White Mesa Cultural and Conservation Area - Header

White Mesa Cultural and Conservation Area - Our Role

Our Role

During this decade, we will reconstruct and maintain boundary fencing to keep out trespassing cattle.  By 2015, we will draft a ten-year research and restoration plan. This will include work to restore willow, a plant of special cultural value to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. We also have the rare opportunity to use science to learn about wild elk and deer grazing and browsing in these mountains and how their impacts differ from livestock use. 

Our Solutions Title

Our Solutions

White Mesa Cultural and Conservation Area - Our Solutions

Map native grasses recovery

With skilled volunteer botanists, we will map the diversity and distribution of native grasses throughout the White Mesa Cultural and Conservation Area and take photographs to help the Forest Service, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the public see major restoration potential within the surrounding Elk Ridge and Abajo Mountains.

Restore willow species

Willow are a keystone species at the edges of creeks, ponds, and springs. They provide diverse wildlife niches, anchor river and creek banks during floods, and cool water under their shade. The Trust has made a commitment to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to help develop and implement a willow restoration plan for riparian areas.

An ecological reference

As the only ungrazed allotment within the 1.4 million acre Manti-La Sal National Forest, the area is a crucial source of information about the impacts of livestock on surrounding national forest lands (separate from the impacts of elk and deer) and the potential for recovery of resilience in the midst of climate change.

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