Wildlife and watersheds benefit from tree chaining

Project in north-central Utah benefits people and wildlife

TABIONA — Deer, elk and a portion of the watershed draining into the Duchesne River will benefit from the recent chaining of pinyon/juniper (PJ) trees on the foothills of Tabby Mountain in north-central Utah.

A bulldozer pulls a chain through the woodland.
Photo courtesy of Tory Mathis

Roughly 1,000 acres of PJ was knocked down using a heavy chain pulled by bulldozers. The project included 600 acres on the Blacktail Ridge and another 400 in Sandwash.

The project is a cooperative effort among the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and its partners: the Bill Barrett Corporation (BBC), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF).

"BBC is dedicated to helping offset potential impacts to wildlife in our Blacktail Ridge operation area," wrote Scot Donato in a letter to the UDWR. The BBC pledged $20,800 to the project as mitigation for wildlife disturbances its planned drilling of four oil and natural gas wells may cause in the area.

The USFS and RMEF donated $60,000 and $7,500 respectively. Another $100,000 came through the UDWR as part of Utah's Watershed Restoration Initiative.

"The area is losing its wildlife habitat and watershed values because of the PJ," says UDWR Habitat Biologist Alison Whittaker. "An area under a mature pinyon-juniper stand of trees has virtually no understory of grasses, forbs or shrubs. As a result, there is little for wildlife to eat. And water can just hit the ground and run off, stripping the land of its topsoil and creating some major erosion problems.

"The woodland in this area is quite extensive," Whittaker says. "Our goal is to break it up and create openings with more vegetation. We don't want to eliminate the woodland because it does provide some benefits to wildlife and watersheds. We just want to restart succession in some areas and create a mosaic of old and new as it would have been before people started controlling fires."

Chaining is only part of the project.

"The project is well underway before the first chain gets hooked up," Whittaker says. "First, biologists identify target areas based on the potential value they have for wildlife and watersheds. Then the biologists look inside the target areas using a combination of maps, aerial photos and on-the-ground surveys.

The Blacktail area of Tabby Mountain after the project.
Photo courtesy of Tory Mathis

"A habitat plan is then developed. The plan includes the final areas that will be treated, methods of manipulation (e.g. chaining, burning), reseed mixes and sources of funding. It's almost always an interagency, multi-cooperator project by this time. When the plans get the final signatures, then it's time to get out on the ground."

However, before a chaining or prescribed burn can start, an archeological survey must be completed.

"Crews are sent in to check the area for archeological sites," Whittaker says. "We don't want to accidentally destroy something that has historical value. Once we get clearance, the actual project can begin."

Making the area better for wildlife and water

The Blacktail Ridge and Sandwash areas were chained twice.

"Two big bulldozers pulled an anchor chain through the project site," Whittaker says. "By pulling it one direction, and then reversing direction and pulling it through again, we get a better knock down and uprooting of the trees. It also grinds them up a bit and prepares the soils for the seeds. We didn't chain the entire area; instead we chained a series of openings.

"The openings were seeded with three brush species. Seeds from bitterbrush, fourwing saltbrush and mahogany were spread into the tracks while the bulldozers did the chaining. Another mix of 12 species of plants, mostly grasses and forbs, was flown on just after the chaining. The final species sagebrush will be flown on in early winter, hopefully after a good snowfall."

Unfortunately, wildlife habitat projects like this one don't provide immediate results.

"It takes time for the plants to get established, so this project is a long-term vision," Whittaker says. "This year's efforts may not be readily visible for years. The grasses and forbs will respond first, and they'll provide some forage and help prevent erosion. The larger shrubs will take years to reach maturity. For example, sagebrush takes about 20 years to mature.

"We're working today to save and enhance wildlife habitat and watersheds for the next generation."