The Richfield Ranger District (District) of the Fishlake National Forest has been working collaboratively with the Monroe Mountain Working Group (MMWG) (21 stakeholders) to develop strategies to improve aspen ecosystems on Monroe Mountain; part of which includes reintroducing disturbance (prescribed fire and mechanical thinning) and making adjustments to livestock and wildlife management to reduce aspen browse pressures. �Reintroducing disturbance at a landscape scale (approximately 42,000 acres) and making adjustments to livestock and wildlife management to improve and maintain aspen ecosystems while also minimizing impacts to private property and other uses on Monroe Mountain has been a challenging task. �The Monroe Mountain area, located in Central Utah, encompasses approximately 176,000 acres of National Forest lands and approximately 12,000 acres of private inholdings. Dominant vegetation includes aspen and conifer in the higher elevations and sagebrush and pinyon/juniper in the lower elevations. �Monroe Mountain provides elk and mule deer habitat with associated hunting opportunities, multiple allotments for livestock grazing, boreal toad and Bonneville cutthroat trout habitat, Northern goshawk and Flammulated owl habitat, Inventoried Roadless Areas, and much more. �In December 2015, the District released a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Final Record of Decision (ROD) that outlines a 10 year plan to improve aspen ecosystems at a landscape scale on Monroe Mountain. The Utah Department of Wildlife Resources has been a Cooperating Agency. �Project implementation started in spring 2016. This collaborative approach has been enlightening and a success on the Fishlake National Forest, Richfield Ranger District.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.