The project area has been significantly impacted by a recent mountain pine beetle epidemic that resulted in up to 90% mortality of lodgepole pine. Resulting downed or standing dead trees significantly increase surface fuel loads and severe wildfire risk. Hand treatments will be used to create shaded fuel breaks along roads and trails to create conditions that allow for more fire management options in the event of a future uncharacteristic wildfire. Hand treatments will also be used to remove encroaching conifers from aspen stands and restore and enhance riparian areas. Habitat resiliency and game forage availability are expected to increase with more diverse canopy cover and stand age structure resulting from these treatments.

1. Reduce the risk of large-scale, uncharacteristic wildfires. 2. Improve the resilience and adaptive capacity of the project area by managing stand densities. 3. Improve wildlife habitat for a wide range of species, including improvement of summer and transition range habitat for mule deer. 4. Restore, maintain, or improve the ecological function of riparian areas. 5. Reduce the potential for erosion and sediment transport associated with wildfire, thereby improving fisheries habitats. 6. Maintain or promote tree vigor and form in young stands through stand density management to minimize the future impacts of biotic (e.g., mistletoe and bark beetles) and abiotic damage (e.g., snow damage and windthrow). 7. Restore, maintain, or improve aspen ecotones. 8. Reintroduce low severity fire to the landscape. To achieve these objectives, we plan to reduce hazardous fuels, address conifer encroachment in riparian and aspen stands, and create a mosaic of age/size classes, stand structures, and species composition on the landscape level. Treatments are intended to return the area closer to its historically functioning condition and allow for low-severity prescribed and natural fire to be reintroduced to maintain those properly functioning conditions. Reduced wildfire risk and increased habitat diversity should positively impact water quantity and reduce the risk of water quality issues associated with high-severity fires in these watersheds. Proposed treatments to reach these objectives include conifer removal, pre-commercial thinning via mastication and lop and scatter, prescribed burning, cut pile and burn, cut skid and deck, and traditional commercial timber sales.

Timing: If left untreated, the advanced conifer regeneration would continue the self-pruning process, the growth rate will gradually slow, and the understory vegetation will decline further under a crowded, closed canopy. Mature lodgepole and even-aged mixed conifer stands would move further away from properly functioning condition, lacking a sustainable amount of younger age classes and patches of early seral productivity. Proposed treatment areas, which are already poor habitat for many wildlife species due to conifer density, would become even less productive. Previously logged and regenerated areas are currently at an ideal stage for thinning, and beetle-killed mature lodgepole still possesses economic value that can be captured for a limited time. There are also large amounts of dwarf mistletoe infecting the overstory of these areas, impacting stand health and growth rates. Large tree development in the project area will be delayed. It may even be impossible without enacting some form of density management treatment as part of the overall management strategy of these areas. Without intervention, the area will continue to decline in value for most wildlife species. Overall forage values will remain minimal, and the density of the stands will not allow for efficient wildlife passage and use. The current state of the treatment area poses a high risk for high-intensity, stand-replacing fires. The areas where sanitation treatments will occur are areas overrun with dwarf mistletoe. Dwarf mistletoe will continue to transfer from the overstory to the understory, inhibiting growth and stunting regeneration and overall recovery of these stands. Prior treatments failed to consider the amount of disease in the overstory, resulting in a heavily infected understory. Without treatment, the stand is unlikely to develop the structure and individual tree size needed to provide quality habitat for wildlife species. The treatment hopes to eliminate but will inhibit the spread of the disease.

Location: The project area is in UTDWR, designated a crucial summer range for mule deer, elk, and black bear, a crucial moose winter range, and documented bighorn sheep transitional habitat. It is also located in the heart of the GMU 8 North Slope deer herd's seasonal migration routes (see maps on Image/Docs page), supporting deer on the unit and some that range from Chalk Creek / Kamas units on the west end and the South Slope Uintas' Diamond Plateau/Burnt Cabin Gorge area to the east. Habitat management goals for deer in this unit call for conserving and improving habitat with direct range improvements throughout the unit, emphasizing crucial ranges. Conifer encroachment into sage and aspen, including utilization of prescribed fire, was specifically noted. (UTDWR GMU 8 plans; Statewide Deer Plan, Statewide Elk Plan). Unit 8 hosts general-season hunting opportunities for multiple species, and the North Slope of the Uintas is a recreation destination (UWCNF has 9 million visits/year), with multiple trailheads, campgrounds, fishing, etc., in the immediate project area. Long-term habitat benefits will be experienced and appreciated by thousands of hunters and other recreationists as a result of these treatments.

