Get reliable rangeland science

Utah juniper is a key habitat for training soldiers of the Utah National Guard at Camp Williams. �Where some land management agencies are clearing juniper, we value it for concealment in an otherwise sparsely covered landscape. �In 2012, a single wildfire consumed about half (1,100 acres) of all juniper on the camp (~2,500); much that was the most accessible for training. �Past establishment of juniper has been unsuccessful; losing all 1,500 seedlings in an especially droughty summer. �Theorizing that a site-specific ecotype might be more successful, we collected 30,000 berries at the camp and commissioned the USFS Lucky Peak Nursery to grow seedlings. �Production from the site-specific berries was poor because of low seed viability; just over 1,300 seedlings were planted in early April 2016. �10% were marked for follow-up and another 10% were supplemented with Dri-Water (which provides about 90 days moisture) in early summer to see if survival increased. �The inital effort cost about $7.70 each due to low seedling production; the Dri-Water added about $4.00 each with labor. �As of October 2016, inital estimates are about 50% survival without Dri-Water, but over 90% with Dri-Water. �Future efforts will include planting in Fall, possibly using commercially-obtained stock if available, and supplementing with Dri-Water or providing other moisture.