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Show Riparian Work To Be Shown By Foresters Garfield County residents will have an opportunity to view firsthand first-hand the future effects of riparian activities conducted by the Dixie National Forest on Three-Mile Creek this fall, according to Cedar City District Ranger Ron Wilson. "Riparian areas include streams and the adjacent vegetation influenced influ-enced by those streams. The Forest Service has put an increased emphasis on the management of riparian ri-parian areas, which contribute sub- stantially to water quality in addition addi-tion to being a necessary component compo-nent of most wildlife habitats,'.' said Wilson. - ' '.' rj Cedar City District Ranger Conservationist Con-servationist Dale Harris recognized several years ago that the Three-Mile Three-Mile Creek riparian area was in a degraded condition. "Reduced vegetation vege-tation cover from overgrazing reduced re-duced the surface flow of water. This caused deep vertical cut banks along the stream. The loss of ripar- ian vegetation coupled with high stream velocities resulted in unstable unsta-ble streambanks and increased sedimentation sedi-mentation of Three-Mile Creek," Harris said. The Forest Service determined that two types of activities were necessary in order to stabilize the creek: the grazing management would need to be intensified and there was a need to reduce stream velocities and redirect flows away from the raw, eroding cut banks. In response to the need to intensify inten-sify grazing management, the Forest For-est Service used natural barriers in combination with approximately five and one-half miles of fence to create a "riparian pasture," according to Harris. The pasture contains the upland and riparian areas within most of the Three-Mile Creek drainage. The Forest Service also constructed water ponds outside of the riparian pasture to replace the creek as a livestock water source. Harris said the riparian pasture would be protected from livestock grazing for approximately five years. "At the end of five years, the Forest Service will assess how the vegetation has responded and decide when limited livestock grazing can resume," Harris said. Currently 303 cowcalf pairs utilize the Three-Mile Three-Mile Creek area, which is part of the Little Valley Grazing Allotment on the Cedar City Ranger District In order to reduce the flow and modify the direction of the stream, the Forest Service installed 30 log structures across the creek at predetermined prede-termined locations. The structures consist of an 18-inch to 24-inch-di-amctcr log set into the streambank, perpendicular to the stream. "They serve to raise the water level in back of the log to 'down out' the raw banks, reduce the velocity of water passing over a notch in the center of the log, scour out pools for fish in front of the log, and the log itself provides hiding cover for fish," Harris said. The Forest Service plans to monitor the effects on Three-Mile Creek through the use of photo-points photo-points and permanent vegetative sampling plots, according to Harris |