1. 2003 Wasatch-Cache Forest Plan: - (Sub-goal 3d) Restore or maintain fire-adapted ecosystems (consistent with land uses, historic fire regimes, and other Forest Plan direction) through wildland fire use, prescribed fire, timber harvest or mechanical treatments.

Vegetation/fuel treatment, prescribed fire, and wildland fire use are allowed:

for the purposes of maintaining, improving or restoring watersheds to desired conditions, and to protect property in the wildland urban interface.(G3.1W-1)

for the purposes of maintaining, improving or restoring terrestrial habitat, for hazardous fuel reduction, and to protect property in the wildland urban interface. (G3.2U-1)

To mimic historic conditions and to restore ecosystem functioning. (G4.2-1)

Timber harvest, vegetation/fuels treatment, road construction, prescribed fire and wildland fire use are allowed:

To mimic historic conditions and to restore ecosystem functioning as compatible with the backcountry recreation opportunity and natural setting desired. (G4.3-1)

to maintain or improve forage production or for hazardous fuel reduction. (G6.2 -1)

Timber harvest, road construction, vegetation/fuel treatment, prescribed fire, new recreation development, and new trail construction are allowed for the purposes of providing public enjoyment, safety, and protection of site investments. (G4.5-1)

Use prescribed fire in wilderness only to meet wilderness management objectives. The objective of prescribed fire management in wilderness (FSM 2324.21) is to reduce, to an acceptable level, the risks and consequences of wildfire within wilderness or escaping from wilderness. (G37)

Prior to use of prescribed fire and wildland fire use, investments made for timber production, such as road systems and silvicultural improvements, and the value of the timber for wood production receive consideration. (G5.2)

Burnt Beaver 2026 (BB2026) will help address UWC Forest Plan Objective 3.b., "stimulate aspen regeneration and reduce other encroaching woody species in aspen by treating (fire use and/or timber harvest) approximately 3,200 acres average annually for a 10- year total of 32,000 acres. "

Vegetation cover types will form a mosaic of plant communities representing a diverse mix of ages, sizes, and species. Fire use will play a role in reducing fuels, maintaining the historic dynamic of aspen regeneration and ratio of conifer to aspen and mountain brush vegetation patterns and age classes. Mechanical treatment of fuels along with limited use of prescribed fire will emphasize the safety of people and protection of property in the heavily populated and increasingly developed urban wildland interface adjacent to National Forest .

2. 2001 Roadless Rule: -Prohibits cutting, sale, and removal of timber in inventoried roadless areas, except: For the cutting, sale, or removal of generally small diameter trees which maintains or improves roadless characteristics and to:

Improve habitat for threatened, endangered, proposed, or sensitive species, or

maintain or restore ecosystem composition and structure, such as reducing the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire effects.

3. Utah Mule Deer Statewide Management Plan: -Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat in ranges being diminished by encroachment of conifers into aspen habitats.

-Seek opportunities through WRI to improve aspen communities that provide crucial summer habitat for mule deer.

-Encourage land managers to manage portions of aspen/conifer forest in early successional stages using various methods including timber harvest and managed fire.

-North Slope is a habitat restoration priority area for mule deer in Utah.

4. Utah Statewide Elk Management Plan: -Identify habitat projects on summer range (aspen communities) to improve calving habitat.

-Increase forage production by annually treating a minimum of 40,000 acres of elk habitat

-Encourage land managers to manage portions of forests in early successional stages through the use of controlled burning and logging. Controlled burning should only be used in areas with minimal invasive weed and/or safety concerns.

5. Utah Moose Statewide Management Plan: -Initiate prescribed burns and other vegetative treatment projects to improve moose habitat lost to ecological succession or human impacts.

