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Forest restoration projects target the Uinta Mountains

Fire reduction, water health are goals

Fire crews are set to burn undergrowth along the Mirror Lake Highway as part of a project to protect one of the only native stands of Ponderosa Pine in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.
Courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service

Forest officials announced they would burn about 30 acres in coming weeks near the Mirror Lake Highway to preserve one of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache Forest’s only native Ponderosa Pine stands.

Crews will torch thick undergrowth near the pines, including juniper and lodgepole pines, according to a prepared statement from the U.S. Forest Service. The stand is near the highway east of Kamas between the Lower Provo overlook and the Soapstone Basin turnoff. The goal is to preserve the genetic diversity of the trees and reduce the risk of wildfire near the roadway.

It is one of several projects happening in the forest that aim to reduce the risk of wildfires or improve the health of rivers.



Officials announced earlier this month $3.1 million in funding from the Utah Conservation Permit Program, with a Department of Wildlife Resources official saying a half-dozen of those projects will occur in Summit County.

Among those at least partially funded by the program are restoration projects in Parleys Canyon and the Upper Provo River watershed that each have budgets around $1.5 million.



Those projects are part of the Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative, which funds projects aiming to restore watershed health.

They include measures aimed at preventing catastrophic wildfires, which can significantly harm waterways, as well as initiatives that shape the waterways themselves, including by reintroducing beavers to an area.

More information can be found at watershed.utah.gov.


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