The Forsyth Fire started on June 19 and burned for about 6 weeks and consumed about 15,662 acres. The fire burned around and into the community of Pine Valley and destroyed 13 homes and caused damage to the Pine Valley Recreation Area. Approximately 60% of the headwaters of the Santa Clara River burned. The Dixie National Forest requested federal funding to seed and mulch hillslopes but were denied. We feel that this work is important to minimize erosion, minimize invasive species spread, facilitate restoration of the burned area, improve wildlife habitat, minimize damage to downstream water users and wildlife, and minimize impacts to downstream communities and facilities.

The objectives for this project are to facilitate watershed and soil stabilization, reestablish desired grass/forb vegetation to portions of the burned area, reduce the amount of undesirable invasive forb/grass spread, and rehabilitate rangelands/wildlife habitat.

The Forsyth fire, If left untreated the burned area may be highly encroached with undesired annual grasses such as cheat grass. This area is highly used by mule deer in the spring for fawning and summer for cover and foraging. Risk to agricultural and municipal water supplies is High to Very High based on a Likely to Very Likely probability of damage or loss, and Moderate magnitude of consequences. Impacts of recent flooding and debris flows have already impacted the Pine Valley Rec area and the town of Pine Valley

1) Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Statewide Management Plan for Mule deer. Section IV Statewide management goals and objectives. This plan will address Habitat Objective 2: Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 500,000 acres of crucial range. Strategy C. Initiate broad scale vegetative treatment projects to improve mule deer habitat with emphasis on drought or fire damaged sagebrush winter ranges, ranges that are being taken over by invasive annual grass species, and ranges being diminished by encroachment of conifers into sagebrush or aspen habitats. Burned area is in crucial summer and winter range. Seeding the project area will help mitigate potential annual grass species encroachment. 2) Pine Valley Deer Herd Management Plan, Deer Herd Unit # 30 (2020) -Habitat management objectives: Maintain and/or enhance forage production through direct range improvements throughout the unit on winter and summer range to achieve population management objectives. Seeding burned area will help maintain forage production in summer and winter range to maintain population objectives. 3) North American Mule Deer Conservation Plan (Mule Deer Working Group 2004). A) Mule deer habitat Objectives and Strategies-Develop and implement habitat treatment protocols that reduce the impacts of cheatgrass or other invasive plants. B) Manage mule deer habitat in a fashion to control type conversions (i. e., conversion of rangeland to croplands, and shrublands to monotypic pinyon-juniper stands) (Pg. 7). Seeding burned area will help reduce the impacts of cheatgrass in this area by establishing desired grasses and forbs. 4) National Fire Plan (NFP) - Primary Goals: 1) Improve fire prevention and suppression; 2) Restore fire adapted ecosystem. 5) Accompanying (NFP) 10 year Comprehensive Strategy - Guiding Principles: 3) Prevent invasive species and restore watershed function and biological communities through short-term stabilization and long-term rehabilitation; 4) Restore healthy, diverse, and resilient ecological system to minimize uncharacteristically severe fires on a priority watershed basis through long-term restoration. Seeding the burned area will help mitigate encroaching invasive species. 6) State of Utah-Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy-Protecting the health and welfare of Utahns and our lands. Priority Action Areas- Southwest Region 6, Iron County. 7) Utah Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy- A) Conservation actions-Protect and rehabilitate remaining low elevation habitat for Mule Deer (pg. 6-60). B) Key Actions- Control invasive vegetation and plant desirable plants (Pg. K-11). 8) Strategic Management Plan for Wild Tukey-Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR 2000, Publication 00-25). Grasses provide food for adults and are especially important to poults as an environment where they can effectively forage for insects. Poults need an environment that produces insects and in which they can efficiently forage. Poults need an area that provides enough cover to hide them, but allows the adult hen unobstructed vision for protection from predators. Seeding will help establish desirable grass and forbs to provide insect habitat for wild turkey's. 9) Dixie NF Noxious Weed Management Plan (EA 2000). Scotch Thistle and other invasive plants.

This project will help to prevent the establishment of annual grasses and noxious weeds that are more prone to fire and will change the fire frequency. Seeding will also help to reduce the risk of future fires by having vegetation that holds more moisture later into the summer. This process supports healthy forest growth by creating a fire resilient ecosystem that will also benefit species that utilize this area for forage and habitat, while also reducing the risk of future wildfire threat. Values at risk in the event of a wildfire include homes and structures in Pine Valley, private land and homes and structures in Grass Valley. These communities and areas are adjacent to the Forsyth Fire perimeter.

The Forsyth fire impacted multiple watersheds and municipal water sources including the Headwater of the Santa Clara and its tributaries, Grass valley Creek HUC -Water canyon, BArk Hollow, Reservoir Cyn, Mill cyn. Risk to agricultural and municipal water supplies is high with Very Likely probability of damage or loss, and Moderate magnitude of consequences based on hydro modeling .Impacts of recent flooding and debris flows have already impacted the Pine Valley Rec area and the town of Pine Valley Seeding the proposed burned areas will help to reduce the amount of run-off, sedimentation and provide soil stabilization. The straw bomb and seeding of sterile triticale is an ideal treatment for this rugged burn area and is suspected to have good success in this terrain based on results from similar methods on nearby district fires such as the mill flat fire and west valley fires.

All actions proposed are covered by federal policy for post wildfire rehabilitation and restoration.

This proposal seeks to utilize State of Utah Contracting Services to provide for a number of services. Seeding will take place on 2028 non-wilderness area acres and an additional 249 acres in the Pine Valley Wilderness area. Hill slope treatments are planned for 560 acres overlapping the seeded areas and would consist of application of ag straw. Also in the seeded area we plan to chain or harrow approximately 300 acres of accessible ground. Apart from the treatments in the seeded area, we have also identified an area north of bark hollow that has a good understory of seeded species from a recent historical treatment but would benefit from an herbicide treatment to combat cheatgrass invasion into the areas that burned in the historical treatment. We plan to contract for approximately 100 acres of rejuvra application on this area.

The Forest Service will set up photo plots on different slopes, elevations, and vegetation types to monitor representative areas within this proposed seeding area during the growing season following the treatment. This will help to determine the initial success of this treatment. Additional USFS Long-term vegetation monitoring plots are established in the burned area and nearby as well as UDWR range trend plots. MIMs or PFC stream reach survey plots are also established in the burn affected area (such as water canyon) and will provide pre and post fire data.

The partners for this project include the US Forest Service, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, NRCS, Washington County, Pine Valley Range Permittees, and non-profit organizations. Partners have been engaged throughout the process of the fire with regular cooperators meetings and since it has been contained multiple planning meetings to develop a restoration plan. While the BAER funding has been very minimal all agree on the need for the treatments and will continue to seek funding through any avenues that become available.

The Forsyth Fire affected two pastures of the Pine Valley Allotment, The Mountain Pasture and Pine Valley Pasture. Rest will take place on burned acres for a minimum of two growing seasons. The burned area of the Mountain Pasture is somewhat isolated from the rest of the mountain pasture due to a mix of rugged topography and fencing. The Pine Valley Pasture surround the town of Pine Valley. existing fencing will be used to facilitate the rest needed within the project area.

Pine Valley Ranger District personnel will work with livestock permittees on future management of the burned area. Seeded acres will be rested from livestock grazing for two growing seasons. Grazing after rest will be monitored and take place in compliance of Forest Service regulations.