6. Utah Bighorn Sheep Statewide Management Plan: -Encourage land management agencies to use fire as a management tool to improve bighorn sheep habitat. When possible, allow fires that can have beneficial effects for bighorn sheep to burn.

-Initiate vegetative treatment projects to improve bighorn habitat lost to natural succession or human impacts.

7. American Goshawk of Utah: Habitat Assessment and Management Recommendations: -Early and mid-seral species should be increased using both mechanical means and fire.

-Policies should be adopted to manage for the production of large early seral species through clearings, thinnings, and weedings, using mechanical means or fire.

-Fire or mechanical treatments or both should be used to create conditions favorable to lodgepole pine and quaking aspen.

8. Guidelines for Aspen Regeneration on National Forests in Utah: - Much of the loss of aspen-dominated acreage is attributable to encroachment and overtopping by conifer. It has often been presumed that this encroachment i.e., the natural succession process for seral stands, is the result of fire suppression.

9. Utah Black Bear Management Plan: -Successional replacement of aspen stands by conifers can significantly reduce bear-food production in aspen communities. Both fire and selective logging of conifers can be used to maintain aspen vigor.

10. UDWR Wildlife Action Plan: - While the Aspen-Conifer physical (abiotic) habitat remains largely intact in Utah, coverage of aspen itself within that setting has declined greatly for two main reasons:

(1) departure from natural fire regime (reduction in disturbance), resulting in widespread forest succession to conifer dominance; and

(2) heavy ungulate browsing on young aspen stems, following disturbance.

- Increased disturbance from either prescribed or natural fire over a large treatment area helps distribute ungulate browse pressure. Mechanical disturbance can also be used to stimulate aspen regeneration and improve disease resilience. As with fire, larger mechanical treatment areas serve to distribute browsing pressure and reduce damage to individual stems, increasing regeneration success.

11. State of Utah Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy: - Rather than just reducing fires, the ultimate goal is to return landscapes to a condition of health and resilience that allows for wildfires to burn without becoming catastrophic to either human or natural systems.

12. Conservation Agreement and Strategy for Colorado River Cutthroat Trout in the State of Utah -Natural climatic events such as flood, fire and drought may threaten specific populations of Colorado River cutthroat trout (CRCT); Small, isolated populations are more susceptible to catastrophic loss and impacts from demographic stochasticity.

13. Unit 8 Deer Management Plan -Work with federal, private, and state partners to improve crucial deer habitats through the Watershed Restoration Initiative (WRI) process. Also work with federal and state partners in fire rehabilitation on crucial deer habitat through the WRI process.

-Manage conifer encroachment on important summer ranges by utilizing prescribed fire.

14. Unit 8 Elk Management Plan Work cooperatively with the USFS and BLM to utilize prescribed burning, mechanical conifer and PJ removal, and grazing to enhance elk forage quantity and quality.

15. Summit County Resource Management Plan pgs. 21-25 Wildlife goal 1: provide for healthy wildlife habitats.

Wildfire management goal 1: continued prevention of catastrophic wildfires in Summit County.

Forest management goal 1: provide for healthy and sustainable ecosystems while including benefits for people.

Sub goal -- timber for commercial harvest: Use timber harvest where allowed, to contribute to the economy while achieving properly functioning conditions of vegetation and watersheds. 16. 2020 Utah Forest Action Plan objectives include: Use all available management tools, including forest industry, to restore and maintain healthy ecosystems. Utah's forested resources are used to meet public needs while being appropriately managed to provide sustainability for future generations. treatments will utilize local industry to reduce overstocked/encroaching conifers, providing public needs benefits of utilizing industry and improve water quality/quantity with decrease of wildfire risk, creating sustainability of aspen ecosystems for wildlife and future generations.

The Burnt Beaver 2026 project builds upon a series of fuels treatments previously implemented within the Burnt Beaver Restoration Project area. The main emphasis on this project is in the following areas: South Coal Mine (north of Hoop Lake), West Beaver Area, and a section of private land north of Hole in the Rock. The design features of this project will reduce the risk of large unwanted fires by decreasing and removing hazardous fuels. Monitoring for invasive species in different forest cover types as fuel treatments are completed will also be conducted to promote landscape resilience.

