Bureau of Land Management Begins Fuels Reduction Project

Contact: Paul Briggs (435) 865-3002

Kanab, Utah—October 3, 2008—The Bureau of Land Management, Color Country District will start work on a 870 acre fuels reduction project located in the Mill Creek area northeast of Kanab, Utah, on October 6, 2008.  Project objectives are wildlife habitat improvement for large game animals, fuels reduction, and watershed restoration through the removal of pinyon and juniper trees.

Vegetation will be reduced by a mechanical chipper shredder that is often referred to as a “Bull Hog.”  Vegetation will be replaced with warm and cool season grasses and forbs after aerial seeding takes place.  Seeding the project site will reduce soil erosion and create additional feed for wildlife.  The Mill Creek project has been contracted and will continue through June of 2009.

This project will be visible from the Skutumpah Road and will resemble a mosaic pattern.  Mill Creek will provide many resource benefits by removing pinyon and juniper trees that have encroached on other vegetation types like sage brush.  The mechanical thinning of pinyon and juniper trees is one of many treatment options used by the Bureau of Land Management and will provide similar resource benefits to that of a prescribed fire.

This partnership project is in cooperation with Utah Partners for Conservation and Development (UPCD) and is a standard process of implementing any fuels treatment state wide.  Organizations belonging to UPCD include Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, Utah Department of Natural Resources, Utah Division of Water Resources, State Institutional and Trust Lands Administration, Agriculture Resource Service, Utah Forestry Fire and State Lands, Utah Association of Conservation Districts, Utah Grazing Improvement Program, USDA-Farm Service Agency, USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service, Utah Partners for Conservation and Development, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs.