Big Cottonwood Canyon Fuel Reduction Projects

Monitoring thinning treatments followed by slash-pile burns in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah

Collaborators:
1) U.S. Forest Service, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Salt Lake Ranger District
2) Cardiff Canyon Owners Association
3) Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands
Forest or Woodland Type: Mixed conifer/aspen
Management Objective: Decrease fuel load to reduce potential fire intensity and severity
Location: Private land and National Forest land in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Salt Lake Co., Utah
Project Area: 767 acres (National Forest) and 10 acres (private land)
Status: Ongoing
Phase: Pre-treatment monitoring completed

Mixed conifer/aspen forest in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Project Summary

UFRI is assessing the effects of thinning and pile burning on fuel loading and overstory plant species composition on a 767-acre parcel of mixed conifer/aspen forest on Forest Service land and on a 10-acre parcel on private land in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. This project is in a heavily trafficked recreation area located in the wildland-urban interface 30 minutes east of Utah’s main population center, Salt Lake City.

Significance and Potential Impact

Our objective is to assess the effectiveness of combined fuel-reduction treatments (thinning and pile burning). We will monitor changes in forest structure and fuels. Findings have the potential to directly inform on-the-ground decisions by practitioners about managing mixed conifer/aspen forest in the wildland-urban interface near some of Utah’s largest population centers.