlings that can mature and provide a seed source for future recruitment.

* Failure of seedlings to establish due to drought or herbivory

Statewide Mule Deer Management Plan Habitat Objective1: Maintain mule deer habitat throughout the state by protecting and enhancing existing crucial habitats and mitigating for losses due to natural and human impacts Habitat Objective 2: Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 500,000 acres of crucial range by 2019. Deer Herd Unit 16A Management Plan: Habitat -- Winter range is a limiting factor for deer on this unit. Portions of critical winter ranges are in poor condition (see range trend summary below). Factors contributing to poor range conditions include recent droughts and range use by deer and domestic livestock. This has resulted in a reduction of winter range carrying capacity. Utilization of key shrub species on critical winter ranges will be closely monitored. Objective 1-Protect, maintain, and/or improve deer habitat through direct range improvements to support and maintain herd population management objectives. Objective 2- Maintain and protect critical winter range from future losses. Strategy 1-Continue to improve, protect, and restore sagebrush steppe habitats critical to deer. Strategy-2 Reduce expansion of pinion-juniper and other woodlands into sagebrush habitats and improve habitats dominated by pinion-juniper woodlands by completing habitat restoration projects like lop & scatter,bullhog, and chaining. We achieve this by treating the bullhogged oakbrush with herbicide. Strategy 3- Seek opportunities to increase browse in burned areas of critical winter range. Statewide Elk Managment Plan 1. Increase forage production by annually treating a minimum of 40,000 acres of elk habitat. 2. Maintain sufficient habitat to support elk herds at population objectives and reduce competition for forage between elk and livestock. Statewide Turkey Managment Pan III. ISSUES AND CONCERNS High Priority: Urgent and Important Issue H2. Insufficient Winter Habitat Concern A. Starvation during severe weather. Concern B. Winter overutilization of urban and agricultural areas Objective 1.Stabilize populations that are declining outside of natural population fluctuations; especially through catastrophic events (i.e. following fires, severe winters, etc.). Strategy c: Conduct habitat projects to address limiting factors. Objective 2. Increase wild turkey habitat, quality and quantity, by 40,000 acres statewide by 2020.Strategy d:Conduct habitat improvement projects in limiting habitat(s). Objective 1.Decrease the number of chronic material damage complaints per turkeys by 25% by 2020. Strategy f Improve habitat to draw wild turkey populations away from conflict. Santaquin City Community Wildfire Protection Plan: 1) Community will work with county, state and federal fire officials to decrease fuels on adjacent public lands to reduce wildfire intensity, and impact in and around the community. 2)Fuels reduction project east of Exit 242 near shooting areas on DNR land. 2003 Forest Plan Uinta NF: 1) Sub-goal-2-1(G-2-1) The fuel management aspect of the fire management program is emphasized through application of hazard reduction activities. 2)Sub-goal-2-8 (G-2-8) Ecosystem resilience is maintained by providing for a full range of seral stages and age classes (by cover type) that achieve a mosaic of habitat conditions and diversity to meet a variety of desired resource management objectives. Recruitment and sustainability of some early seral species and vegetation communities in the landscape are necessary to maintain ecosystem resilience to perturbations. 3)Sub-goal-2-25 (G-2-25) Maintain stable and upward conditions in big game winter range habitats and improve downward trend sites. 4)Objective-2-17 (O-2-17) By 2018, complete 1,000 acres of big game winter range habitat improvements to reach desired future conditions.

Not applicable

Not applicable

Seedlings will be planted by hand with volunteers at Timpanogos and Santaquin WMAs. Levan WMA shrub planting area will be scalped and a tree transplanter used to plant seedlings. The area on the Levan WMA has been previously disturbed before the DWR acquired the land. T14S, R1E section 17

Plant containerized seedlings by hand with volunteers on the Timpanogos and Santaquin WMAs. Scalp rows then plant containerized seedlings with tree transplanter behind a tractor on the Levan WMA

A portion of the planted seedlings will be counted a year after to determine seedling survival

DWR and MDF are partnering with this project

WMAs will continue to be managed as wildlife habitat

No benefit for domestic livestock

10/01/2019

12/01/2019

2020

Hand planted shrubs with volunteers and Dedicated hunters on the Timpanogos, Santaquin and Levan Wildlife Management areas. All seedlings were 2 year old plants with grazing vexar protectors around the roots and plant to prevent browsing or gopher damage to roots. Timpanogos WMA - 250 plants planted on October 12 with Eagle Scout and troop. Santaquin WMA - 2,000 plants planted on November 9th with volunteers and DHs. Levan WMA - 2,000 plants planted on November 16th with an Eagle scout group and DHs. Scalp rows were created with the CRO D-3 bulldozer at the Wallsburg and Levan WMA planting sites. Shrubs planted included mountain big sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, currleaf mahogany, fourwing saltbush and some serviceberry.

Over the years we have lost much of our shrub component on critical winter ranges and this is important food source for big game during the winter. So we planted shrubs that included species of mountain big sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, currleaf mahogany, fourwing saltbush and some serviceberry. This is the first time we tried to plant in the fall. The ground was very dry and hard at the Timpanogos WMA site. We watered each seedling after planting. We were only able to plant 250 plants. Both the Levan and Santaquin plantings went very well. The soil was loose enough with the scalping that we were able to plant with just hand shovels. No augers were needed. That made the planting go much faster.

These plantings are on Wildlife Management areas managed by DWR. The Levan site was grazed by livestock in 2020 but no animals used the area where the seedlings were planted.