Tenmile Allotment, Fishlake National Forest
Report on 2007 Labor Conservation Service Trip
From the 31st of August through the 3rd of September, eleven people camped in the
Tenmile Allotment to help the Forest Service with ongoing utilization monitoring,
learn about range Conservationists came from five state representing Great Old Broads
for Wilderness, the Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Trust, Three Forests Coalition, and
the Wild Utah Project.
At the end of the weekend, everyone had a wonderful time, learned important things
about range management, and felt they had helped. We wish a special thanks to Doug
Sorenson who took his personal time on a holiday weekend to share his knowledge.
Doug Sorenson came on Saturday to our camp at the City Creek Campground to ask our
help to place new utilization cages in a number of locations in a number of locations.
These cages are stiff wire cages about four feet on a side and are used as a reference
to measure ungrazed grasses. At one site, we actually conducted a utilization assessment
with Doug teaching us the method that is followed. Using the “utilization gauge”,
we measured utilization on a sagebrush hillside near Tenmile Creek. The height of
a number of samples one species of grass, stipa comota, was measured along a transect.
Based on a calibrating of the utilization gauge with this ungrazed species of grass
in the utilization cage concluded that the average grazed grass high represented
just over 80 % utilization. 50% utilization is the allowed amount. Lower levels
of utilization were found in the Upper City Creek and Lower City Creek Pastures.
At the same site near Tenmile Creek where we measured utilization, we also clipped,
bagged and are drying a sample of grasses and other nonwoody plants used for forage.
The plants clipped used a sample frame 3'X3'. Three locations near the utilization
site were sampled. One frame site was inside the utilization cage, a second was
outside where grass is available for grazing, and the third chose grasses that are
protected from grazing by shrubs. These clippings were placed in plastic bags to
be dried. We expect that data will be available by the time we meet next week. These
weighed forage samples offer a rough idea of the productivity of the area and a
more direct measure of the total amount consumed.
Map 1 [1.59MB PDF, 1 page] describes the location
of utilization sites that the Forest Service has visited in the past grazing season.
Many of these have utilization cages.
Map 2 [1.46MB PDF, 1 page] describes represents
categories of potential productivity for the Tenmile Allotment based on Fish Lake
National Forest analysis of plant community and soil maps. The map describes this
productivity in terms of pounds of forage grown per acre.
Map 3 [1.4 MB PDF, 1 page] describes a cattle
location census based on field work conducted on one day of this service trip. This
census, based on a one day survey of the allotment, describes the number and location
of cattle grazing on that day.
Here are the methods followed to conduct this census. Based on the grazing rotation
schedule, all cattle were predicted to be in the northern pasture, the Tenmile Pasture.
This was the focus of this census. The Tenmile Pasture in the Tenmile Allotment
was divided into zones that a team could visit in one day. Detailed field maps for
that specific zone were given to each team. During this one day, teams visited as
many surface water sites as was possible. We asked teams to check on foot as much
of their zone that had moderate to high potential for forage production. Field checkers
then marked on their map, the route walked, the area seen, the location and number
of cows and calves identified, and the time observed. This was then compiled into
one map. The total number of cows observed was 136 cows. The predicted number of
cows for this allotment is 150. A number of cows were seen in pastures that at this
time was not scheduled to be grazed. Seven cows were seen in the Price, Bellyache,
and Lower City Creek Pastures. 11 cows were seen in the Cottonwood Allotment on
the north, which has been closed to grazing for a number of years. A gate had been
opened by someone to allow cows to reach water in the Cottonwood Allotment.
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This page was last updated 1/12/2011.