Hand cut and pile treatments (435 acres) are designed to reduce conifer in areas of dense conifer forest types or in areas of conifer expansion in aspens stands or conifer areas that have been disturbed by mountain pine beetles. Hand-cut and pile treatments are preferred for reducing fuels and conducting prescribed burning during the spring, fall, and winter months. The lop and scatter treatments (495 acres) are fuels reduction treatments designed to protect Forest infrastructure, human health, safety, and scenic values. In areas of lop and scatter, project managers may either elect to burn the material or leave it on the ground to promote coarse woody debris to decompose and provide nutrients to the soils.

These areas are heavily used during the summer months for a variety of recreational activities and human use, such as camping, hiking, hunting, and snowmobiling. The project area provides a critical wildlife habitat for elk, moose, deer, and black bears (see habitat tab for all species and wildlife tracker map). Range management benefits to this project for cattle and sheep allotments as well. This project is in the Green River Watershed, which is predominantly in Fire Regime Group III (35-200 years low to mixed-severity) and IV (35-200 years stand replacement), with an intermixed Condition Class of 2 (moderate departure 34-66%, declining ecological integrity or 3 (high departure 67-100%, poor ecological integrity).

Implementing this project will protect natural resources, recreational sites such as Hoop Lake, private lands to the north of the project area, and Lone Tree and McKinnon communities.

Runoff and erosion rates associated with high-intensity/severity wildfires are much higher than those associated with prescribed burns. After severe and intense wildfires, soils become hydrophobic, increasing runoff and decreasing the soil moisture content in the ecosystem. Runoff introduces large quantities of sediment, ash, and other chemical contaminants into the river system, negatively impacting water quality. Intense/severe wildfires can cause riparian areas to be denuded of vegetation, increase water temperature, decrease dissolved oxygen, and lead to eutrophication and poisoning of aquatic organisms. This project would remedy catastrophic wildfire effects to water quality by using prescribed fire and fuel reduction treatments to reduce hazardous fuel loads. Five sub-watersheds (West Fork Beaver Creek, Beaver Creek-Henry's Fork, Gregory Basin, Burnt Fork, and Birch Creek) would be protected against uncharacteristic wildfire effects. These systems flow into the Green River and are used for recreation and many municipalities along its course. The Green River also flows into Flaming Gorge, which provides drinking water to eastern Utah. The project area encompasses several ecological communities, e.g., lodgepole pine, aspen, aspen-conifer, spruce-fir, Douglas fir, and the tributaries that flow through these forest communities. Implementing this project would benefit the American Beaver and Colorado Cutthroat Trout habitat from future degradation from wildfire risk.

Archaeology clearances were completed during phase I of the project in FY 19. SHPO has concurred with the project. Consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is completed and concurrence letter received. NEPA was completed in March of 2019.

In past phases we have created shaded fuel breaks that serve as holding lines for prescribed or catastrophic wildfire. We will continue using this method on the West Beaver Trail to give us a good holding line on the west side of the Burnt Beaver Project Area. Crews will hand cut/pile 150 feet on each side of the trail in order to create a defensible space to hold future fires. Thinning along trails should also improve the recreational experience through the diversity of vegetation and improved viewshed. Hand crews will also address units outside of the linear fuel breaks within the project area to curb conifer encroachment in aspen stands and meadows. They will utilize a lop and scatter method in areas with lower fuel accumulation, and apply hand cut/pile methods in areas with denser fuel accumulation. 65 acres of hand cut and piled vegetation will be treated on nearby private lands dominated by dense Douglas-fir. Enhancing the stand's structure will mitigate wildfire intensity and severity while fostering improved forest health by alleviating interspecies competition, promoting a more resilient and thriving forest ecosystem.

USFS will be monitoring the conditions to implement a broadcast burn within the lop/scatter units and between the shaded fuel breaks created in previous phases.

Livestock grazing the Burnt Fork Allotment will be fitted with virtual fence e-collars for the third year in a three-year trial phase looking at effectiveness for stock management and cost-benefit analysis compared to a new installation of nearly 40 miles of physical fencing. Refer to the Documents section for more information.

Baseline data was collected during Phase I (FY 19) by surveying 70 timber stands and Brown's transects. Monitoring will be conducted during and after the implementation phases. Vegetation plots that have been treated will be revisited, and walk-through surveys will be completed at least once post-treatment. Data collection will include ocular shrub and ground cover estimates and tree density measurements. Rangeland resources will be evaluated post-fire and permitted livestock grazing will be adjusted if needed. Collared moose, elk, deer, and bighorn sheep will be monitored to determine if their migration patterns have adjusted to the more open terrain. Post-treatment and monitoring photos will be uploaded to the WRI database.

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache Forest Service staff have partnered with the Mule Deer Foundation through a stewardship agreement. The Mule Deer Foundation has contracted and overseen the implementation of over 2,700 acres of habitat restoration work since the project's inception. They will continue to provide oversight for the contracting and implementation of this phase of work. UDWR has supported the selection of treatment areas and project implementation. The Utah Wild Sheep Foundation supports proactive work in the area. Burnt Fork grazing allotment permittees are participating in a three-year virtual fence trial with USFS as a possible alternative for almost 40 miles of costly new wire fence installation.

Funding partners for past phases include UT Habitat Council Account, Federal Aid (PR), USFS-WRI, Internal Conservation Permit (ICP Bighorn), Utah Wild Sheep Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Safari Club International, Sportsman for Fish & Wildlife, Mule Deer Foundation, and Utah Archery Association.

FFSL will aid in expanding efforts from Forest Systems land by partnering with Mule Deer Foundation to contract hand crews for cut and pile on adjacent private lands.

Future project management is specified in the 5-7 year Burnt Beaver Restoration vegetation management plan, Uinta Wasatch Cache Land Resource Management Plan, prioritizing fuels reduction and timber harvesting to meet project goals and objectives to ensure long-term success. Follow-up treatments may include post-commercial thinning and prescribed fire activities.

Conifer removal and aspen regeneration open the forest canopy and increase the richness and diversity of understory plant species. Studies within the project area and across the district indicate successful aspen regeneration and sustainability concurrent with permitted livestock grazing and wild ungulates following disturbances such as fire, timber harvest, fuel reduction treatments, etc. The project has the potential to provide and improve sustainable hunting, fishing, and recreational use. This project also improves habitat for the following species. Creating sustainable opportunities for public hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing. American Beaver -- Removing conifers encroaching on riparian areas will promote willow and aspen growth Willow and aspen are not only an excellent food source for beavers, but are also used as building material for dams and lodges. American Black Bear -- As stated in the Utah Black Bear Management Plan, successional replacement of aspen stands by conifers can significantly reduce bear-food production in aspen communities. Both fire and selective logging of conifers can be used to maintain aspen vigor. Rocky Mountain Elk - Project would improve summer calving habitat and forage. Thinning would open the canopy allowing for herbaceous growth, which in turn, would create forage for big game. Aspen regeneration would create forage for big game. Moose - Project would improve summer calving habitat and year-round forage habitat, particularly shrubs in wet meadow, riparian and overstory thinning. First naturally established resident moose population documented in UT on the North Slope from early 1900's to 1947. (pg. 2 UT Statewide Moose Plan) Natural and transplanted populations remain relatively low across the state, staying around 2500-3000 per 2017 estimates, meaning improved habitat and forage availability is important in this area. Mule Deer - Project would improve summer habitat. Thinning would open the canopy allowing for herbaceous growth, which in turn, would create forage for big game. Aspen regeneration would create forage for big game. Rocky Mt. Bighorn Sheep - Collar data shows usage along West Fork Beaver Creek primarily as a transition/migration zone between the Gilbert Peak area and the lower elevation Hole-in-the-Rock ridge about 10 miles to the northeast. Timing of movements don't indicate a clear seasonal pattern (ie. summer to winter range), but periodic ~1-3 day movements between both areas throughout the year. Thinning of overstory can increase herbaceous forage conditions along the route and provide improved horizontal visibility, a factor often noted as important for bighorn predator avoidance and resource selection. This phase of the project specifically targets with West Beaver ridge transitional habitat to increase forage and reduce overstory vegetation for Big Horn sheep.