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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />o <br />..,. <br />CD <br />o <br /> <br />In FY 97, management focused greater attention on the role played by fire in maintaining a <br />healthy watershed and the need for diligent enforcement of off-road vehicle rules and <br />restrictions . <br /> <br />Similar restrictions on off-highway vehicle (OHV) activity were implemented in the White River <br />Resource Area within the Craig District. That office closed 58,110 acres to all motor vehicles <br />in an effort to reduce resource damage; vehicle use on another 99,120 acres was restricted to <br />designated roads and trails (no OHVs); still another 7.390 acres were assigned seasonal road <br />closures. Approval of the White River RMP on July I. 1997, means that no areas are "Open" <br />to off-highway vehicle use. <br /> <br />Other riparian work conducted in the White River RA include $2,500 for maintenance activities <br />at Wolf Creek; $800 for repair of a rain gage at Wolf Creek; $500 for a camera needed for <br />monitoring. Over 15 miles of Missouri Creek (east-west) and the main stem of Evacuation <br />Creeks were inspected for "Properly Functioning Condition" Assessments. Also completed <br />during FY 97 were $200 of photo documentation, inspection of 15 watershed structures; weed <br />control on 57 acres; and $1.000 spent on the round-up of wild horses. <br /> <br />White River RA also is revising the Allotment Management Plan (AMP) for Twin Buttes, which <br />includes the upper reaches of the Missouri Creek Drainage mentioned above. <br /> <br />New Mexico <br /> <br />April 1997 saw the completion of the Lower Largo Canyon Watershed Management and <br />Erosion Control Plan. The purpose of the docwnent was to identify, discuss, and analyze the <br />impacts of (1) implementing resource management practices and (2) constructing projects to <br />protect and improve watershed resources (i.e., soil, water, vegetation) in the Lower Largo <br />Canyon Watershed. <br /> <br />Chemical treatment of salt cedar in Piouche Canyon was conducted during September 1997. <br />The canyon presently is being invaded by salt cedar plants and the control of the irivasion of this <br />species is important to the protection of the riparian area and overall improvement of the <br />watershed. Treatment is by low volume basal herbicide application. Test plots have shown <br />this treatment method to be very effective for the control of salt cedar. Salt cedar is a <br />phreatophyte that excretes excess salt that alters the natural characteristics of drainages and plant <br />communities. Spot treatment of salt cedar will occur on approximately 24 acres of Piouche <br />Canyon Wash. <br /> <br />Riparian restoration in 1997 consisted of the planting of approximately 200 native (Fremont <br />variety) cottonwood poles harvested from BLM land in the Ice Canyon area, a tributary of <br />Largo Canyon. The trees were planted in four prearranged locations on BLM land in Piouche <br />Canyon in March 1997. <br /> <br />Approximately 20,000 acres of big sagebrush were treated with Tebuthiuron through aerial <br />application this year in the Farmington District. This effort is greater than normal due to the <br />inability to treat last year due to drought. <br /> <br />12 <br /> <br />,', '< <br /> <br />~>...,_.."ii <br /> <br />;; <br />"~"-~~ <br />