Landscape Assessment for the Buckskin Mountain Area, Wildlife Habitat Improvement
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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository) Depository) 11-19-2004 Landscape Assessment for the Buckskin Mountain Area, Wildlife Habitat Improvement Bureau of Land Management Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/govdocs Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons Recommended Citation Bureau of Land Management, "Landscape Assessment for the Buckskin Mountain Area, Wildlife Habitat Improvement" (2004). All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository). Paper 77. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/govdocs/77 This Other is brought to you for free and open access by the U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository) at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository) by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bureau of Land Management Phone 435.644.4300 Grand Staircase-Escalante NM 190 E. Center Street Fax 435.644.4350 Kanab, UT 84741 Landscape Assessment for the Buckskin Mountain Area Wildlife Habitat Improvement Version: 19 November 2004 Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction..................................................................................................................... 3 A. Background and Need for Management Activity ................................................................... 3 B. Purpose ...................................................................................................................................... 3 C. Description of the Assessment Area ........................................................................................ 3 Chapter 2. Current Landscape Condition......................................................................................... 5 A. Physical Environment............................................................................................................... 5 B. Biological Environment............................................................................................................ 8 C. Human Dimension.................................................................................................................. 23 Chapter 3. Historic Landscape Condition ......................................................................................27 A. Physical Environment............................................................................................................. 27 B. Biological Environment.......................................................................................................... 27 Chapter 4. Changes in Landscape Condition.................................................................................32 A. Changes in the Physical Environment ................................................................................... 32 B. Changes in the Biological Environment ................................................................................ 32 C. Synthesis of Change................................................................................................................ 36 Chapter 5. Wildlife Needs ..............................................................................................................37 A. Grassland Birds ....................................................................................................................... 37 B. Merriam’s Turkey ................................................................................................................... 37 C. Sage grouse.............................................................................................................................. 38 D. Bats .......................................................................................................................................... 38 E. Mule Deer................................................................................................................................ 38 F. Pronghorn ................................................................................................................................ 40 Chapter 6. Desired Landscape Condition.......................................................................................41 A. Desired Condition of the Physical Environment................................................................... 41 B. Desired Condition of the Biological Environment................................................................ 41 Chapter 7. Recommendations for Habitat Improvement............................................................... 44 A. General Recommendation for the Buckskin.......................................................................... 44 B. Woodland ................................................................................................................................ 46 C. Savannah.................................................................................................................................. 48 D. Desertscrub.............................................................................................................................. 49 Chapter 8. Techniques to Achieve Habitat Improvements............................................................51 E. Techniques for Reducing Tree Densities............................................................................... 51 F. Techniques for Reducing Sagebrush Densities ..................................................................... 53 G. Techniques for Treating Slash................................................................................................ 54 H. Techniques for Increasing Herbaceous Understory Production ........................................... 55 I. Techniques for Controlling Cheatgrass and Other Noxious and Invasive Weeds............... 58 J. Techniques for Improving Browse Species Regeneration.................................................... 59 K. Techniques for Wildlife Friendly Wildlife Water Developments........................................ 61 Chapter 9. Literature Cited .............................................................................................................62 Chapter 10. Tables ............................................................................................................................72 Chapter 11. Figures...........................................................................................................................75 Chapter 12. Maps ..............................................................................................................................78 A. Map 1. Buckskin Mountain Assessment: Overview........................................................... 78 B. Map 2. Buckskin Mountain Assessment: Fuelwood........................................................... 80 C. Map 3. Buckskin Mountain Assessment: Allotments......................................................... 82 D. Map 4. Buckskin Mountain Assessment: Soils................................................................... 84 E. Map 5. Buckskin Mountain Assessment: GAP Data.......................................................... 86 F. Map 6. Buckskin Mountain Assessment: Sampling ........................................................... 88 G. Map 7. Buckskin Mountain Assessment: Fire Management Zone .................................... 90 H. Map 8. Buckskin Mountain Assessment: Visual Resource Classification ........................ 92 - 2 - CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION A. Background and Need for Management Activity The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) recognizes that pinyon-juniper woodlands and sagebrush desertscrub are key areas for habitat enhancement or improvement, and identifies four primary needs for such activities. First, these habitats provide important habitat for a variety of wildlife species. They contain transition areas for migrating mule deer, winter range for mule deer and Merriam’s turkeys, breeding habitat for many migratory bird species, and year-round habitat for several species of birds, reptiles, and small mammals. Second, the quality of the habitat in the Buckskin Mountain area has been impacted by decades of fuelwood gathering. Woodland and sagebrush habitats have been invaded by exotic plants (i.e., cheatgrass, and scotch thistle) and have experienced little shrub regeneration. Given the appearance of browse species, cattle or mule deer use of shrubs, such as cliffrose and big sagebrush, may be exceeding annual growth. Consequently, these species are unlikely to provide adequate forage for future generations of deer. Third, decadent conditions exist in interior woodland stands that have not been affected by fuelwood gathering, and shrub-steppe habitat that has been affected by ungulate grazing and drought. These decadent conditions provide poor quality habitat for most wildlife species. Decadent woodland stands typically have dense overstories of primarily juniper trees, with little understory growth to provide food and cover. Decadent shrub-steppe stands typically have dense overstories of primarily mature to decadent sagebrush with little to no understory growth. Finally, pinyon- juniper woodlands may be encroaching on sagebrush and grassland areas that are vital as habitat for sage grouse, pronghorn antelope and sagebrush and grassland birds. The Monument also recognizes the value of woodlands for wood products for human